Modeling the Contribution of Foreign Language Wellbeing and Teaching Enjoyment to Loving Pedagogy among Iranian English Language Teachers

Modeling the Contribution of Foreign Language Wellbeing and Teaching Enjoyment to Loving Pedagogy among Iranian English Language Teachers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Modeling the Contribution of Foreign Language Wellbeing and Teaching Enjoyment to Loving Pedagogy among Iranian English Language Teachers Seyed Mohammad Reza Amirian, Fatemeh Akbari, Zahra Bayat This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Loving Pedagogy (LP), guided by the principles of positive psychology (PP), highlights empathetic connection, emotional relationality, and care in teaching—traits increasingly valued in foreign language teaching. Though conceptually promising, LP lacks adequate exploration in empirical scholarship in the context of psychological wellbeing (PWB) and Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment (FLTE), two affective variables that could undergird LP execution. Bridging this lacuna, the present study models the contribution of PWB and FLTE to LP in the case of 201 Iranian EFL teachers from varied teaching contexts. Utilizing validated tools and structural equation modeling (SEM), the results show that both PWB and FLTE are strong and significant predictors of LP with FLTE being the more robust antecedent. These outcomes highlights the necessity of instilling teacher emotional contentment and teaching joy to engender loving and compassionate teaching spaces that respect the emotional well-being of learners and teacher alike. The study provides a new framework of conceptualizing the effect of affective experience on pedagogic orientation and underlines the necessity of institutional support and teacher education interventions focused on wellbeing and enjoyment that form the corners of teaching that are loving and care-oriented. Loving Pedagogy Psychological Wellbeing Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment Positive Psychology EFL Teachers Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 1. Introduction During the recent years, PP has made a significant contribution to the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) by shifting the attention from deficit-models to creating positive affective experiences in language learning (Dewaele & Li, 2020 ; MacIntyre, 2021 ). Centered around PP is the concept that allowing teachers to employ their personal strengths might boost teachers' professional resilience and overall quality of life (MacIntyre et al., 2019 ). Within this model, LP has been an optimistic construct grounded in empathy, relational depth, and emotional care in the classroom (Wang et al., 2022 ; Loreman, 2011 ). LP not only conforms to PP's vision of human flourishing but is also a protective mechanism against the emotional toll of teaching—a profession that is highly stressful, burned out, and low on wellbeing (Mercer, 2020 ; Greenier et al., 2021 ). Despite greater attention to the affective dimensions of teaching, LP has not been well-researched in SLA research. For instance, Derakhshan et al. ( 2023 ) examined the interplay between LP, creativity, and work engagement in EFL settings; ironically, LP was used as a predictor variable in their study. However, their research did not apply SEM, nor considered PWB as a necessary predictor. Similarly, Zolfaghari et al. ( 2024 ) modeled the role of L2 grit and FLTE towards LP without considering educators' overall emotional and psychological wellbeing. Grit and enjoyment are affective constructs that are convenient to use but fail to capture the richness of holistic wellbeing that could inform loving pedagogical practice. Therefore, psychological well-being is an important but neglected predictor in existing models of LP (Zhi and Wang, 2023 ). Teaching, being an emotionally challenging profession, requires more than resiliency—it requires pedagogical practice that fosters teachers' emotional engagement and occupational well-being (Greenier et al., 2021 ; Mercer, 2020 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). The significance of LP becomes especially acute when set against the context of PWB—a construct consisting of multiple dimensions of emotional states, cognitive appraisal, and behavioral responses to occupational stressors (Virtanen et al., 2019 ).LP, in its care- and relational orientation, offers not only an educational theory but also safeguarding against burnout as well as a path towards improved well-being. Since its affective nature, there is a strong belief that LP and PWB share a considerable correlation (Virtanen et al., 2019 ). However, according to Derakhshan et al. ( 2023 ), LP still has not been properly incorporated into models predicting the psychological determinants of teacher sustainability. Aspects such as job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, resilience, and purpose have emerged to influence instructional effectiveness, as well as the quality of interpersonal relationships among individuals in learning environments (Acton & Glasgow, 2015 ; Caprara et al., 2006 ; Madigan & Kim, 2021 ). Empirical data equally bear witness to this association, with PWB emerging to be a strong predictor of FLTE, together with resilience and L2 grit (Derakhshan et al., 2023 ). Based on this, FLTE, or social and personal joy the teacher experiences within the school context, is increasingly considered central to the emotional well-being of foreign language teachers (Ergün & Dewaele, 2021 ). Highly FLTE teachers report greater happiness, greater professional identity, and higher PWB scores, which subsequently contribute to motivation, investment, and job satisfaction (Ergün & Dewaele, 2021 ; Manasia et al., 2020 ). While conceptually significant, PWB and FLTE have been designed primarily as outcomes and not predictive antecedents of LP in educational research. This conceptual error is meant to highlight a critical omission in our existing knowledge of how affective constructs such as PWB and FLTE can play an active role in the adoption of LP. To bridge this, the present research sets up the contribution of PWB and FLTE to LP in Iranian English language instructors according to the theoretical foundation of PP. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Loving Pedagogy The LP concept is derived from Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs, in which love has been established as a human need. In school contexts, however, its definition is flexible and discipline dependent and therefore must be operationally defined. LP, as an emerging construct rooted in PP (Barcelos & Coelho, 2016 ), centers on the relational and affective aspect of teaching. Support offered by Barcelos ( 2020 ) shows that teachers who follow this idea have deep commitment to their profession, cultivate close and inviting classroom environments, and always practice empathy and sympathy in their interactions with the learners. Yin et al. ( 2019 ) highlight that strong teaching is more than learning from books—it thrives in an encouraging context that extends the emotional well-being, social maturity, and classroom communication of students. Paulo Freire ( 1996 , 2005 ) stressed that successful pedagogy has to move beyond the simple transmission of knowledge to intrinsic emotional and holistic growth. Paulo Freire ( 1996 , 2005 ) famously declared that "it is not possible to be a teacher without loving one's students," (p.84) defining love as the spark of solidarity, justice, and social change. Further, he famously declared that "loving is not enough; one must know how to love" (p. 82), highlighting the deliberate and proficient exercise of love in teaching. In support of that perspective, Seligman ( 2011 ) reflected on the pivotal role of love in academic flourishing and Zhao and Li ( 2021 ), in interpreting the construct in foreign/second-language education contexts, linked it with teacher empathy and kindness and sensitivity towards the emotional and academic progress of students. Terminologically, LP has been used synonymously with "pedagogy of love" or "pedagogical love" (Halpin, 2009 ; Yin et al., 2019 ). While the terms hold fine-grained meanings, they agree in the ideal that productive pedagogy is care, sensitivity, and emotional awareness of students' development needs. Loreman ( 2011 ) framed LP as a combination of emotional qualities—passion, kindness, empathy, intimacy, and community—that are expressed through collaborative classroom practice and robust teacher-student relationships. Wang et al. ( 2022 ) put additional emphasis on teacher respect for students' internal states and varied personalities and proposed that LP cultivates socio-emotional wellbeing, students' motivation and engagement, and achievement. Empirical studies increasingly supported the importance of LP in teaching contexts. Yin et al. ( 2019 ) created the Disposition towards a Loving Pedagogy (DTLP) scale to gauge pre-service teacher perceptions and affirmed its usefulness in operationalizing LP. Extension of this work included Derakhshan et al.'s ( 2023 ) investigation of the psychometric validity of the scale and relationships with EFL/ESL teacher creativity and work engagement. Their results showed that though LP foretells work engagement, it is more significantly associated with teaching for the purpose of creativity. Zolfaghari et al. ( 2024 ) illustrated similarly that EFL teacher L2 grit and FLTE notably determine attitudes toward DTLP. In a comparable study, Zhi and Wang ( 2023 ) utilized structural equation models to illustrate that LP directly foretells professional success in Chinese EFL teacher professionals and that risk taking, originality, flexibility, and elaboration quasi-mediate the relationship in terms of a pro-creativity teaching strategy. Zhao and Li ( 2021 ) further supported the importance of LP by positioning it as a student-centered teaching approach that embodies emotional attachment and learner engagement but observed that it is overlooked owing to moral and professionally sensitive considerations. Exploring in greater depth the contribution of love to the deployment of pedagogies in foreign language education has the potential to greatly benefit the overall wellbeing of both teacher and learner (Barcelos & Coelho, 2016 ). In spite of these encouraging results, studies on LP are meager, especially in SLA. Ethno-cultural taboos often suppress open discussion of love in the learning environment (Barcelos & Coelho, 2016 ), and therefore it is underrepresented in conventional pedagogic scholarship. Wang et al. ( 2022 ) recently underlined the importance of LP in the scholarship of SLA and advocated increased exploration of the root causes of LP among EFL practitioners. With the additional empirical support of LP favorably affecting the learners' scholarship and emotional health (Wang et al., 2022 ; Zhao & Li, 2021 ), future researchers ought to explore the role that constructs of the sort of PWB and FLTE play in encouraging teacher uptake of love-infused teaching styles in culturally varied EFL contexts. Such exploration is necessary in order to foster more inclusive, emotional, and transformative language teaching. 2.2. Psychological Wellbeing PWB is described as an "individual's awareness that he or she has, or will have, a meaningful and self-fulfilling life" (Keyes et al., 2002 , p. 5). The concept is especially relevant to teachers because emotional experience has a great bearing on the mental health and wellbeing of such professionals (Day & Qing, 2009 ). Whether defined in a different way, PWB is normally studied through the medium of three approaches: the hedonic model, in terms of happiness and life satisfaction (Thorsteinsen & Vittersø, 2020 ); the eudaimonic model, in terms of personal growth and self-actualisation; and the interactive model, in terms of a combination of the other two and the assertion that the other two are linked and both conduce to overall wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2001 ). Based on the model of Ryff ( 1989 ), psychological wellbeing consists of six fundamental dimensions: autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, positive relationships, and personal growth. These factors represent a person's capability to live autonomously, strive towards useful purposes, adapt successfully to the environment, accept oneself, form useful social relationships, and keep developing oneself. Seligman ( 2011 ) suggests that wellbeing is a construct core to PP and consists of five quantifiable factors: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment (the PERMA model). In this framework, the emotional experiences play a central role in the formation of the psychological state of teachers. With the increased role of PP in teacher scholarship, present-day needs and future demands more center around the complex nature of teacher PWB (Mercer, 2021 ). There exists a vast body of empirical research that identifies teacher wellbeing is linked with job satisfaction (Barbieri et al., 2019 ), teaching enjoyment (Ergün & Dewaele, 2021 ), and work involvement (Greenier et al., 2021 ). However, challenges that come in the form of poor control of emotions, low-esteem, and limited linguistic capacity are observed to have negative implications on the wellbeing of EFL professionals (Talbot & Mercer, 2018 ). These outcomes assume a special relevance in the shadow of the stressful environment of TEFL that frequently results in burn-out and elevated levels of stress (Derakhshan et al., 2022 ). Emotional experiences are central in the development of teachers' psychological health. Positive feelings of joy, pride, and gratitude have been linked with greater motivation (Benevene et al., 2020 ), job satisfaction (Jin et al., 2021 ), and overall wellbeing (Benevene et al., 2020 ). Conversely, negative emotional experiences of stress, anxiety, and frustration are associated with burnout (Chambers Mack et al., 2019 ), weakened performance (Madigan & Kim, 2021 ), and poor health (Chambers Mack et al., 2019 ). Hofstadler et al. ( 2021 ), taking an ecological approach, examined CLIL teacher wellbeing in Austria and found that workload, time pressure, and institutional lack of support were key stressors. The study also highlighted the beneficial effect of teacher colleague relationships and student rapport on teacher wellbeing. Extending this ecological approach, Mercer ( 2021 ) has called for a holistic framework of wellbeing encouragement in English Language Teaching (ELT). He stressed the value of looking at the varied and intersecting factors affecting the psychological state of the teacher and suggested individually adapted interventions that foster a favorable professional culture. Supplementing this perspective, Dewaele et al. (2018) identified that the development of emotional intelligence in EFL teachers has a considerable positive effect on their professional wellbeing and that internal psychological resources are no less important than external support systems. Further empirical evidence underscores the detrimental effect of structural and environmental challenges on teacher wellbeing. MacIntyre et al. ( 2019 ) discovered that budget pressures and excessive workloads are among the causes of higher stress and burnout in the profession of language education. Similarly, Amirian et al. ( 2021 ) discovered that negative workplace environments and burdensome tasks were at the core of teacher burnout. Talbot and Mercer ( 2018 ) reinforced that conclusion that wellbeing hinders the capability of teachers to focus and effectively execute the duties of the profession. There is also a recent body of literature considering the dynamic and systemic effects of teacher wellbeing. In a mixed-methods design, Sulis et al. ( 2021 ) examined the wellbeing of pre-service trainees in languages and found it to be shaped by the dynamic interactions between personal dispositions, study demands, support from social networks, and self-regulating strategies. These studies collectively open up the complex set of factors that impact the psychological health of language teachers and the importance of building a wellbeing culture in the community of ELT professionals (Mercer, 2021 ). 2.2. Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment In line with the principles of PP, Dewaele and MacIntyre ( 2014 ) put forward the construct of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), and characterized it as "a complex emotion, capturing interacting dimensions of challenge and perceived ability that reflect human drive for success in the face of difficult tasks" (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016 , p. 216). The construct has been the inspiration for a line of work that has focused on the positive emotional experiences of foreign language learners and foreign language teachers (Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018 ). Nonetheless, while foreign learner enjoyment has been the beneficiary of quite a bit of empirical attention, foreign language teachers' positive emotional experiences—that is, enjoyment included—still represent a fairly underexamined area of scholarship (Derakhshan et al., 2022 ). To address this lacuna, Ergün and Dewaele ( 2021 ) conceptualized Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment (FLTE) as a multidimensional construct that embraces social enjoyment in the teaching environment, personal teaching job satisfaction, and appreciation of students. In the EFL teaching context, FLTE is a measure of the emotional investment of teachers in the job and social relationships with students. The authors developed a nine-item scale to assess FLTE and validated it with psychological constructs such as wellbeing and resilience in a small-scale study of 174 English teachers. Their findings were that wellbeing and FLTE were significantly predicted and that resilience became a more powerful predictor of FLTE. Moreover, demographic factors such as gender and teaching experience turned out to determine FLTE and underscored the contribution of personal and situational variables in the formation of teacher emotional experience. Further studies have prolonged this line of research by examining more psychological correlates of FLTE. Derakhshan et al. ( 2022 ), using SEM, examined the relationships between Iranian EFL teachers' resilience, psychological wellbeing, L2 grit, and FLTE. Their findings showed that FLTE was significantly predicted by teachers' domain-specific grit, engagement, and wellbeing. In a similar line of work, Azari Noughabi et al. ( 2022 ) looked into the predictive functions of emotion regulation and psychological wellbeing in forming Iranian EFL teachers' FLTE and found that both variables were highly contributing factors. These results collectively illustrate the significance of internal psychological sources in developing teaching enjoyment. Subsequent studies reinforced the developmental and contextual aspects of FLTE. Azari Noughabi et al. ( 2024 ) examined the experience and development of enjoyment in teaching among Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers and proposed that attending to the emotional and contextual needs of teachers would bolster FLTE and contribute to better learning outcomes among students. This viewpoint is consistent with the larger contention that teacher enjoyment is not only crucial for professionals' job satisfaction but also a driver of stimulating and efficient learning spaces. The contribution of FLTE to teacher enthusiasm and burnout reduction has also been studied in more recent research. Chen et al. ( 2024 ) applied SEM to analyze enthusiasm predictors among Chinese EFL teachers and found work engagement and FLTE to be the most important ones. Their results support the idea that the encouragement of enjoyment and engagement among teachers results in enthusiasm and is crucial to successful teaching and favorable student achievement. Yang et al. ( 2023 ) found in a similar study that FLTE is responsible for a positive feedback cycle – it strengthens teacher engagement and minimizes burnout. The authors stressed the role of mindfulness as a powerful mediator and informed that mindful teachers are more prone to enjoy teaching and feel job satisfaction. Qualitative studies continued to enrich the knowledge of FLTE through the recording of teachers' personal experiences. Thumvichit ( 2022 ) examined Thai EFL teachers' experiences of enjoyment and found four thematic aspects: intrinsic elements, external factors, methods of teaching, and students' reactions. Encouraging responses from the students increased motivation and emotional health, a result supported by Jodaei et al. ( 2018 ), whereas discouraging responses suppressed enjoyment. Notably, the study found that FLTE is a dynamic construct and changes in reaction to factors like the size of the class, attitudes of the learners, and workload. In addition, since LP is a quite recent concept itself, limited studies have been carried out to account for the factors contributing to LP development in foreign language teaching. LP, with its roots in PP, centers empathy, care, and emotional connection in teaching and has been shown to foster teacher and learner wellbeing (Barcelos & Coelho, 2016 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). While existing educational scholarship has examined collections of psychological constructs, in our acquaintance no study has yet encapsuled the three interconnected constructs of LP, PWB, and FLTE in an integrated framework. The theoretical lacuna pinpoints the promise of future empirical studies that probe relationships between the constructs in an examination of the development of the teacher's emotional resilience, the teacher's teaching efficacy, and the relational patterns of the teacher in EFL contexts. This discrepancy is especially pertinent in culturally complex learning environments like Iran where conversations about emotional constructs like love might be undertheorized or culturally sensitive. Bridging this intersection is of paramount importance in developing integrated educational processes that center the emotional well-being of teacher-learners as a condition of successful teaching and learning achievement. In order to bridge this discrepancy, this research effort centers on explaining the interconnections between LP, PWB, and FLTE. Figure 1 visually captures the postulated model, showing the directional relationships between LP, PWB, and FLTE. The framework brings together three positive psychological constructs that collectively have not been studied in a solitary empirical study in the foreign language education domain. This paper seeks to answer the following research question. RQ: To what extent do psychological wellbeing (PWB) and foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE) contribute to loving pedagogy (LP) of Iranian EFL teachers? Which one is a stronger predictor of LP? 3. Method 3.1. Participants The study sample comprised 201 Iranian EFL teachers from various provinces across the country, all of whom held academic degrees in English Language Teaching or closely related disciplines such as English Translation and English Literature. These educators were employed in a range of instructional settings, including state schools, private language institutes, and universities, reflecting the diversity of Iran’s educational landscape. Participants’ ages ranged from 20 to 59 years, with teaching experience spanning 3 to 32 years, thereby encompassing both novice and veteran professionals. To ensure ethical integrity, all participants provided informed consent prior to data collection. Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the sample, including gender distribution, academic specialization, degree level, and institutional affiliation. Specifically, the sample included 85 male and 116 female teachers; the majority majored in English Language Teaching (n = 127), followed by English Translation (n = 66) and English Literature (n = 8). In terms of academic qualifications, 53 held a Bachelor’s degree, 110 a Master’s, and 38 a Ph.D. Regarding teaching context, 161 participants worked in language institutes, 29 in schools, and 11 in universities. This heterogeneous sample provides a robust foundation for investigating the contributions of PWB and FLTE to the enactment of LP. The inclusion of teachers with varied professional backgrounds, academic credentials, and institutional roles enhances the generalizability and contextual relevance of the study’s findings. Table 1 Demographic Information of the Participants Variables Frequency Gender Male Female 85 116 Major English Language Teaching English Language Translation English Language Literature 127 66 8 Academic degree Bachelor of Arts Master of Arts Ph.D. Context School Institute University 53 110 38 161 29 11 3.2. Instrument 3.2.1. Loving Pedagogy Scale Disposition toward loving pedagogy (DTLP), a 29-item scale developed by Yin et al. (2019) was used to measure the underlying six factors for the pedagogy of love: acceptance of diversity and classroom community (e.g., "I make a point of engaging in kind acts towards my students in the context of my teaching every hour."), intimacy (e.g. "It is important for me to feel a close emotional connection with students."), bonding and sacrifice (e.g. "I make specific efforts to bond with students."), empathy (e.g. "I deliberately engage in daily kind acts towards my students in the context of my teaching."), forgiveness (e.g., "A student who asks for forgiveness should be granted it no matter what he or she has done."), and kindness (e.g. "Being kind to students is important to me.") in the pedagogic situation. Previous studies supported that the DTLP is a valid and reliable instrument (Yin, 2019; Zolfaghari et al., 2024). Items were rated on a Likert scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) through 4 (Strongly Agree). In the present study, the internal reliability of the DTLP through the assistance of Cronbach alpha turned out to be 0.91. 3.2.2. The Psychological Wellbeing at Work Scale (PWBW) Dagenais-Desmarais and Savoie (2012) created the psychological wellbeing at Work Scale (PWBW), and it has 25 items using a 6-point scale with items that are rated using a 5-point Likert rating from 0 (Disagree) through to a rating of 5 (Completely agree). The PWBW is a valid and reliable instrument in the assessment of the participants' PWB (Sandilya & Shahnawaz, 2018), and it comprises five underlying factors that include interpersonal fit at work (e.g., "I enjoy working with the people at my job."), thriving at work (e.g., "I am proud of the job I have."), feeling of competency at work (e.g., "I know I am capable of doing my job."), perceived recognition at work (e.g., "I feel that my work efforts are appreciated."), and desire for involvement at work (e.g., "I like to take on challenges in my work."). Previous studies had verified that the PWB is a valid and reliable instrument (Derakhshan et al., 2022). Good internal consistency in the current study has been rendered (α = 0. 91). 3.2.3. Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment Scale (FLTES) The Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment Scale (FLTES) proposed by Ergün and Dewaele (2021), was applied to assess FLTE of teachers. The scale comprises 9 items under three factors: personal enjoyment from FL teaching (e.g., "in the class, I feel proud of my achievement"), FL classroom student appreciation (e.g., "The students are friendly"), and social enjoyment from FL teaching (e.g., "We form a tight-knit group"). Items with a 5-point Likert range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) are placed in order. High internal consistency strength of the FLTES was identified (Azari Noughabi et al., 2022; Derakhshan et al., 2023; Ergün & Dewaele, 2021; Yang et al., 2023). In the present study, the reliability indicator of the FLTES calculated through Cronbach's alpha was 0.88. 3.3. Data Collection An online questionnaire with Google Forms was utilized and incorporated three validated instruments to assess LP, FLTE, and PWB. To reduce construct-irrelevant variation and attain linguistic consistency, questionnaire items in all the questionnaires were in English and were not translated from the first language of the participants. A snowball sampling procedure was utilized to recruit participants with the initial contacts referring other eligible peer colleagues. The survey link was distributed through commonly used online applications, that is, Telegram, WhatsApp, and by emailing it to cover a wide range of locations in Iran where the teachers worked. The survey started with demographic items necessary to obtain participants' background information. Directions were clear and given, and the participants were told the purpose of the study and that the responses would be kept confidential, consistent with the British Educational Research Association (2011) specified standards of ethics. 3.4. Data Analysis Upon completion of data collection, preliminary screening was conducted to verify that the dataset met the fundamental assumptions required for SEM. This included checks for sample size adequacy, normality of distribution, and absence of multicollinearity. To validate the measurement model, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed, ensuring the reliability and construct validity of the scales used. The SEM analysis followed using AMOS (version 24) to test the postulated relationships between LP, PWB, and FLTE at the hypothesized levels. Model fit assessment utilized a combination of well-established indices (the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)), set against the criteria proposed by Hu and Bentler (1995). Such cumulative analytical procedure allowed for a rigorous testing of structural relationships between the study's central constructs. 4. Results This section presents the findings related to the influence of psychological PWB and FLTE on the LP exhibited by Iranian EFL teachers. To address this inquiry, the collected data were initially screened using SPSS 27. The Outliers were removed using statistical methods to ensure data accuracy, and missing data were handled with the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, chosen for its ability to preserve data structure and produce reliable estimates without losing valuable information (Kline, 2011 ). Skewness and kurtosis values were calculated to assess normality, with acceptable values ranging between − 2.0 and + 2.0 (Kunnan, 1998 ). Univariate and multivariate outliers were identified using standard scores and Mahalanobis D², respectively (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007 ). After removing missing and non-normal values, as well as outliers, 201 valid responses remained for analysis out of the initial 300 responses. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then used to determine the construct validity of the model. The indices of goodness-of-fit validated that the models of measurement of LP, FLTE, and PWB measured well against the data. The reliability analysis of the items also presented Cronbach's alpha values of more than 0.70 for all the scales (see Table 2 ), showing acceptable internal consistency. Table 2 Measurement Model of the Latent Variables χ2 df χ2/df CMIN CFI TLI RMSEA alpha LP 311.5 209 1.491 .884 .919 .050 .912 TFLE 54.4 25 2.177 .963 .947 .077 .887 PWB 346.6 241 1.438 .943 .935 .047 .917 The descriptive statistics of the model's three components were calculated through the facilitation of regression imputation in computing weighted averages of each component. These statistics are presented in Table 3 . Table 3 Descriptive Statistics of the Components after Regression Imputation Min. Max. Mean SD Skewness Kurtosis LP 2.13 4.00 3.4305 .36181 − .941 .579 TFLE 2.56 5.00 4.4334 .53287 -1.272 1.453 PWB 1.96 4.00 3.5464 .38195 -1.662 3.256 The SEM analysis determined that FLTE and PWB significantly predicted LP. Specifically, FLTE became the strongest predictor of LP (β = .55, p < .001, R² = .186), while PWB also significantly predicted LP (β = .28, p = .005, R² = .009). The standardized covariance estimate presented high positive correlations among the three variables: LP and PWB (r = .568, p < .005), LP and FLTE (r = .690, p < .001), and FLTE and PWB (r = .671, p < .001). The fit indexes of the model also confirmed acceptable fit with the indexes of CFI = .918, TLI = .901, GFI = .918, and RMSEA = .077. The outcomes showed that while psychological PWB and FLTE are equally strong predictive indicators of LP, the explanatory power is small—especially for PWB (R² = .009). This suggests that LP is the result of other unmeasured factors. Some of the possible factors are institutional support, classroom environment, teacher identity, emotional intelligence, and relational processes that the model in the present study does not capture. These outcomes shed a light on the richness of LP and the value of future measurements in capturing broader contextual and interpersonal variables in order to more fully determine the development of LP. In summary, the SEM analysis conducted provided support for the contention that FLTE and PWB are valuable predictors of LP from Iranian EFL teachers with FLTE proving the strongest predictor in the relationship. These findings confirm the significance of teacher enjoyment and emotional wellbeing in the creation of a caring and empathetic teaching approach. 