Abstract:

This study examines the relationships between psychological resilience, emotional regulation, and professional motivation among secondary education teachers in Romania, with a specific focus on their protective role against burnout and their contribution to sustainable teaching practice. Conducted as a cross-sectional investigation between February and May 2025, the research involved 214 teachers from 12 urban and rural schools across three counties (Ilfov, Prahova, and Bacău), addressing the growing concern of emotional strain and motivational decline in the teaching profession.

Resilience was measured using the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10), capturing teachers’ perceived capacity to adapt to stress, recover from adversity, and maintain psychological balance. Adaptive emotional regulation was assessed through scale components targeting strategies such as cognitive reappraisal, emotional awareness, and controlled emotional expression, allowing for an analysis of how teachers manage emotional demands in professional contexts. Burnout symptoms were measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES), while professional motivation was evaluated using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI), focusing on interest, perceived competence, and value alignment. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that resilience and adaptive emotional regulation jointly accounted for 48% of the variance in intrinsic motivation and showed strong inverse associations with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (p < .001).

Qualitative data from three focus-group discussions involving 21 participants provided contextual depth to the quantitative findings. Teachers highlighted self-reflective coping strategies, peer collaboration, and autonomy-supportive leadership as key mechanisms through which resilience and emotional regulation translate into sustained motivation. Participants emphasized that a clear sense of purpose and professional meaning mitigated stress and supported emotional stability under systemic and organizational constraints.

Building on these findings, the study proposes the Motivational-Resilience Interaction Model (MRIM), which conceptualizes resilience and emotional regulation as dynamic, mutually reinforcing processes that sustain intrinsic motivation and buffer against burnout. Grounded in self-determination theory and emotional regulation frameworks, the model positions professional well-being as a core component of educational sustainability, understood as the capacity of educational systems to maintain teacher engagement, effectiveness, and psychological health over time. The study underscores the relevance of resilience-based interventions, coaching, and psychoeducational programs for fostering sustainable teaching careers and stable, high-quality educational environments.

Keywords:

Teacher motivation, psychological resilience, emotional regulation, burnout prevention, educational psychology, intrinsic motivation, professional well-being, secondary education.