Teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being: the role of emotional exhaustion and narcissism

Abstract

Background

Teachers’ leadership styles have a significant impact on students’ academic performance, physical health and mental health. Authoritarian leadership, as a typical leadership style, is prevalent in the teacher community. The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanisms by which authoritarian leadership impacts students’ well-being. We also examined the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of narcissism.

Methods

This study is based on conservation of resources theory. We selected a sample of 369 students from a university in Sichuan province, collected data through two time points, and tested the data using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 22.0.

Results

It was found that teachers’ authoritarian leadership negatively impacted students’ well-being and that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between authoritarian leadership and well-being. Narcissism not only moderated the effect of authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion, but also moderated the mediation role of emotional exhaustion.

Conclusions

Our findings enriched the research on authoritarian leadership and narcissism, and also had important practical implications for future teacher teaching in higher education.

Introduction

Students are the hope of the country and the future of the nation. Enhancing students’ well-being is one of a goal for education. Well-being is the basis for students’ overall development and an important reflection of the quality of a school’s education in China [1]. Students’ well-being not only impacts their academic performance, but also has an important impact on their physical and mental health [2, 3]. The school is one of the places other than home that has a significant impact on students’ physical and mental development, and it is also the main place where students learn knowledge. In a world where many industries are facing digital transformation, teachers are seen as practitioners of schooling, while their leadership style is particularly important in teaching [4–6].

Teachers’ authoritarian leadership means that the teacher’s authority is unobjectionable, that the teacher manages and controls the students strictly, and the students are required to obey the teacher unconditionally [7]. However, with the formation of students’ values, the notion of bowing to authority gradually diminishes and students seek more respect and recognition. The traditional mechanisms of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students begins to change [8]. For example, many students believe that teachers need to take an egalitarian approach and listen well to students when managing classes and teaching. Some students, however, believe that the only way to ensure effective and efficient teaching is for teachers to adopt authoritarian leadership, impose strict management and teaching [9]. In addition, research has been conducted to explore the impact of transformational leadership on students from the perspective of transformational leadership of teachers, and more mature conclusions have been drawn [10, 11]. As a common teacher leadership style, teachers’ authoritarian leadership has been widely researched by scholars [8, 9]. As a distinctive leadership style, authoritarian leadership is mostly prevalent in Asia, the Middle East and some Western countries [12]. It is especially prevalent in China, where power distance is high. Some scholars have suggested that in the context of China’s high power distance and collectivist culture, authoritarian leadership is more likely to be taken for granted [13]. In this case, students’ well-being may be impacted by trying to be a good student in front of teachers who adopt authoritarian leadership. Given the prevalence of authoritarian leadership and its wide-ranging effects, this study argues the necessity of exploring the impact of authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being. Therefore, the first question of our study was to explore the direct impacts of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being.

Conservation of resources theory suggests that any individual has a tendency to conserve their resources. When their resources get depleted, they will take steps to reduce the depletion of resources and try to acquire and replenish new resources [14, 15]. Inevitably, there is an acquisition and depletion of student resources in the process of the impact of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on student well-being. Emotional exhaustion, as an important emotional variable, can reflect changes in students’ emotions and resources [16, 17]. It has been found that individuals whose resources are overly depleted and not replenished in a timely manner (i.e., emotional exhaustion) can lead to adverse emotional and psychological effects on students [18]. And authoritative leadership, as an obstructive stressor, can lead to negative emotional experiences for students, which can ultimately impact their well-being. In addition, authoritarian leadership may lead to negative expressions of teachers’ emotions, such as anger, frustration, or dissatisfaction [19]. These emotions are directly transmitted to students, impacting their emotional state and well-being. Emotional exhaustion is more concerned with the individual’s process of processing and regulating these emotions rather than simply the expression of the emotion itself [20]. Emotional exhaustion can be a chronic and difficult problem for teachers to solve, and it may continue to impact the degree to which teachers are emotionally responsive and supportive of their students in their teaching [21]. Burnout, on the other hand, although also associated with negative emotions, has more to do with an individual’s feelings of fatigue and work stress, and may not have as direct and obvious an impact on student well-being as emotional exhaustion [21]. We suggest that emotional exhaustion is an important mediating variable in the process of teachers’ authoritarian leadership effects on students’ well-being. Therefore, the second question of our study was to explore the mediating role of emotional exhaustion in the process of teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacts on students’ well-being.