5. Discussion The results of this study present strong evidence supporting the predictive functions of PWB and FLTE in the formation of LP among Iranian EFL instructors. The SEM analyses indicated that the two constructs significantly predict LP with FLTE being the more powerful predictor. These results not only support the hypothesized model but also expand the domain of PP in SLA by applying emotional and relational aspects to pedagogic discourse. The status of FLTE as a predictor of LP is consistent with seminal contributions of Dewaele and MacIntyre ( 2014 , 2016 ), in that they theorized foreign language enjoyment to be a multifaceted emotional experience with roots in challenge, perceived ability, and sociality. Ergün and Dewaele ( 2021 ) advanced this construct another mile further with the introduction of FLTE with emphases placed on personal gratification, appreciation from the learners, and social interactions in the classroom environment. The present study is a replication of theirs in the respects that teacher-reported enjoyment and feelings of fulfillment from teaching are associated with emotionally responsive and empathic teaching behaviors. This reinforces the notion that enjoyment in teaching is more than the product of effective teaching but a motivation for the adoption of LP. The valuable contribution of PWB to LP also underlies the theoretical underpinnings of PP in the form of Seligman's (2011) PERMA model of positive wellbeing where positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment are the cornerstones of wellbeing. Educators possessing psychological wellness—the combination of autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance (Ryff, 1989 )—better facilitate the development of inclusive, emotionally intelligent learning environments. This is in accordance with the work of Mercer ( 2021 ), in favor of the ecological approach to teacher wellbeing owing to the dynamic interrelationship between personal factors, institutional factors, and relational factors in the establishment of the emotional health of educators. In addition, the study findings resonate with Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory (2001), that is, the positive feelings expand the thought-action repertoires of individuals and construct long-term personal resources. When we consider the application of the study to language teaching, the enjoyment and PWB of the teacher put them in a more advantageous situation to express kindness, empathy, and forgiveness—natures of LP (Loreman, 2011 ; Yin et al., 2019 ). These emotional dispositions not only reinforce the relationships of teacher-learners but also sustain the learners' academic participation and emotional development (Zhao & Li, 2021 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). The found correlations between LP, FLTE, and PWB support the interconnectedness of the affective constructs in teaching contexts. The high relationship between FLTE and LP (r = .690, p < .001) implies that enjoyment is a driving force of love-related teaching behaviors. Such a result is supported by Zolfaghari et al.'s ( 2024 ) study showing that FLTE and L2 grit significantly determine teachers' attitudes toward LP. Likewise, Derakhshan et al.'s ( 2023 ) study reported that wellbeing, resilience, and FLTE collectively determine teachers' emotional involvement and creativity and confirm the proposed integrative model in the present study. Notably, the study remedies a biggap in SLA scholarship by positioning PWB and FLTE as antecedents—rather than consequences—of LP. The previous studies overwhelmingly presented the former constructs as markers of teacher effectiveness or job satisfaction (Greenier et al., 2021 ; Madigan & Kim, 2021 ), but the present study does not rule out the possibility of them playing an active role in shaping pedagogic orientation. By specifying the directional relationships between the variables, the study presents a new paradigm in explaining the correlates of emotional and psychological resources with instructional philosophy and classroom discipline. The Iranian cultural context provides additional depth to these results. Commenting on the existing discussions of love in education, Barcelos and Coelho ( 2016 ) observed that the conversations are frequently limited by cultural and moral sensitivities. Iranian EFL teachers' positive valuing found in this study implies that they are in a position to embed emotional care into teaching practices despite the restrictions, with the assistance of psychological well-being and enjoyment in the profession. The present study reveals the significance of culturally sensitive interventions that support teacher well-being and emotional investment in varied teaching contexts. Further, the present study has implications for teacher education and in-service teacher education. Training that centers on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and self-regulation—of the kind proposed by Dewaele et al. (2018) and Mercer ( 2021 )—has the potential to bolster teacher ability to deliver LP. By promoting a context where teacher well-being, acknowledgement, and agency hold center stage, teaching establishments can build a culture of care and relational depth in the language classroom. 6. Conclusion This study investigated the predictive capacities of PWB and FLTE in the development of LP in Iranian EFL teachers. With the adoption of the ideas of PP and the application of SEM, the findings recognized that PWB and FLTE separately significantly predict the adoption of LP with FLTE being a stronger predictor. These results present the benefit of emotional and psychological capital in the development of teaching methods guided by empathy, care, and relationship depth. The study contribution is in positioning PWB and FLTE not only as outcomes of successful teaching but antecedents that directly impact pedagogic orientation and processes in the classroom. The implications of these outcomes are multi-faceted. From a teacher education perspective, teacher education courses should involve preparation in emotional intelligence, awareness, and regulation of the self in support of teacher capability in LP. Schools and policy-makers also must consider teacher enjoyment and wellbeing through the creation of a positive work environment that engenders autonomy, a sense of being recognized and acknowledged, and emotional satisfaction. Moreover, curriculum developers should consider cross-weaving affective elements into teacher education in a foreign/second language in support of a more whole and person-centred approach to teaching. These interventions might each sustain a culture of care and relational connection in foreign/second-language education. Although the present study provides insightful information about the emotional basis of LP, a few restrictions ought to be taken into account. To begin with, the sample included only Iranian EFL instructors and hence might restrict the transferability of the results to additional cultural or linguistic situations. Such constructs like LP pinpoint the cultural norms and sensitivities and hence get interpreted differently across education systems and sociocultural situations. Second, the cross-sectional design limits the ability to see development processes or causality between PWB, FLTE, and LP. Longitudinal studies would be more appropriate in explaining the dynamic development of each of the above constructs and the dynamic relationships between them in the teacher professionals' development trajectories. Third, the researcher depended entirely on self-report measures, and hence the risk of social desirability bias and subjectively induced inaccuracy looms. Such a methodological approach might well have exaggerated correlations between variables, especially between FLTE and LP, owing to common method bias—whereby shared formats of measurements lead to spuriously high associations. In addition, though FLTE and PWB were found to be important contributors to LP, explanatory power was low, especially for PWB. Since the very strong correlative relationship between FLTE and PWB (r = .671) is present, the risk of multicollinearity and the concomitant loss of the precision of each contributor is present. It is also likely that a set of unmeasured variables—i.e., institutional support, classroom environment, emotional regulation, and teacher identity—constribute to LP but are not reflected in the current model. To build upon the current findings, future research should employ longitudinal designs in order to examine the growth of PWB and FLTE over time and long-term participation in LP. Cross-cultural studies are also needed in order to examine the universality and cultural specificity of the constructs in varied educational settings. With the application of mixed-methods strategies that integrate quantitative knowledge with qualitative comprehension—such as interviews or classroom interactions—the experience and practice of LP by the teacher would be further refined. Further work ought to test other variables that moderate and mediate the relationships between the variables at stake, like emotional control, organizational support and teacher identity, in order to uncover a more refined comprehension of the processes of emotionally responsive teaching. In a nutshell, the present study is one of a growing set of studies that put the emotional underpinnings of successful teaching center stage. By highlighting the contributions of PWB and FLTE to the development of LP, it establishes a template for the development of more empathetic, motivated, and resilient professionals in foreign language teaching. Declarations Acknowledgments: The authors would like to express sincere gratitude to the participants who generously shared their time and insights throughout the study. Special thanks are extended to the academic advisors and reviewers whose constructive feedback helped refine the manuscript. Author(s) contribution: The first author of the study designed the study and wrote the introduction and results sections. The second author collected data, analyzed data and wrote the literature review section. The third author collected data and wrote the discussion and conclusion sections. All authors proofread the manuscript. Funding: The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. Data availability statement: The data for present study will be available upon reasonable request. Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hakim Sabzevari University for the ethical conduct of research involving human participants. All procedures were carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki Research involving human participants The research involved EFL teacher participants. Informed consent was obtained prior to their participation, and additional consent was secured directly from the teachers at the time of the survey to confirm their voluntary involvement. Informed consent Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the commencement of the study. Consent for publication All participants provided informed consent for the publication of anonymized data and findings derived from this study. No identifying personal information is included in the published material Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. References Acton, R., & Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher Wellbeing in Neoliberal Contexts: A Review of the Literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education , 40 (8), 99–114. Acton, R., & Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher wellbeing in neoliberal contexts: A review of the literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (8), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n8.6 Amirian, S. M. R., Masjedi, H., & Amirian, S. (2021). Reflections on English as a foreign language teacher burnout risk factors: The interplay of multiple variables. Applied Research on English Language, 10 (1), 33–50. https://doi.org/10.22108/ARE.2020.121006.1613 Azari Noughabi, M., Fekri, N., & Kazemkhah Hasankiadeh, F. (2022). The contribution of psychological wellbeing and emotion-regulation to foreign language teaching enjoyment. Frontiers in Psychology, 13 , 889133. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.889133 Azari Noughabi, M., Yüce, E., & Fekri, N. (2024). Developing foreign language teacher enjoyment among Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers: A cross-cultural study. System, 123 , 103308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.103308 Barbieri, B., Sulis, I., Porcu, M., & Toland, M. D. (2019). Italian teachers' well-being within the high school context: Evidence from a large-scale survey. Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , 1926. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01926 Barcelos, A. M. F. (2020). Revolutionary love and peace in the construction of an English teacher’s professional identity. In Peacebuilding in Language Education (pp. 96–109). Multilingual Matters. Barcelos, A. M. F., & Coelho, H. S. H. (2016). Language learning and teaching: What’s love got to do with it? In P. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive Psychology in SLA (pp. 97–130). Multilingual Matters. Benevene, P., De Stasio, S., & Fiorilli, C. (2020). Well-being of school teachers in their work environment. Frontiers in Psychology, 11 , 1239. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01239 British Educational Research Association. (2011). Ethical guidelines for educational research . https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/bera-ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2011 Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Steca, P., & Malone, P. S. (2006). Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of job satisfaction and students’ academic achievement: A study at the school level. Journal of School Psychology, 44 (6), 473–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.09.001 Chambers Mack, J., Johnson, A., Jones‐Rincon, A., Tsatenawa, V., & Howard, K. (2019). Why do teachers leave? A comprehensive occupational health study evaluating intent‐to‐quit in public school teachers. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 24 (1), e12160. https://doi.org/10.1111/jabr.12160 Chen, X., Guo, S., Zhao, X., Fekri, N., & Azari Noughabi, M. (2024). The interplay among Chinese EFL teachers’ enthusiasm, engagement, and foreign language teaching enjoyment: A structural equation modelling approach. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 9 (1), 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-024-00139-6 Dagenais-Desmarais, V., & Savoie, A. (2012). What is psychological well-being, really? A grassroots approach from the organizational sciences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13 , 659–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9282-4 Day, C., & Qing, G. (2009). Teacher emotions: Wellbeing and effectiveness. In P. A. Schutz & M. Zembylas (Eds.), Advances in Teacher Emotion Research: The Impact on Teachers’ Lives (pp. 15–31). Springer. Derakhshan, A., Dewaele, J. M., & Noughabi, M. A. (2022). Modeling the contribution of resilience, well-being, and L2 grit to foreign language teaching enjoyment among Iranian English language teachers. System, 109 , 102890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102890 Derakhshan, A., Greenier, V., & Fathi, J. (2023). Exploring the interplay between a loving pedagogy, creativity, and work engagement among EFL/ESL teachers: A multinational study. Current Psychology , 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04534-6 Dewaele, J. M., & Alfawzan, M. (2018). Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8 (1), 21–45. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.2 Dewaele, J. M., & Li, C. (2018). Miyahara editorial: Special issue emotions in SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8 (1), 15–19. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.1 Dewaele, J. M., & Li, C. (2020). Emotions in second language acquisition: A critical review and research agenda. Foreign Language World, 196 (1), 34–49. Dewaele, J. M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4 (2), 237–274. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.5 Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2016). Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: The right and left feet of the language learner. In P. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive Psychology in SLA (pp. 215–236). Multilingual Matters. Ergün, A. L., & Dewaele, J.-M. (2021). Do well-being and resilience predict the foreign language teaching enjoyment of teachers of Italian? System, 99 , Article 102506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102506 Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56 , 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218 Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed (Rev. ed.). Continuum. Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach . Westview Press. Greenier, V., Derakhshan, A., & Fathi, J. (2021). Emotion regulation and psychological well-being in teacher work engagement: A case of British and Iranian English language teachers. System, 97 , 102446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102446 Grimmer, T. (2021). Developing a loving pedagogy in the early years: How love fits with professional practice . Routledge. Halpin, D. (2009). Pedagogy and romantic love. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 17 (1), 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681360902742843 Hofstadler, N., Babic, S., Lämmerer, A., Mercer, S., & Oberdorfer, P. (2021). The ecology of CLIL teachers in Austria: An ecological perspective on CLIL teachers’ wellbeing. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15 (3), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2020.1739050 Jin, J., Mercer, S., Babic, S., & Mairitsch, A. (2021). Understanding the ecology of foreign language teacher wellbeing. In K. Budzińska & O. Majchrzak (Eds.), Positive psychology in second and foreign language education (pp. 19–38). Springer. Jodaei, H., Zareian, G., Amirian, M. R., & Adel, S. M. R. (2018). From the state of motivated to demotivated: Iranian military EFL learners' motivation change. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 15 (1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.1.3.32 Keyes, C. L., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82 (6), 1007–1022. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007 Kline, R. B. (2011). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In M. Williams & W. Vogt (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of innovation in social research methods (pp. 562–589). SAGE Publications Ltd. Kunnan, A. J. (1998). An introduction to structural equation modelling for language assessment research. Language Testing, 15 (3), 295–332. https://doi.org/10.1177/026553229801500302 Loreman, T. (2011). Love as pedagogy . Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-484-3 MacIntyre, P. (2021). Exploring applications of positive psychology in SLA. In K. Budzińska & O. Majchrzak (Eds.), Positive psychology in second and foreign language education (pp. 17–34). Springer. MacIntyre, P. D., Gregersen, T., & Mercer, S. (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: Theory, practice, and research. The Modern Language Journal, 103 (1), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12544 Madigan, D. J., & Kim, L. E. (2021). Towards an understanding of teacher attrition: A meta-analysis of burnout, job satisfaction, and teachers’ intentions to quit. Teaching and Teacher Education, 105 , 103425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103425 Manasia, L., Pârvan, A., & Macovei, M. (2020). Towards a model of teacher well-being from a positive emotions perspective. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 10 (1), 469–496. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe10010035 Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality . Harper & Row. Mercer, S. (2020). The wellbeing of language teachers in the private sector: An ecological perspective. Language Teaching Research . https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820973510 Mercer, S. (2021). An agenda for well-being in ELT: An ecological perspective. ELT Journal, 75 (1), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa062 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52 (1), 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141 Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57 (6), 1069–1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069 Sandilya, G., & Shahnawaz, G. (2018). Index of psychological well-being at work—Validation of tool in the Indian organizational context. Vision, 22 (2), 174–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262918767044 Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being . Free Press. Sulis, G., Mercer, S., Mairitsch, A., Babic, S., & Shin, S. (2021). Pre-service language teacher wellbeing as a complex dynamic system. System, 103 , 102642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102642 Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Experimental designs using ANOVA (Vol. 724). Thomson/Brooks/Cole. Talbot, K., & Mercer, S. (2018). Exploring university ESL/EFL teachers’ emotional well-being and emotional regulation in the United States, Japan and Austria. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41 (4), 410–432. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2018-0030 Thorsteinsen, K., & Vittersø, J. (2020). Now you see it, now you don’t: Solid and subtle differences between hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15 (4), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789701 Thumvichit, A. (2022). Enjoyment in language teaching: A study into EFL teachers’ subjectivities. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching . https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0087 Virtanen, T. E., Vaaland, G. S., & Ertesvag, S. K. (2019). Associations between observed patterns of classroom interactions and teacher wellbeing in lower secondary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77 , 240–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.013 Wang, Y., Derakhshan, A., & Pan, Z. (2022). Positioning an agenda on a loving pedagogy in second language acquisition: Conceptualization, practice, and research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13 , 861403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.861403 Yang, S., Azari Noughabi, M., Botes, E., & Dewaele, J. M. (2023). Let's get positive: How foreign language teaching enjoyment can create a positive feedback loop. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 13 (1), 17–38. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2023.13.1.2 Yin, L. C., Loreman, T., Abd Majid, R., & Alias, A. (2019). The dispositions towards loving pedagogy (DTLP) scale: Instrument development and demographic analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86 , 102884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102884 Zhao, S., & Li, M. (2021). Reflection on loving pedagogy and students' engagement in EFL/ESL classrooms. Frontiers in Psychology, 12 , 757697. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757697 Zhi, R., & Wang, Y. (2023). English as a foreign language teachers’ professional success, loving pedagogy and creativity: A structural equation modeling approach. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 49 , 101370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101370 Zolfaghari, S., Masoumi, M., Azari Noughabi, M., Barkati, M., & Akbari Ghanbarabadi, A. (2024). Modeling the contribution of L2 grit and foreign language teaching enjoyment to EFL teachers’ loving pedagogy. English Teaching & Learning , 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-024-00123-5 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 01 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 17 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 17 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 16 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7605192","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":528012834,"identity":"689f7bff-f5fa-4f2f-b36a-b00685c808c4","order_by":0,"name":"Seyed Mohammad Reza Amirian","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+QYQacDAw8DAfAwqxtiAV4vBAbgWtjQitSCYPGbEOcxA7ADjpxsF92T4Z/d8e/izjUGev4G57QM+LfKzE5ilcwyKeSTunN1uzNvGYDjjAGPzDLzW3E5gAGpJ4GG4kbtNmrGNgXEDA2MzfpfdTmD+DdIifyPnmSTQYfbEaGED22JwI4dNAuiwRIJaDG4ntlmDtBjeSDOT5jknkTzjMAEt8rOTD9/O+ZNgL3cj+ZnkjzIb2/729sf4HYYWcRLAVEBAwygYBaNgFIwCwgAAgndA/nRaSjkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Hakim Sabzevari University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Seyed","middleName":"Mohammad Reza","lastName":"Amirian","suffix":""},{"id":528012835,"identity":"84444366-85e9-4993-94c2-c8b8eab1a68e","order_by":1,"name":"Fatemeh Akbari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hakim Sabzevari University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fatemeh","middleName":"","lastName":"Akbari","suffix":""},{"id":528012836,"identity":"1ba2c984-c968-4259-b706-5e57c366e3df","order_by":2,"name":"Zahra Bayat","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hakim Sabzevari University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zahra","middleName":"","lastName":"Bayat","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-13 06:53:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93544326,"identity":"d6065915-933e-4011-856f-ddf36fb8f92f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":252541,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Finalrevisedmanuscript.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/b72836bbddaa40c457f69fa9.docx"},{"id":93543861,"identity":"f491bc55-70d3-40d6-98f5-48431298eaa1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5021,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"5a4d95974fc64a84a7ce172a4c739207.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/baccb43a8d541bddb5fb7e2f.json"},{"id":93544329,"identity":"2db9c00a-69e1-419f-8466-f47df434db76","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"xml","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":140553,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"5a4d95974fc64a84a7ce172a4c7392071enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/eba6ca7becc90cdab6ebf064.xml"},{"id":93543864,"identity":"01388f50-9f20-4fd9-8dc2-eccf76c1b3c1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"jpeg","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":30518,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/8fb956d261b028fb41cdc9bc.jpeg"},{"id":93543863,"identity":"8aed2ef2-6d48-4eac-a54f-9549dcef0060","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"jpeg","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":24410,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/644a33ae1c4dd674889d6a35.jpeg"},{"id":93543870,"identity":"3542a16a-2e14-47af-b677-ab6c4f883910","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"jpeg","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":38149,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/e7760720cf7ca343d6af334f.jpeg"},{"id":93543872,"identity":"7fef767d-c464-4bc2-83d2-22e51d0bb89e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"jpeg","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1074,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/61b713c3d351e0e645a67fb7.jpeg"},{"id":93544334,"identity":"6277494f-56cb-458b-af3e-b323232e3a5f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":108939,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/2e81aad7ea4509d5c2f77258.png"},{"id":93544330,"identity":"955bb7b4-695c-4983-b8a0-bacab5178068","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":7440,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/73e975dec468b6e41b8e4e59.png"},{"id":93543874,"identity":"edc8e9e4-f072-44a9-b3fc-0bca7ea23b18","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"png","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5845,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/2941aeb323985911068d733d.png"},{"id":93543866,"identity":"bf5d2eb9-da60-4bc7-9d48-5cb50ca4c951","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"png","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":9047,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/dd3e6878770ef6642833c25d.png"},{"id":93544332,"identity":"8635e9a2-8e1b-46f5-b0a4-f60bf289bf66","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"png","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":935,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/0d17aec3dff0394b05da1438.png"},{"id":93543875,"identity":"2d40391d-5b00-4c65-8c6c-02b46e279cc7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"png","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":30422,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/c7df22db95d8bca8cf81b144.png"},{"id":93543873,"identity":"4342fcff-2c07-4c69-8239-54d3a4762b91","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"xml","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":138299,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"5a4d95974fc64a84a7ce172a4c7392071structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/4c94bd271b1449b0fcf8519e.xml"},{"id":93543877,"identity":"c74168d4-d067-4b48-b9a2-47c631d61485","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"html","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":146842,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/7c0acaba9125c4d4457a0945.html"},{"id":93543860,"identity":"2e0355ed-12d7-415e-998e-93eab7a6fcbb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:45:18","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":35333,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Hypothesized Model of PWB, FLTE, and LP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/31792e466a934709db99d470.jpg"},{"id":93544328,"identity":"c28ae035-7749-4b37-86ec-febd6619f21d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 02:53:18","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":121948,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe SEM Model of PWB, FLTE, and LP\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/5a9abe1949d2bfd3238ab710.jpg"},{"id":93544872,"identity":"91d1d7b4-fca8-4840-b898-8e6d82af56ca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 03:01:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":921987,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7605192/v1/5e4abb54-31a4-45a1-8c24-a36998201a40.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Modeling the Contribution of Foreign Language Wellbeing and Teaching Enjoyment to Loving Pedagogy among Iranian English Language Teachers","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the recent years, PP has made a significant contribution to the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) by shifting the attention from deficit-models to creating positive affective experiences in language learning (Dewaele \u0026amp; Li, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; MacIntyre, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Centered around PP is the concept that allowing teachers to employ their personal strengths might boost teachers' professional resilience and overall quality of life (MacIntyre et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Within this model, LP has been an optimistic construct grounded in empathy, relational depth, and emotional care in the classroom (Wang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Loreman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). LP not only conforms to PP's vision of human flourishing but is also a protective mechanism against the emotional toll of teaching\u0026mdash;a profession that is highly stressful, burned out, and low on wellbeing (Mercer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Greenier et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite greater attention to the affective dimensions of teaching, LP has not been well-researched in SLA research. For instance, Derakhshan et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) examined the interplay between LP, creativity, and work engagement in EFL settings; ironically, LP was used as a predictor variable in their study. However, their research did not apply SEM, nor considered PWB as a necessary predictor. Similarly, Zolfaghari et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) modeled the role of L2 grit and FLTE towards LP without considering educators' overall emotional and psychological wellbeing. Grit and enjoyment are affective constructs that are convenient to use but fail to capture the richness of holistic wellbeing that could inform loving pedagogical practice. Therefore, psychological well-being is an important but neglected predictor in existing models of LP (Zhi and Wang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTeaching, being an emotionally challenging profession, requires more than resiliency\u0026mdash;it requires pedagogical practice that fosters teachers' emotional engagement and occupational well-being (Greenier et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Mercer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The significance of LP becomes especially acute when set against the context of PWB\u0026mdash;a construct consisting of multiple dimensions of emotional states, cognitive appraisal, and behavioral responses to occupational stressors (Virtanen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).LP, in its care- and relational orientation, offers not only an educational theory but also safeguarding against burnout as well as a path towards improved well-being. Since its affective nature, there is a strong belief that LP and PWB share a considerable correlation (Virtanen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). However, according to Derakhshan et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), LP still has not been properly incorporated into models predicting the psychological determinants of teacher sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAspects such as job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, resilience, and purpose have emerged to influence instructional effectiveness, as well as the quality of interpersonal relationships among individuals in learning environments (Acton \u0026amp; Glasgow, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Caprara et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e; Madigan \u0026amp; Kim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Empirical data equally bear witness to this association, with PWB emerging to be a strong predictor of FLTE, together with resilience and L2 grit (Derakhshan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Based on this, FLTE, or social and personal joy the teacher experiences within the school context, is increasingly considered central to the emotional well-being of foreign language teachers (Erg\u0026uuml;n \u0026amp; Dewaele, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Highly FLTE teachers report greater happiness, greater professional identity, and higher PWB scores, which subsequently contribute to motivation, investment, and job satisfaction (Erg\u0026uuml;n \u0026amp; Dewaele, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Manasia et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile conceptually significant, PWB and FLTE have been designed primarily as outcomes and not predictive antecedents of LP in educational research. This conceptual error is meant to highlight a critical omission in our existing knowledge of how affective constructs such as PWB and FLTE can play an active role in the adoption of LP. To bridge this, the present research sets up the contribution of PWB and FLTE to LP in Iranian English language instructors according to the theoretical foundation of PP.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Literature Review","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1. Loving Pedagogy\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe LP concept is derived from Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs, in which love has been established as a human need. In school contexts, however, its definition is flexible and discipline dependent and therefore must be operationally defined. LP, as an emerging construct rooted in PP (Barcelos \u0026amp; Coelho, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), centers on the relational and affective aspect of teaching. Support offered by Barcelos (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) shows that teachers who follow this idea have deep commitment to their profession, cultivate close and inviting classroom environments, and always practice empathy and sympathy in their interactions with the learners. Yin et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) highlight that strong teaching is more than learning from books\u0026mdash;it thrives in an encouraging context that extends the emotional well-being, social maturity, and classroom communication of students.