A Latent Profile Analysis of EFL Teachers’ Self‐efficacy: Associations With Their Emotional Intelligence and Teaching Innovation Behavior

ABSTRACT

As an important component of self‐concept, teachers’ self‐efficacy plays a crucial role in regulating their emotions and behavior. To date, few studies have been made to examine whether English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ self‐efficacy profiles are connected with their emotional intelligence and teaching innovation behavior. Guided by the control‐value theory, the present study intended to identify teachers’ self‐efficacy profiles and explore their relationships with emotional intelligence and teaching innovation behavior. Two hundred and sixty‐two Chinese EFL teachers were recruited to complete the questionnaires measuring their self‐efficacy, emotional intelligence, and teaching innovation behavior. A person‐centered latent profile analysis method was used to explore the potential profiles of Chinese EFL teachers’ self‐efficacy and one‐way ANOVAs were subsequently conducted to compare the differences in emotional intelligence and teaching innovation behavior scores among teachers with different self‐efficacy profiles. Grouped regression analysis was performed to examine the moderating effect of teachers’ self‐efficacy profiles on the relationship between their emotional intelligence and teaching innovation behavior. The study revealed that there were three teachers’ self‐efficacy profiles representing low, medium, and high levels which had significant differences in their emotional intelligence and teaching innovation behavior. It also disclosed that self‐efficacy profiles moderated the association between EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence and their teaching innovation behavior. Specifically, the emotional intelligence of teachers with medium and high self‐efficacy profiles significantly positively predicted teaching innovation behavior, but the emotional intelligence of teachers with low self‐efficacy profiles did not. It is hoped that the research results could enrich our understanding of EFL teachers’ self‐efficacy, emotional intelligence, and innovation behavior and offer new insights into EFL teachers’ professional development.