Narcissism is a specific personality trait, and students with narcissistic traits are characterized by a strong sense of superiority, a sense of power, an inflated self-image, and a desire to be admired by others [22, 23]. Narcissistic students want to get attention from their teachers and are less likely to feel inferior and anxious. Previous studies have found that appropriate narcissism can effectively increase an individual’s level of self-esteem, thus contributing to students’ physical and mental health [24, 25]. However, excessive narcissism may also cause psychological disorders and impact students’ social adjustment [26]. Thus, the final question we examined was the moderating role of students’ narcissism in the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacts students’ well-being.

Our study has the following contributions. First, we tested conservation of resources theory again by introducing it into the field of teaching. Second, this study incorporates emotional exhaustion as a mediating factor and gains empirical support, providing a new explanatory path for exploring the relationship between authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being. Third, this study verifies the moderating role of students’ narcissistic traits and enrichs boundary conditions in research on the impact of authoritarian teacher leadership on student psychology and behaviour.

Theoretical foundation and hypothesis development

Theoretical foundation

Conservation of resources theory emphasises the individual’s continuous efforts to acquire resources, avoid their loss, and maximise their use through effective management practices [14]. Loss or gain of resources impacts an individual’s perception of stress, ability to adapt, and speed of recovery. Individuals will decide on coping strategies and coping effects based on the status of resources when facing stress and challenges [15]. Individuals maintain psychological equilibrium and well-being through continuous resource acquisition, protection, and recovery.

Teachers’ authoritarian leadershi as a kind of pressure. Current research has used conservation of resources theory to explore the effects of authoritarian leadership on employee behaviour based on a leader-employee relationship perspective [7, 14]. Similarly, this study hypothesised that when students perceive authoritarian leadership from their teachers, not only do they stop depleting their resources in order to keep their own resources intact, but also that this type of leadership reduces students’ resources. At this point, students feel emotionally depleted. After experiencing emotional depletion, it impacts students’ psychology and behaviour. For example, there is a decrease in the student’s sense of well-being. In addition, narcissism, as a personality trait, can supplement an individual’s resources [14, 23]. Because narcissistic individuals recognise themselves more, this affirmation and recognition is a positive state that can replenish students’ resources [14, 22]. Therefore, conservation of resources theory is applicable to the model of this study.

Teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being

Teachers’ leadership style refers to the gradual development of teachers’ educational activities, which is a way of behavior demonstrated by leading students to accomplish set goals [27]. Teachers’ authoritarian leadership means that the teacher’s authority is unobjectionable, that the teacher manages and controls the students strictly, and the students are required to obey the teacher unconditionally [7]. While authoritarian leadership is widespread in businesses and organizations, it is also present in the teaching of university teachers [28, 29]. This is reflected in the fact that teachers monitor and control students strictly when teaching and managing them, requiring them to comply with the teacher’s demands unconditionally, and even punishing them. Students tend to show responses such as obedience, awe and avoidance when confronted with authoritarian leadership [29]. The current research on authoritarian leadership is mainly focused on the fields of organizational behavior and human resource management. Related scholars have found that authoritarian leadership can have negative effects on employees, such as impacting employees’ performance and trust [30–32]. At the same time, studies have also found that authoritarian leadership can keep employees more energized and focused [33]. We introduced authoritarian leadership from the organizational domain to the educational domain to explore the effects of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being.

Well-being is an important psychological variable that describes the quality of life of an individual [34]. Students’ well-being is a necessary foundation for students’ learning and development, and students with low well-being are prone to psychological problems such as anxiety, boredom and depression [35]. Studies have found that well-being helps stimulate creativity, improve attention span and sensory memory. In addition, people who have a higher level of well-being are more likely to be successful in the future [36]. A happy and blissful student is more likely to become a well-being adult, which reflects the importance of enhancing students’ well-being. In terms of the factors and mechanisms influencing happiness, most studies have focused on adults [37]. It is now generally accepted that well-being can be impacted by a combination of environmental and personal factors [38]. In this study, we focused on teachers’ leadership styles among environmental factors.

