Associations between organisational support, surface-acting, role stress, and physical education teachers’ work engagement: Moderated mediation and latent profile analyses

Although numerous studies have documented associations between perceived organisational support and work engagement, the potential explanatory processes involving role stress and surface-acting remain insufficiently examined. Most prior research used variable-centred approaches, potentially overlooking heterogeneity among physical education (PE) teachers. The present study explored associations between perceived organisational support and PE teachers’ work engagement, as well as statistical pathways involving role stress and surface-acting. Guided by the job demands–resources (JD–R) model, both variable- and person-centred analyses were applied. A total of 376 PE teachers from China participated ( M age = 31.37, 43.4% male, 56.6% female). Teaching experience was distributed as follows: 158 teachers (42%) had 1–5 years, 109 (29%) had 6–10 years, 45 (12%) had 11–20 years, and 64 (17%) had over 20 years. Data were analysed using moderated mediation models and latent profile analysis (LPA). Variable-centred analysis indicated that role stress statistically accounted for part of the association between perceived organisational support and work engagement, while surface-acting moderated the statistical association between perceived organisational support and role stress. Person-centred LPA identified three profiles: low support/high surface-acting, high support/low surface-acting, and balanced. Teaching experience was statistically associated with profile membership, with the latter two profiles showing higher work engagement compared with the low support/high surface-acting group. Role stress statistically accounted for the engagement advantage of teachers with high support and low surface-acting relative to those with balanced profiles. These findings highlight the importance of organisational support that takes emotional labour and role stress into account when considering PE teachers’ work engagement and well-being.