Perception of emotion-evoking stimuli in teachers experiencing emotional burnout

Context and relevance. The problem of emotional burnout in teaching activities has reached a large scale in recent years. Numerous studies indicate that the majority of educators are affected by this syndrome. Teaching is a profession saturated with emotional labor and diverse forms of social interaction. Accordingly, emotional burnout can become a serious obstacle not only to the effective implementation of pedagogical tasks but also to the psychological well-being of the teacher themselves. At the same time, the specific features of teachers' perception of emotion-evoking stimuli and the processing of related tasks in the context of emotional burnout remain insufficiently studied. Objective. To examine the psychological and physiological characteristics of perception and emotional response in teachers with varying levels of emotional burnout when exposed to emotionally charged stimuli and tasks. Hypothesis. It is assumed that teachers experiencing emotional burnout will encounter difficulties in perceiving emotion-evoking stimuli and solving related tasks. This will be reflected in longer gaze fixations compared to their relatively unaffected colleagues or pre-service teachers without signs of emotional burnout. Methods and materials. The study involved 32 female participants: 9 students from a pedagogical university, 10 in-service teachers without pronounced symptoms of emotional burnout, and 13 teachers with a clearly expressed burnout syndrome. To classify the teachers, the “Professional Burnout Questionnaire” diagnostic tool was employed. The assessment of oculomotor activity during the perception of emotionally charged stimuli and the completion of related tasks was carried out in a laboratory setting using a Tobii Pro Spectrum stationary eye tracker (150 Hz). Stimuli were presented in the form of slides containing emoji images and texts of various emotional valences. Results. The results revealed that teachers with emotional burnout exhibit a specific pattern in their perception of negatively valenced stimuli, requiring more time for processing and task completion. Conclusions. Thus, the experimental study demonstrates distinct features in the perception of emotionally charged stimuli among teachers experiencing emotional burnout. These features may influence their professional functioning and should be taken into account when designing preventive interventions.