Conservation of resources theory suggests that individuals are always motivated to conserve existing resources and acquire new ones. The individual feelings triggered by resource depletion and acquisition are different, and individuals are more sensitive to resource depletion [14]. Individuals must continuously invest in existing resources from the point of view of protecting their resources from damage, and thus acquire new resources [23]. Conservation of resources theory has become one of the classic theories to explain individual behavior and change [14, 15]. Teachers with authoritarian leadership often adopt strict management measures when managing students. Based on conservation of resources theory, students feel fear and anxiety when they perceive this style, and at this time the students’ resources are reduced [7, 8]. In order to keep their resources from being damaged again, students will invest in their resources, which eventually manifests as a decrease in well-being.

Previous studies by scholars have also proved the above point, for example, some scholars reviewed the effects of various leadership styles on well-being and found that authoritative leadership has a significant negative effect on well-being [39]. In addition, other scholars have found that authoritative leadership impacts college students’ supervisory well-being [40]. These findings support the above argument. Therefore, we believe that:

H1

Teachers’ authoritarian leadership negatively impacts students’ well-being.

The mediating role of emotional exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion is a negative state that occurs when an individual’s emotional resources are about to be exhausted, manifested by fatigue, anxiety, depression and loss of enthusiasm [41]. Previous research has shown that authoritarian leadership as a stressor can positively impact emotional exhaustion [42]. Emotional exhaustion not only has a negative impact on the individual’s work status, such as reduced job performance and job satisfaction, but also has a negative impact on the individual’s life [43, 44]. Many studies have found that emotional exhaustion can positively impact well-being [45, 46]. In addition, a number of studies have used emotional exhaustion as a mediator between job stressors and well-being [47, 48]. Based on the conservation of resources theory, when individuals are threatened with the loss of resources, they prioritize actions to prevent the continued loss of resources [14]. The perceived depletion of resources when students are faced with teachers’ authoritarian leadership. Based on the primacy of resource protection, individuals will tend to act to prevent resource depletion in the first place. However, due to the negative impact of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students, students’ resources are not effectively replenished and resource depletion continues to increase, which in turn triggers emotional exhaustion. Students who feel emotionally depleted need to devote all kinds of resources to cope with the various stresses of the learning process, thus resulting in these students not having enough resources to enhance their well-being. Individuals also invest fewer relevant resources, which makes it easier to reduce students’ well-being [14]. Therefore, we assume that:

H2

Emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being.

The moderating effect of narcissism

With the rapid social and economic development in China, people’s narcissistic tendencies are becoming more and more pronounced. As a very common personality trait in the general population, narcissism refers to individuals who are not only continuously self-focused, but also self-centered, positively evaluate themselves and consider themselves as unique [49]. This trait is also present in a larger proportion among students [50]. Because narcissistic students tend to evaluate themselves very positively, this positive evaluation can be translated into resources to replenish themselves. Narcissism can somehow increase a student’s confidence and give positive positive feedback. At this point, the student’s resources are replenished. Narcissism can be categorized as either healthy or unhealthy. Healthy narcissism refers to a person having confidence and self-esteem, but not excessively focusing on themselves or harming others. Unhealthy narcissism, on the other hand, involves a person excessively focusing on themselves, considering themselves the most important person, and possibly harming others [49]. It should be noted that in this study, narcissism refers to healthy narcissism. Based on conservation of resources theory, students with higher narcissistic traits can obtain additional resources to compensate for their own resource depletion when faced with teachers’ authoritarian leadership. At this point, the positive effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional depletion will be reduced [14]. Conversely, students with lower narcissistic traits will further deplete their resources when faced with authoritative teacher leadership. In addition, there have been a number of studies that have explored the important role of narcissism based on conservation of resources theory [51, 52]. At this point, the positive effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional depletion is enhanced. Thus, we argue that:

H3

Narcissism moderates the effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion. When students’ narcissistic traits were stronger, the positive effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion was weaker.

Further, narcissism moderated the effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion, which in turn mediated the effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being. The present study expected that narcissism also had a moderating effect on this mediating effect. Specifically, when students have higher levels of narcissism, the more positive students’ evaluations and perceptions of themselves will be. At this time, when this group of students faced teachers’ authoritarian leadership, they did not feel stronger emotional exhaustion and showed higher levels of well-being. Conversely, when students have lower levels of narcissism, they do not perceive and evaluate themselves positively. At this point, when this group of students faced teachers’ authoritarian leadership, they might feel strong emotional exhaustion and show lower well-being. Thus, we conclude that:

H4

Narcissism moderates the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being. The higher the degree of narcissism, the weaker the mediating role of emotional exhaustion.

