Psychological empowerment and work burnout among rural teachers: Professional identity as a mediator

We examined the relationship between psychological empowerment and work burnout as mediated by professional identity. Participants were 650 primary and secondary school teachers from nine rural provinces in China. The results indicate that both psychological empowerment and professional identity were significantly and negatively related to work burnout, and that psychological empowerment was significantly and positively associated with professional identity. Furthermore, professional identity partially mediated the relationship between psychological empowerment and work burnout. These findings advance research on the psychology of professional identity by clarifying the relationship between psychological empowerment and work burnout.