{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T12:29:29Z","timestamp":1792585769302,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757462400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study examines the complex interconnections between work-life balance elements, stress levels, emotional intelligence, and teacher effectiveness, contextualised within the Conservation of Resources (COR) paradigm. The research examines the impact of resource conservation and emotional regulation on performance, emphasising stress levels as a mediator and emotional intelligence as a moderator.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A quantitative methodology was utilised, involving data collection from 300 educators in Zhengzhou, China, and analysis by Structural Equation Modelling using Smart-PLS. The findings indicated substantial direct and indirect correlations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Social support availability (SSA) exhibited a substantial direct effect on stress levels (T\u202f=\u202f4.648, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f0.000), whereas work environment harmony (WM) and SSA notably affected teacher performance (T = 2.099, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f= 0.036; T = 2.626, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f= 0.009). Mediation analysis indicated complete mediation for AFP \u00e2\u0192\u2122 SL \u00e2\u0192\u2122 TP (H3, T = 3.021, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f= 0.003) and complementing partial mediation for SSA \u00e2\u0192\u2122 SL \u00e2\u0192\u2122 TP (H4, T = 2.574, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f= 0.010). Moderation analysis revealed that emotional intelligence substantially mitigated the effect of stress on teacher performance (H11, T = 4.129, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u202f= 0.000).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings expand COR theory by associating resource conservation with emotional intelligence, providing theoretical insights and practical recommendations for developing supportive settings that improve teacher performance. Educational officials in Zhengzhou are urged to create interventions aimed at reducing stress and enhancing emotional intelligence to attain sustained improvements in teacher performance.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1586128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T05:28:06Z","timestamp":1757482086000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The influence of work-life balance on teacher performance in Zhengzhou, China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Meng","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmad","family":"Albattat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.54489\/ijtop.v3i1.247","article-title":"Promoting employees creativity to mitigate job stress: achieving job performance","volume":"3","author":"Alzoubi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int. 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