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaulo Freire (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e) stressed that successful pedagogy has to move beyond the simple transmission of knowledge to intrinsic emotional and holistic growth. Paulo Freire (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e) famously declared that \"it is not possible to be a teacher without loving one's students,\" (p.84) defining love as the spark of solidarity, justice, and social change. Further, he famously declared that \"loving is not enough; one must know how to love\" (p. 82), highlighting the deliberate and proficient exercise of love in teaching. In support of that perspective, Seligman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) reflected on the pivotal role of love in academic flourishing and Zhao and Li (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), in interpreting the construct in foreign/second-language education contexts, linked it with teacher empathy and kindness and sensitivity towards the emotional and academic progress of students.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTerminologically, LP has been used synonymously with \"pedagogy of love\" or \"pedagogical love\" (Halpin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Yin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). While the terms hold fine-grained meanings, they agree in the ideal that productive pedagogy is care, sensitivity, and emotional awareness of students' development needs. Loreman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) framed LP as a combination of emotional qualities\u0026mdash;passion, kindness, empathy, intimacy, and community\u0026mdash;that are expressed through collaborative classroom practice and robust teacher-student relationships. Wang et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) put additional emphasis on teacher respect for students' internal states and varied personalities and proposed that LP cultivates socio-emotional wellbeing, students' motivation and engagement, and achievement.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmpirical studies increasingly supported the importance of LP in teaching contexts. Yin et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) created the Disposition towards a Loving Pedagogy (DTLP) scale to gauge pre-service teacher perceptions and affirmed its usefulness in operationalizing LP. Extension of this work included Derakhshan et al.'s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) investigation of the psychometric validity of the scale and relationships with EFL/ESL teacher creativity and work engagement. Their results showed that though LP foretells work engagement, it is more significantly associated with teaching for the purpose of creativity. Zolfaghari et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) illustrated similarly that EFL teacher L2 grit and FLTE notably determine attitudes toward DTLP. In a comparable study, Zhi and Wang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) utilized structural equation models to illustrate that LP directly foretells professional success in Chinese EFL teacher professionals and that risk taking, originality, flexibility, and elaboration quasi-mediate the relationship in terms of a pro-creativity teaching strategy. Zhao and Li (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) further supported the importance of LP by positioning it as a student-centered teaching approach that embodies emotional attachment and learner engagement but observed that it is overlooked owing to moral and professionally sensitive considerations. Exploring in greater depth the contribution of love to the deployment of pedagogies in foreign language education has the potential to greatly benefit the overall wellbeing of both teacher and learner (Barcelos \u0026amp; Coelho, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn spite of these encouraging results, studies on LP are meager, especially in SLA. Ethno-cultural taboos often suppress open discussion of love in the learning environment (Barcelos \u0026amp; Coelho, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), and therefore it is underrepresented in conventional pedagogic scholarship. Wang et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) recently underlined the importance of LP in the scholarship of SLA and advocated increased exploration of the root causes of LP among EFL practitioners. With the additional empirical support of LP favorably affecting the learners' scholarship and emotional health (Wang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Zhao \u0026amp; Li, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), future researchers ought to explore the role that constructs of the sort of PWB and FLTE play in encouraging teacher uptake of love-infused teaching styles in culturally varied EFL contexts. Such exploration is necessary in order to foster more inclusive, emotional, and transformative language teaching.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2. Psychological Wellbeing\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003ePWB is described as an \"individual's awareness that he or she has, or will have, a meaningful and self-fulfilling life\" (Keyes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e, p. 5). The concept is especially relevant to teachers because emotional experience has a great bearing on the mental health and wellbeing of such professionals (Day \u0026amp; Qing, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). Whether defined in a different way, PWB is normally studied through the medium of three approaches: the hedonic model, in terms of happiness and life satisfaction (Thorsteinsen \u0026amp; Vitters\u0026oslash;, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e); the eudaimonic model, in terms of personal growth and self-actualisation; and the interactive model, in terms of a combination of the other two and the assertion that the other two are linked and both conduce to overall wellbeing (Ryan \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on the model of Ryff (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e), psychological wellbeing consists of six fundamental dimensions: autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, positive relationships, and personal growth. These factors represent a person's capability to live autonomously, strive towards useful purposes, adapt successfully to the environment, accept oneself, form useful social relationships, and keep developing oneself. Seligman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) suggests that wellbeing is a construct core to PP and consists of five quantifiable factors: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment (the PERMA model). In this framework, the emotional experiences play a central role in the formation of the psychological state of teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the increased role of PP in teacher scholarship, present-day needs and future demands more center around the complex nature of teacher PWB (Mercer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). There exists a vast body of empirical research that identifies teacher wellbeing is linked with job satisfaction (Barbieri et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), teaching enjoyment (Erg\u0026uuml;n \u0026amp; Dewaele, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), and work involvement (Greenier et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). However, challenges that come in the form of poor control of emotions, low-esteem, and limited linguistic capacity are observed to have negative implications on the wellbeing of EFL professionals (Talbot \u0026amp; Mercer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). These outcomes assume a special relevance in the shadow of the stressful environment of TEFL that frequently results in burn-out and elevated levels of stress (Derakhshan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmotional experiences are central in the development of teachers' psychological health. Positive feelings of joy, pride, and gratitude have been linked with greater motivation (Benevene et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), job satisfaction (Jin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), and overall wellbeing (Benevene et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Conversely, negative emotional experiences of stress, anxiety, and frustration are associated with burnout (Chambers Mack et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), weakened performance (Madigan \u0026amp; Kim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), and poor health (Chambers Mack et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Hofstadler et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), taking an ecological approach, examined CLIL teacher wellbeing in Austria and found that workload, time pressure, and institutional lack of support were key stressors. The study also highlighted the beneficial effect of teacher colleague relationships and student rapport on teacher wellbeing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExtending this ecological approach, Mercer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) has called for a holistic framework of wellbeing encouragement in English Language Teaching (ELT). He stressed the value of looking at the varied and intersecting factors affecting the psychological state of the teacher and suggested individually adapted interventions that foster a favorable professional culture. Supplementing this perspective, Dewaele et al. (2018) identified that the development of emotional intelligence in EFL teachers has a considerable positive effect on their professional wellbeing and that internal psychological resources are no less important than external support systems.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther empirical evidence underscores the detrimental effect of structural and environmental challenges on teacher wellbeing. MacIntyre et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) discovered that budget pressures and excessive workloads are among the causes of higher stress and burnout in the profession of language education. Similarly, Amirian et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) discovered that negative workplace environments and burdensome tasks were at the core of teacher burnout. Talbot and Mercer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) reinforced that conclusion that wellbeing hinders the capability of teachers to focus and effectively execute the duties of the profession.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is also a recent body of literature considering the dynamic and systemic effects of teacher wellbeing. In a mixed-methods design, Sulis et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) examined the wellbeing of pre-service trainees in languages and found it to be shaped by the dynamic interactions between personal dispositions, study demands, support from social networks, and self-regulating strategies. These studies collectively open up the complex set of factors that impact the psychological health of language teachers and the importance of building a wellbeing culture in the community of ELT professionals (Mercer, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2. Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn line with the principles of PP, Dewaele and MacIntyre (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e) put forward the construct of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), and characterized it as \"a complex emotion, capturing interacting dimensions of challenge and perceived ability that reflect human drive for success in the face of difficult tasks\" (Dewaele \u0026amp; MacIntyre, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e, p. 216). The construct has been the inspiration for a line of work that has focused on the positive emotional experiences of foreign language learners and foreign language teachers (Dewaele \u0026amp; Alfawzan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Nonetheless, while foreign learner enjoyment has been the beneficiary of quite a bit of empirical attention, foreign language teachers' positive emotional experiences\u0026mdash;that is, enjoyment included\u0026mdash;still represent a fairly underexamined area of scholarship (Derakhshan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo address this lacuna, Erg\u0026uuml;n and Dewaele (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) conceptualized Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment (FLTE) as a multidimensional construct that embraces social enjoyment in the teaching environment, personal teaching job satisfaction, and appreciation of students. In the EFL teaching context, FLTE is a measure of the emotional investment of teachers in the job and social relationships with students. The authors developed a nine-item scale to assess FLTE and validated it with psychological constructs such as wellbeing and resilience in a small-scale study of 174 English teachers. Their findings were that wellbeing and FLTE were significantly predicted and that resilience became a more powerful predictor of FLTE. Moreover, demographic factors such as gender and teaching experience turned out to determine FLTE and underscored the contribution of personal and situational variables in the formation of teacher emotional experience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther studies have prolonged this line of research by examining more psychological correlates of FLTE. Derakhshan et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), using SEM, examined the relationships between Iranian EFL teachers' resilience, psychological wellbeing, L2 grit, and FLTE. Their findings showed that FLTE was significantly predicted by teachers' domain-specific grit, engagement, and wellbeing. In a similar line of work, Azari Noughabi et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) looked into the predictive functions of emotion regulation and psychological wellbeing in forming Iranian EFL teachers' FLTE and found that both variables were highly contributing factors. These results collectively illustrate the significance of internal psychological sources in developing teaching enjoyment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSubsequent studies reinforced the developmental and contextual aspects of FLTE. Azari Noughabi et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) examined the experience and development of enjoyment in teaching among Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers and proposed that attending to the emotional and contextual needs of teachers would bolster FLTE and contribute to better learning outcomes among students. This viewpoint is consistent with the larger contention that teacher enjoyment is not only crucial for professionals' job satisfaction but also a driver of stimulating and efficient learning spaces.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe contribution of FLTE to teacher enthusiasm and burnout reduction has also been studied in more recent research. Chen et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) applied SEM to analyze enthusiasm predictors among Chinese EFL teachers and found work engagement and FLTE to be the most important ones. Their results support the idea that the encouragement of enjoyment and engagement among teachers results in enthusiasm and is crucial to successful teaching and favorable student achievement. Yang et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) found in a similar study that FLTE is responsible for a positive feedback cycle \u0026ndash; it strengthens teacher engagement and minimizes burnout. The authors stressed the role of mindfulness as a powerful mediator and informed that mindful teachers are more prone to enjoy teaching and feel job satisfaction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eQualitative studies continued to enrich the knowledge of FLTE through the recording of teachers' personal experiences. Thumvichit (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) examined Thai EFL teachers' experiences of enjoyment and found four thematic aspects: intrinsic elements, external factors, methods of teaching, and students' reactions. Encouraging responses from the students increased motivation and emotional health, a result supported by Jodaei et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), whereas discouraging responses suppressed enjoyment. Notably, the study found that FLTE is a dynamic construct and changes in reaction to factors like the size of the class, attitudes of the learners, and workload.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, since LP is a quite recent concept itself, limited studies have been carried out to account for the factors contributing to LP development in foreign language teaching. LP, with its roots in PP, centers empathy, care, and emotional connection in teaching and has been shown to foster teacher and learner wellbeing (Barcelos \u0026amp; Coelho, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). While existing educational scholarship has examined collections of psychological constructs, in our acquaintance no study has yet encapsuled the three interconnected constructs of LP, PWB, and FLTE in an integrated framework. The theoretical lacuna pinpoints the promise of future empirical studies that probe relationships between the constructs in an examination of the development of the teacher's emotional resilience, the teacher's teaching efficacy, and the relational patterns of the teacher in EFL contexts.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis discrepancy is especially pertinent in culturally complex learning environments like Iran where conversations about emotional constructs like love might be undertheorized or culturally sensitive. Bridging this intersection is of paramount importance in developing integrated educational processes that center the emotional well-being of teacher-learners as a condition of successful teaching and learning achievement. In order to bridge this discrepancy, this research effort centers on explaining the interconnections between LP, PWB, and FLTE. