How do principals’ paternalistic leadership impact teachers’ emotional labor and efficacy: Do gender or region of teachers make a difference?

Abstract Using multigroup structural equation modelling, this study investigated the relationships between paternalistic leadership, emotional labour and teacher efficacy, as well as the moderating roles of gender and region among a group of Chinese primary school teachers. The overall results revealed that both authoritarianism and benevolence dimensions of paternalistic leadership have positive impacts on teachers’ emotional labour, albeit with different strengths. Stronger connections were found between authoritarianism and surface acting, and between benevolence and deep acting/the expression of naturally felt emotions. Surface acting was found to have more negative effects, while deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotions were more positively associated with teacher efficacy. The results of multigroup structural equation modelling supported the invariant measurement models across gender and region, revealing notable differences subgroups. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.