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e visually captures the postulated model, showing the directional relationships between LP, PWB, and FLTE. The framework brings together three positive psychological constructs that collectively have not been studied in a solitary empirical study in the foreign language education domain.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis paper seeks to answer the following research question.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRQ: To what extent do psychological wellbeing (PWB) and foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE) contribute to loving pedagogy (LP) of Iranian EFL teachers? Which one is a stronger predictor of LP?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Method","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParticipants\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study sample comprised 201 Iranian EFL teachers from various provinces across the country, all of whom held academic degrees in English Language Teaching or closely related disciplines such as English Translation and English Literature. These educators were employed in a range of instructional settings, including state schools, private language institutes, and universities, reflecting the diversity of Iran\u0026rsquo;s educational landscape. Participants\u0026rsquo; ages ranged from 20 to 59 years, with teaching experience spanning 3 to 32 years, thereby encompassing both novice and veteran professionals. To ensure ethical integrity, all participants provided informed consent prior to data collection. Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the sample, including gender distribution, academic specialization, degree level, and institutional affiliation. Specifically, the sample included 85 male and 116 female teachers; the majority majored in English Language Teaching (n = 127), followed by English Translation (n = 66) and English Literature (n = 8). In terms of academic qualifications, 53 held a Bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree, 110 a Master\u0026rsquo;s, and 38 a Ph.D. Regarding teaching context, 161 participants worked in language institutes, 29 in schools, and 11 in universities. This heterogeneous sample provides a robust foundation for investigating the contributions of PWB and FLTE to the enactment of LP. The inclusion of teachers with varied professional backgrounds, academic credentials, and institutional roles enhances the generalizability and contextual relevance of the study\u0026rsquo;s findings.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDemographic Information of the Participants\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 309px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVariables\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 99px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFrequency\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 309px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGender\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 99px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e85\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e116\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 309px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMajor\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnglish Language Teaching\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnglish Language Translation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnglish Language Literature\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 99px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e127\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e66\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 309px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAcademic degree\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBachelor of Arts\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMaster of Arts\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePh.D.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eContext\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSchool\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitute\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUniversity\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 99px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e53\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e110\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e161\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstrument\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2.1. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLoving Pedagogy Scale\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDisposition toward loving pedagogy (DTLP), a 29-item scale developed by Yin et al. (2019) was used to measure the underlying six factors for the pedagogy of love: acceptance of diversity and classroom community (e.g., \u0026quot;I make a point of engaging in kind acts towards my students in the context of my teaching every hour.\u0026quot;), intimacy (e.g. \u0026quot;It is important for me to feel a close emotional connection with students.\u0026quot;), bonding and sacrifice (e.g. \u0026quot;I make specific efforts to bond with students.\u0026quot;), empathy (e.g. \u0026quot;I deliberately engage in daily kind acts towards my students in the context of my teaching.\u0026quot;), forgiveness (e.g., \u0026quot;A student who asks for forgiveness should be granted it no matter what he or she has done.\u0026quot;), and kindness (e.g. \u0026quot;Being kind to students is important to me.\u0026quot;) in the pedagogic situation. Previous studies supported that the DTLP is a valid and reliable instrument (Yin, 2019; Zolfaghari et al., 2024). Items were rated on a Likert scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) through 4 (Strongly Agree). In the present study, the internal reliability of the DTLP through the assistance of Cronbach alpha turned out to be 0.91.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2.2. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Psychological Wellbeing at Work Scale (PWBW)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDagenais-Desmarais and Savoie (2012) created the psychological wellbeing at Work Scale (PWBW), and it has 25 items using a 6-point scale with items that are rated using a 5-point Likert rating from 0 (Disagree) through to a rating of 5 (Completely agree). The PWBW is a valid and reliable instrument in the assessment of the participants\u0026apos; PWB (Sandilya \u0026amp; Shahnawaz, 2018), and it comprises five underlying factors that include interpersonal fit at work (e.g., \u0026quot;I enjoy working with the people at my job.\u0026quot;), thriving at work (e.g., \u0026quot;I am proud of the job I have.\u0026quot;), feeling of competency at work (e.g., \u0026quot;I know I am capable of doing my job.\u0026quot;), perceived recognition at work (e.g., \u0026quot;I feel that my work efforts are appreciated.\u0026quot;), and desire for involvement at work (e.g., \u0026quot;I like to take on challenges in my work.\u0026quot;). Previous studies had verified that the PWB is a valid and reliable instrument (Derakhshan et al., 2022). Good internal consistency in the current study has been rendered (\u0026alpha; = 0. 91).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2.3. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eForeign Language Teaching Enjoyment Scale (FLTES)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment Scale (FLTES) proposed by Erg\u0026uuml;n and Dewaele (2021), was applied to assess FLTE of teachers. The scale comprises 9 items under three factors: personal enjoyment from FL teaching (e.g., \u0026quot;in the class, I feel proud of my achievement\u0026quot;), FL classroom student appreciation (e.g., \u0026quot;The students are friendly\u0026quot;), and social enjoyment from FL teaching (e.g., \u0026quot;We form a tight-knit group\u0026quot;). Items with a 5-point Likert range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) are placed in order. High internal consistency strength of the FLTES was identified (Azari Noughabi et al., 2022; Derakhshan et al., 2023; Erg\u0026uuml;n \u0026amp; Dewaele, 2021; Yang et al., 2023). In the present study, the reliability indicator of the FLTES calculated through Cronbach\u0026apos;s alpha was 0.88.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.3. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Data Collection\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn online questionnaire with Google Forms was utilized and incorporated three validated instruments to assess LP, FLTE, and PWB. To reduce construct-irrelevant variation and attain linguistic consistency, questionnaire items in all the questionnaires were in English and were not translated from the first language of the participants.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA snowball sampling procedure was utilized to recruit participants with the initial contacts referring other eligible peer colleagues. The survey link was distributed through commonly used online applications, that is, Telegram, WhatsApp, and by emailing it to cover a wide range of locations in Iran where the teachers worked. The survey started with demographic items necessary to obtain participants\u0026apos; background information. Directions were clear and given, and the participants were told the purpose of the study and that the responses would be kept confidential, consistent with the British Educational Research Association (2011) specified standards of ethics.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Data Analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUpon completion of data collection, preliminary screening was conducted to verify that the dataset met the fundamental assumptions required for SEM. This included checks for sample size adequacy, normality of distribution, and absence of multicollinearity. To validate the measurement model, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed, ensuring the reliability and construct validity of the scales used.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SEM analysis followed using AMOS (version 24) to test the postulated relationships between LP, PWB, and FLTE at the hypothesized levels. Model fit assessment utilized a combination of well-established indices (the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)), set against the criteria proposed by Hu and Bentler (1995). Such cumulative analytical procedure allowed for a rigorous testing of structural relationships between the study\u0026apos;s central constructs.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis section presents the findings related to the influence of psychological PWB and FLTE on the LP exhibited by Iranian EFL teachers. To address this inquiry, the collected data were initially screened using SPSS 27. The Outliers were removed using statistical methods to ensure data accuracy, and missing data were handled with the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, chosen for its ability to preserve data structure and produce reliable estimates without losing valuable information (Kline, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Skewness and kurtosis values were calculated to assess normality, with acceptable values ranging between \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2.0 and +\u0026thinsp;2.0 (Kunnan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e). Univariate and multivariate outliers were identified using standard scores and Mahalanobis D\u0026sup2;, respectively (Tabachnick \u0026amp; Fidell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). After removing missing and non-normal values, as well as outliers, 201 valid responses remained for analysis out of the initial 300 responses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then used to determine the construct validity of the model. The indices of goodness-of-fit validated that the models of measurement of LP, FLTE, and PWB measured well against the data. The reliability analysis of the items also presented Cronbach's alpha values of more than 0.70 for all the scales (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e), showing acceptable internal consistency.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMeasurement Model of the Latent Variables\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eχ2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003edf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eχ2/df CMIN\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCFI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTLI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ealpha\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e311.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e209\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.491\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.884\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.919\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.050\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.912\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTFLE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e54.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.177\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.963\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.947\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.077\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.887\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePWB\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e346.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e241\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.438\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.943\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.935\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.047\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.917\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe descriptive statistics of the model's three components were calculated through the facilitation of regression imputation in computing weighted averages of each component. These statistics are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDescriptive Statistics of the Components after Regression Imputation\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMin.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMax.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSkewness\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eKurtosis\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.4305\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.36181\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.941\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.579\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTFLE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.56\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.4334\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.53287\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-1.272\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.453\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePWB\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.96\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.5464\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.38195\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-1.662\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.256\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe SEM analysis determined that FLTE and PWB significantly predicted LP. Specifically, FLTE became the strongest predictor of LP (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.55, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, R\u0026sup2; = .186), while PWB also significantly predicted LP (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.28, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.005, R\u0026sup2; = .009).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe standardized covariance estimate presented high positive correlations among the three variables: LP and PWB (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.568, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.005), LP and FLTE (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.690, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001), and FLTE and PWB (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.671, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001). The fit indexes of the model also confirmed acceptable fit with the indexes of CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.918, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.901, GFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.918, and RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.077.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe outcomes showed that while psychological PWB and FLTE are equally strong predictive indicators of LP, the explanatory power is small\u0026mdash;especially for PWB (R\u0026sup2; = .009). This suggests that LP is the result of other unmeasured factors. Some of the possible factors are institutional support, classroom environment, teacher identity, emotional intelligence, and relational processes that the model in the present study does not capture. These outcomes shed a light on the richness of LP and the value of future measurements in capturing broader contextual and interpersonal variables in order to more fully determine the development of LP.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn summary, the SEM analysis conducted provided support for the contention that FLTE and PWB are valuable predictors of LP from Iranian EFL teachers with FLTE proving the strongest predictor in the relationship. These findings confirm the significance of teacher enjoyment and emotional wellbeing in the creation of a caring and empathetic teaching approach.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe results of this study present strong evidence supporting the predictive functions of PWB and FLTE in the formation of LP among Iranian EFL instructors. The SEM analyses indicated that the two constructs significantly predict LP with FLTE being the more powerful predictor. These results not only support the hypothesized model but also expand the domain of PP in SLA by applying emotional and relational aspects to pedagogic discourse.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe status of FLTE as a predictor of LP is consistent with seminal contributions of Dewaele and MacIntyre (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), in that they theorized foreign language enjoyment to be a multifaceted emotional experience with roots in challenge, perceived ability, and sociality. Erg\u0026uuml;n and Dewaele (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) advanced this construct another mile further with the introduction of FLTE with emphases placed on personal gratification, appreciation from the learners, and social interactions in the classroom environment. The present study is a replication of theirs in the respects that teacher-reported enjoyment and feelings of fulfillment from teaching are associated with emotionally responsive and empathic teaching behaviors. This reinforces the notion that enjoyment in teaching is more than the product of effective teaching but a motivation for the adoption of LP.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe valuable contribution of PWB to LP also underlies the theoretical underpinnings of PP in the form of Seligman's (2011) PERMA model of positive wellbeing where positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment are the cornerstones of wellbeing. Educators possessing psychological wellness\u0026mdash;the combination of autonomy, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and self-acceptance (Ryff, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026mdash;better facilitate the development of inclusive, emotionally intelligent learning environments. This is in accordance with the work of Mercer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), in favor of the ecological approach to teacher wellbeing owing to the dynamic interrelationship between personal factors, institutional factors, and relational factors in the establishment of the emotional health of educators.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, the study findings resonate with Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory (2001), that is, the positive feelings expand the thought-action repertoires of individuals and construct long-term personal resources. When we consider the application of the study to language teaching, the enjoyment and PWB of the teacher put them in a more advantageous situation to express kindness, empathy, and forgiveness\u0026mdash;natures of LP (Loreman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Yin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). These emotional dispositions not only reinforce the relationships of teacher-learners but also sustain the learners' academic participation and emotional development (Zhao \u0026amp; Li, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe found correlations between LP, FLTE, and PWB support the interconnectedness of the affective constructs in teaching contexts. The high relationship between FLTE and LP (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.690, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001) implies that enjoyment is a driving force of love-related teaching behaviors. Such a result is supported by Zolfaghari et al.'s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) study showing that FLTE and L2 grit significantly determine teachers' attitudes toward LP. Likewise, Derakhshan et al.'s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) study reported that wellbeing, resilience, and FLTE collectively determine teachers' emotional involvement and creativity and confirm the proposed integrative model in the present study.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotably, the study remedies a biggap in SLA scholarship by positioning PWB and FLTE as antecedents\u0026mdash;rather than consequences\u0026mdash;of LP. The previous studies overwhelmingly presented the former constructs as markers of teacher effectiveness or job satisfaction (Greenier et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Madigan \u0026amp; Kim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), but the present study does not rule out the possibility of them playing an active role in shaping pedagogic orientation. By specifying the directional relationships between the variables, the study presents a new paradigm in explaining the correlates of emotional and psychological resources with instructional philosophy and classroom discipline.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Iranian cultural context provides additional depth to these results. Commenting on the existing discussions of love in education, Barcelos and Coelho (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) observed that the conversations are frequently limited by cultural and moral sensitivities. Iranian EFL teachers' positive valuing found in this study implies that they are in a position to embed emotional care into teaching practices despite the restrictions, with the assistance of psychological well-being and enjoyment in the profession. The present study reveals the significance of culturally sensitive interventions that support teacher well-being and emotional investment in varied teaching contexts.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther, the present study has implications for teacher education and in-service teacher education. Training that centers on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and self-regulation\u0026mdash;of the kind proposed by Dewaele et al. (2018) and Mercer (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026mdash;has the potential to bolster teacher ability to deliver LP. By promoting a context where teacher well-being, acknowledgement, and agency hold center stage, teaching establishments can build a culture of care and relational depth in the language classroom.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study investigated the predictive capacities of PWB and FLTE in the development of LP in Iranian EFL teachers. With the adoption of the ideas of PP and the application of SEM, the findings recognized that PWB and FLTE separately significantly predict the adoption of LP with FLTE being a stronger predictor. These results present the benefit of emotional and psychological capital in the development of teaching methods guided by empathy, care, and relationship depth. The study contribution is in positioning PWB and FLTE not only as outcomes of successful teaching but antecedents that directly impact pedagogic orientation and processes in the classroom.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe implications of these outcomes are multi-faceted. From a teacher education perspective, teacher education courses should involve preparation in emotional intelligence, awareness, and regulation of the self in support of teacher capability in LP. Schools and policy-makers also must consider teacher enjoyment and wellbeing through the creation of a positive work environment that engenders autonomy, a sense of being recognized and acknowledged, and emotional satisfaction. Moreover, curriculum developers should consider cross-weaving affective elements into teacher education in a foreign/second language in support of a more whole and person-centred approach to teaching. These interventions might each sustain a culture of care and relational connection in foreign/second-language education.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough the present study provides insightful information about the emotional basis of LP, a few restrictions ought to be taken into account. To begin with, the sample included only Iranian EFL instructors and hence might restrict the transferability of the results to additional cultural or linguistic situations. Such constructs like LP pinpoint the cultural norms and sensitivities and hence get interpreted differently across education systems and sociocultural situations.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecond, the cross-sectional design limits the ability to see development processes or causality between PWB, FLTE, and LP. Longitudinal studies would be more appropriate in explaining the dynamic development of each of the above constructs and the dynamic relationships between them in the teacher professionals' development trajectories.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThird, the researcher depended entirely on self-report measures, and hence the risk of social desirability bias and subjectively induced inaccuracy looms. Such a methodological approach might well have exaggerated correlations between variables, especially between FLTE and LP, owing to common method bias\u0026mdash;whereby shared formats of measurements lead to spuriously high associations.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, though FLTE and PWB were found to be important contributors to LP, explanatory power was low, especially for PWB. Since the very strong correlative relationship between FLTE and PWB (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.671) is present, the risk of multicollinearity and the concomitant loss of the precision of each contributor is present. It is also likely that a set of unmeasured variables\u0026mdash;i.e., institutional support, classroom environment, emotional regulation, and teacher identity\u0026mdash;constribute to LP but are not reflected in the current model. To build upon the current findings, future research should employ longitudinal designs in order to examine the growth of PWB and FLTE over time and long-term participation in LP. Cross-cultural studies are also needed in order to examine the universality and cultural specificity of the constructs in varied educational settings. With the application of mixed-methods strategies that integrate quantitative knowledge with qualitative comprehension\u0026mdash;such as interviews or classroom interactions\u0026mdash;the experience and practice of LP by the teacher would be further refined. Further work ought to test other variables that moderate and mediate the relationships between the variables at stake, like emotional control, organizational support and teacher identity, in order to uncover a more refined comprehension of the processes of emotionally responsive teaching. In a nutshell, the present study is one of a growing set of studies that put the emotional underpinnings of successful teaching center stage. By highlighting the contributions of PWB and FLTE to the development of LP, it establishes a template for the development of more empathetic, motivated, and resilient professionals in foreign language teaching.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe authors would like to express sincere gratitude to the participants who generously shared their time and insights throughout the study. Special thanks are extended to the academic advisors and reviewers whose constructive feedback helped refine the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor(s) contribution:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe first author of the study designed the study and wrote the introduction and results sections. The second author collected data, analyzed data and wrote the literature review section. The third author collected data and wrote the discussion and conclusion sections. All authors proofread the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability statement:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe data for present study will be available upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hakim Sabzevari University for the ethical conduct of research involving human participants. All procedures were carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResearch involving human participants\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe research involved EFL teacher participants. Informed consent was obtained prior to their participation, and additional consent was secured directly from the teachers at the time of the survey to confirm their voluntary involvement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed consent\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the commencement of the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll participants provided informed consent for the publication of anonymized data and findings derived from this study. No identifying personal information is included in the published material\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eActon, R., \u0026amp; Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher Wellbeing in Neoliberal Contexts: A Review of the Literature. \u003cem\u003eAustralian Journal of Teacher Education\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e40\u003c/em\u003e(8), 99\u0026ndash;114. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eActon, R., \u0026amp; Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher wellbeing in neoliberal contexts: A review of the literature. \u003cem\u003eAustralian Journal of Teacher Education, 40\u003c/em\u003e(8), 99\u0026ndash;114. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n8.6\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmirian, S. M. R., Masjedi, H., \u0026amp; Amirian, S. (2021). Reflections on English as a foreign language teacher burnout risk factors: The interplay of multiple variables. \u003cem\u003eApplied Research on English Language, 10\u003c/em\u003e(1), 33\u0026ndash;50. https://doi.org/10.22108/ARE.2020.121006.1613\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAzari Noughabi, M., Fekri, N., \u0026amp; Kazemkhah Hasankiadeh, F. (2022). The contribution of psychological wellbeing and emotion-regulation to foreign language teaching enjoyment. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology, 13\u003c/em\u003e, 889133. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.889133\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAzari Noughabi, M., Y\u0026uuml;ce, E., \u0026amp; Fekri, N. (2024). Developing foreign language teacher enjoyment among Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers: A cross-cultural study. \u003cem\u003eSystem, 123\u003c/em\u003e, 103308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.103308\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarbieri, B., Sulis, I., Porcu, M., \u0026amp; Toland, M. D. (2019). Italian teachers\u0026apos; well-being within the high school context: Evidence from a large-scale survey. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology, 10\u003c/em\u003e, 1926. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01926\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarcelos, A. M. F. (2020). Revolutionary love and peace in the construction of an English teacher\u0026rsquo;s professional identity. In \u003cem\u003ePeacebuilding in Language Education\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 96\u0026ndash;109). Multilingual Matters.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarcelos, A. M. F., \u0026amp; Coelho, H. S. H. (2016). Language learning and teaching: What\u0026rsquo;s love got to do with it? In P. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, \u0026amp; S. Mercer (Eds.), \u003cem\u003ePositive Psychology in SLA\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 97\u0026ndash;130). Multilingual Matters.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBenevene, P., De Stasio, S., \u0026amp; Fiorilli, C. (2020). Well-being of school teachers in their work environment. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology, 11\u003c/em\u003e, 1239. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01239\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBritish Educational Research Association. (2011). \u003cem\u003eEthical guidelines for educational research\u003c/em\u003e. https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/bera-ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2011\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCaprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Steca, P., \u0026amp; Malone, P. S. (2006). Teachers\u0026rsquo; self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of job satisfaction and students\u0026rsquo; academic achievement: A study at the school level. \u003cem\u003eJournal of School Psychology, 44\u003c/em\u003e(6), 473\u0026ndash;490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.09.001\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChambers Mack, J., Johnson, A., Jones‐Rincon, A., Tsatenawa, V., \u0026amp; Howard, K. (2019). Why do teachers leave? A comprehensive occupational health study evaluating intent‐to‐quit in public school teachers. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 24\u003c/em\u003e(1), e12160. https://doi.org/10.1111/jabr.12160\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChen, X., Guo, S., Zhao, X., Fekri, N., \u0026amp; Azari Noughabi, M. (2024). The interplay among Chinese EFL teachers\u0026rsquo; enthusiasm, engagement, and foreign language teaching enjoyment: A structural equation modelling approach. \u003cem\u003eAsian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 9\u003c/em\u003e(1), 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-024-00139-6\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDagenais-Desmarais, V., \u0026amp; Savoie, A. (2012). What is psychological well-being, really? A grassroots approach from the organizational sciences. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Happiness Studies, 13\u003c/em\u003e, 659\u0026ndash;684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9282-4\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDay, C., \u0026amp; Qing, G. (2009). Teacher emotions: Wellbeing and effectiveness. In P. A. Schutz \u0026amp; M. Zembylas (Eds.), \u003cem\u003eAdvances in Teacher Emotion Research: The Impact on Teachers\u0026rsquo; Lives\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 15\u0026ndash;31). Springer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDerakhshan, A., Dewaele, J. M., \u0026amp; Noughabi, M. A. (2022). Modeling the contribution of resilience, well-being, and L2 grit to foreign language teaching enjoyment among Iranian English language teachers. \u003cem\u003eSystem, 109\u003c/em\u003e, 102890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102890\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDerakhshan, A., Greenier, V., \u0026amp; Fathi, J. (2023). Exploring the interplay between a loving pedagogy, creativity, and work engagement among EFL/ESL teachers: A multinational study. \u003cem\u003eCurrent Psychology\u003c/em\u003e, 1\u0026ndash;20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04534-6\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDewaele, J. M., \u0026amp; Alfawzan, M. (2018). Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? \u003cem\u003eStudies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8\u003c/em\u003e(1), 21\u0026ndash;45. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.2\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDewaele, J. M., \u0026amp; Li, C. (2018). Miyahara editorial: Special issue emotions in SLA. \u003cem\u003eStudies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8\u003c/em\u003e(1), 15\u0026ndash;19. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.1\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDewaele, J. M., \u0026amp; Li, C. (2020). Emotions in second language acquisition: A critical review and research agenda. \u003cem\u003eForeign Language World, 196\u003c/em\u003e(1), 34\u0026ndash;49.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDewaele, J. M., \u0026amp; MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. \u003cem\u003eStudies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4\u003c/em\u003e(2), 237\u0026ndash;274. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.5\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDewaele, J.-M., \u0026amp; MacIntyre, P. D. (2016). Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: The right and left feet of the language learner. In P. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, \u0026amp; S. Mercer (Eds.), \u003cem\u003ePositive Psychology in SLA\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 215\u0026ndash;236). Multilingual Matters.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eErg\u0026uuml;n, A. L., \u0026amp; Dewaele, J.-M. (2021). Do well-being and resilience predict the foreign language teaching enjoyment of teachers of Italian? \u003cem\u003eSystem, 99\u003c/em\u003e, Article 102506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102506\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. \u003cem\u003eAmerican Psychologist, 56\u003c/em\u003e, 218\u0026ndash;226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFreire, P. (1996). \u003cem\u003ePedagogy of the oppressed\u003c/em\u003e (Rev. ed.). Continuum.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFreire, P. (2005). \u003cem\u003eTeachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach\u003c/em\u003e. Westview Press.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreenier, V., Derakhshan, A., \u0026amp; Fathi, J. (2021). Emotion regulation and psychological well-being in teacher work engagement: A case of British and Iranian English language teachers. \u003cem\u003eSystem, 97\u003c/em\u003e, 102446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102446\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGrimmer, T. (2021). \u003cem\u003eDeveloping a loving pedagogy in the early years: How love fits with professional practice\u003c/em\u003e. Routledge.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHalpin, D. (2009). Pedagogy and romantic love. \u003cem\u003ePedagogy, Culture \u0026amp; Society, 17\u003c/em\u003e(1), 89\u0026ndash;102. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681360902742843\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHofstadler, N., Babic, S., L\u0026auml;mmerer, A., Mercer, S., \u0026amp; Oberdorfer, P. (2021). The ecology of CLIL teachers in Austria: An ecological perspective on CLIL teachers\u0026rsquo; wellbeing. \u003cem\u003eInnovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15\u003c/em\u003e(3), 218\u0026ndash;232. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2020.1739050\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJin, J., Mercer, S., Babic, S., \u0026amp; Mairitsch, A. (2021). Understanding the ecology of foreign language teacher wellbeing. In K. Budzińska \u0026amp; O. Majchrzak (Eds.), \u003cem\u003ePositive psychology in second and foreign language education\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 19\u0026ndash;38). Springer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJodaei, H., Zareian, G., Amirian, M. R., \u0026amp; Adel, S. M. R. (2018). From the state of motivated to demotivated: Iranian military EFL learners\u0026apos; motivation change. \u003cem\u003eThe Journal of Asia TEFL, 15\u003c/em\u003e(1), 32\u0026ndash;50. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.1.3.32\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKeyes, C. L., Shmotkin, D., \u0026amp; Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82\u003c/em\u003e(6), 1007\u0026ndash;1022. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKline, R. B. (2011). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In M. Williams \u0026amp; W. Vogt (Eds.), \u003cem\u003eThe SAGE handbook of innovation in social research methods\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 562\u0026ndash;589). SAGE Publications Ltd.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKunnan, A. J. (1998). An introduction to structural equation modelling for language assessment research. \u003cem\u003eLanguage Testing, 15\u003c/em\u003e(3), 295\u0026ndash;332. https://doi.org/10.1177/026553229801500302\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLoreman, T. (2011). \u003cem\u003eLove as pedagogy\u003c/em\u003e. Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-484-3\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMacIntyre, P. (2021). Exploring applications of positive psychology in SLA. In K. Budzińska \u0026amp; O. Majchrzak (Eds.), \u003cem\u003ePositive psychology in second and foreign language education\u003c/em\u003e (pp. 17\u0026ndash;34). Springer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMacIntyre, P. D., Gregersen, T., \u0026amp; Mercer, S. (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: Theory, practice, and research. \u003cem\u003eThe Modern Language Journal, 103\u003c/em\u003e(1), 262\u0026ndash;274. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12544\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMadigan, D. J., \u0026amp; Kim, L. E. (2021). Towards an understanding of teacher attrition: A meta-analysis of burnout, job satisfaction, and teachers\u0026rsquo; intentions to quit. \u003cem\u003eTeaching and Teacher Education, 105\u003c/em\u003e, 103425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103425\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eManasia, L., P\u0026acirc;rvan, A., \u0026amp; Macovei, M. (2020). Towards a model of teacher well-being from a positive emotions perspective. \u003cem\u003eEuropean Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 10\u003c/em\u003e(1), 469\u0026ndash;496. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe10010035\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaslow, A. (1954). \u003cem\u003eMotivation and personality\u003c/em\u003e. Harper \u0026amp; Row.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMercer, S. (2020). The wellbeing of language teachers in the private sector: An ecological perspective. \u003cem\u003eLanguage Teaching Research\u003c/em\u003e. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820973510\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMercer, S. (2021). An agenda for well-being in ELT: An ecological perspective. \u003cem\u003eELT Journal, 75\u003c/em\u003e(1), 14\u0026ndash;21. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa062\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRyan, R. M., \u0026amp; Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. \u003cem\u003eAnnual Review of Psychology, 52\u003c/em\u003e(1), 141\u0026ndash;166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRyff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57\u003c/em\u003e(6), 1069\u0026ndash;1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSandilya, G., \u0026amp; Shahnawaz, G. (2018). Index of psychological well-being at work\u0026mdash;Validation of tool in the Indian organizational context. \u003cem\u003eVision, 22\u003c/em\u003e(2), 174\u0026ndash;184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262918767044\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeligman, M. E. P. (2011). \u003cem\u003eFlourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being\u003c/em\u003e. Free Press.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSulis, G., Mercer, S., Mairitsch, A., Babic, S., \u0026amp; Shin, S. (2021). Pre-service language teacher wellbeing as a complex dynamic system. \u003cem\u003eSystem, 103\u003c/em\u003e, 102642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102642\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTabachnick, B. G., \u0026amp; Fidell, L. S. (2007). \u003cem\u003eExperimental designs using ANOVA\u003c/em\u003e (Vol. 724). Thomson/Brooks/Cole.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTalbot, K., \u0026amp; Mercer, S. (2018). Exploring university ESL/EFL teachers\u0026rsquo; emotional well-being and emotional regulation in the United States, Japan and Austria. \u003cem\u003eChinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41\u003c/em\u003e(4), 410\u0026ndash;432. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2018-0030\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThorsteinsen, K., \u0026amp; Vitters\u0026oslash;, J. (2020). Now you see it, now you don\u0026rsquo;t: Solid and subtle differences between hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. \u003cem\u003eThe Journal of Positive Psychology, 15\u003c/em\u003e(4), 519\u0026ndash;530. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789701\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThumvichit, A. (2022). Enjoyment in language teaching: A study into EFL teachers\u0026rsquo; subjectivities. \u003cem\u003eInternational Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching\u003c/em\u003e. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0087\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVirtanen, T. E., Vaaland, G. S., \u0026amp; Ertesvag, S. K. (2019). Associations between observed patterns of classroom interactions and teacher wellbeing in lower secondary school. \u003cem\u003eTeaching and Teacher Education, 77\u003c/em\u003e, 240\u0026ndash;252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.013\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWang, Y., Derakhshan, A., \u0026amp; Pan, Z. (2022). Positioning an agenda on a loving pedagogy in second language acquisition: Conceptualization, practice, and research. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology, 13\u003c/em\u003e, 861403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.861403\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYang, S., Azari Noughabi, M., Botes, E., \u0026amp; Dewaele, J. M. (2023). Let\u0026apos;s get positive: How foreign language teaching enjoyment can create a positive feedback loop. \u003cem\u003eStudies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 13\u003c/em\u003e(1), 17\u0026ndash;38. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2023.13.1.2\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYin, L. C., Loreman, T., Abd Majid, R., \u0026amp; Alias, A. (2019). The dispositions towards loving pedagogy (DTLP) scale: Instrument development and demographic analysis. \u003cem\u003eTeaching and Teacher Education, 86\u003c/em\u003e, 102884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102884\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZhao, S., \u0026amp; Li, M. (2021). Reflection on loving pedagogy and students\u0026apos; engagement in EFL/ESL classrooms. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology, 12\u003c/em\u003e, 757697. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757697\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZhi, R., \u0026amp; Wang, Y. (2023). English as a foreign language teachers\u0026rsquo; professional success, loving pedagogy and creativity: A structural equation modeling approach. \u003cem\u003eThinking Skills and Creativity, 49\u003c/em\u003e, 101370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101370\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZolfaghari, S., Masoumi, M., Azari Noughabi, M., Barkati, M., \u0026amp; Akbari Ghanbarabadi, A. (2024). Modeling the contribution of L2 grit and foreign language teaching enjoyment to EFL teachers\u0026rsquo; loving pedagogy. \u003cem\u003eEnglish Teaching \u0026amp; Learning\u003c/em\u003e, 1\u0026ndash;19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-024-00123-5\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"discpsy","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Psychology](https://www.springer.com/44202)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Psychology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Loving Pedagogy, Psychological Wellbeing, Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment, Positive Psychology, EFL Teachers","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eLoving Pedagogy (LP), guided by the principles of positive psychology (PP), highlights empathetic connection, emotional relationality, and care in teaching\u0026mdash;traits increasingly valued in foreign language teaching. Though conceptually promising, LP lacks adequate exploration in empirical scholarship in the context of psychological wellbeing (PWB) and Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment (FLTE), two affective variables that could undergird LP execution. Bridging this lacuna, the present study models the contribution of PWB and FLTE to LP in the case of 201 Iranian EFL teachers from varied teaching contexts. Utilizing validated tools and structural equation modeling (SEM), the results show that both PWB and FLTE are strong and significant predictors of LP with FLTE being the more robust antecedent. These outcomes highlights the necessity of instilling teacher emotional contentment and teaching joy to engender loving and compassionate teaching spaces that respect the emotional well-being of learners and teacher alike. The study provides a new framework of conceptualizing the effect of affective experience on pedagogic orientation and underlines the necessity of institutional support and teacher education interventions focused on wellbeing and enjoyment that form the corners of teaching that are loving and care-oriented.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Modeling the Contribution of Foreign Language Wellbeing and Teaching Enjoyment to Loving Pedagogy among Iranian English Language Teachers","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-15 02:45:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7605192/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-01-08T10:44:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-12-28T04:30:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"143939180396917509952354161758127226846","date":"2025-12-14T19:09:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-12-14T07:21:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"114248316808744076200734294418193065908","date":"2025-12-12T17:59:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"170393530475991993186969594264675466513","date":"2025-11-23T21:46:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-07T18:35:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"304094098958997616953378148555954606004","date":"2025-10-01T17:07:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-01T08:34:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-17T06:34:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-17T05:46:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-16T05:37:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Psychology","date":"2025-09-16T05:33:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"discpsy","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Psychology](https://www.springer.com/44202)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Psychology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"66c2ce7a-ab5e-44e3-b3ef-7a79f009679f","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-18T17:53:21+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-15 02:45:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7605192","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7605192","identity":"rs-7605192","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}