Our research model is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Research model

Method

Sample and Procedure

In this study, the data needed for the study were collected from college students enrolled in colleges and universities using a questionnaire survey method. To avoid common method bias, we adopted a split-time approach to collect data. At the time of the study, an electronic questionnaire was given to each student and a number was assigned to each student to ensure an accurate match when the data was matched twice. The first data was collected on December 10, 2022, and students were asked to fill in the measurement questions for teachers’ authoritarian leadership and narcissism, and to fill in basic information such as gender and age. A total of 430 questionnaires were distributed in this round and 402 questionnaires were returned, with a 93.49% return rate. The second data was collected with January 10, 2023, and students were asked to fill in the measurement questions of emotional exhaustion and well-being. In this round, 402 questionnaires were distributed and 382 questionnaires were returned, with a return rate of 95.02%. After collecting the questionnaires, we eliminated those questionnaires that were incomplete or not filled out carefully. Finally, we collected 369 valid questionnaires.

Among the recovered valid questionnaires, 213 were males, accounting for 57.72% of the total number, and 156 were females, accounting for 42.28% of the total number. The average age of the participants was 20.04 years.

Measurement

Teachers’ authoritarian leadership

Teachers’ authoritarian leadership was measured using a scale developed by Cheng et al. with nine items [53]. We adapted the scenario of the scale from an organizational perspective to a teacher perspective. We measured this variable using a seven-level Likert scale, with 1 indicating total disagreement and 7 indicating total agreement. An example question item is: “My teacher asks me to obey him completely.” The Cronbach’s alpha for this variable was 0.93.

Narcissism

We used the Narcissistic Personality Inventory developed by Jonason et al. to measure students’ narcissism [54]. The scale has four items. We measured this variable using a seven-level Likert scale, with 1 indicating complete disagreement and 7 indicating complete agreement. A sample question item was “I want people to pay attention to me.” The Cronbach’s alpha for this variable was 0.87.

Emotional exhaustion

We measured emotional exhaustion using a scale with 5 items developed by Maslach et al. [55]. We measured this variable using a seven-level Likert scale, with 1 indicating complete disagreement and 7 indicating complete agreement. A sample question item was, “Studying at school makes me physically and mentally exhausted.” The Cronbach’s alpha for this variable was 0.85.

Well-being

We used a scale with eight items developed by Campbell et al. to measure students’ well-being [56]. We measured this variable using a seven-level Likert scale, with 1 indicating complete disagreement and 7 indicating complete agreement. The Cronbach’s alpha for this variable was 0.87.

Control variables

Previous research found that gender, age, and tenure may impact students’ well-being [1]. Therefore, gender, age and tenure of the participants were used as control variables in this study. Gender was a dummy variable, coded as 1 for males and 0 for females. Age and years of schooling were continuous values (in years and years, respectively).

Missing data

Missing data will be addressed following the framework established by Lee et al. [57]. The counts and proportions of missing values for each variable will be reported, along with any assumptions regarding their causes. We will investigate patterns of missing data and potential reasons. The feasibility of conducting a complete records analysis will also be evaluated. If this analysis is found to be invalid, and it is assumed that the missing data is random, multiple imputation techniques may be employed to minimize bias and enhance precision. The number of imputations will be based on the percentage of missing values, and the results will be combined according to Rubin’s rule.

Statistical analysis

This study used SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 22.0 for statistical analysis of the data. Descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and hypothesis testing were performed using SPSS 24.0 for the study variables. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using AMOS 22.0.

Results

Common method bias

According to scholars’ research, none of the most commonly used statistical techniques (HSF, the UMLV technique, and variations of the MV technique) provide a satisfactory solution for controlling Common Method Bias (CMB). However, compared to other methods, the Directly Measured Latent Variable (DMLV) method may hold significant value [58, 59]. Therefore, we employed the Directly Measured Latent Variable Technique to test for common method bias.

The process of using this method is as follows: Firstly, identify specific sources of CMB. In this paper, the researchers identified social desirability as a potential significant source of bias. This implies that respondents may be influenced by the desire to appear more positive or conform to social expectations when answering questions. Secondly, measure DMLV. To control for this bias, we designed an additional questionnaire section to directly measure social desirability. This section contains items aimed at assessing whether respondents were influenced by social desirability when answering. Thirdly, build the model. We used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to incorporate the variables in this study, as well as social desirability (as DMLV), into the model. Fourthly, model comparison and evaluation. We constructed two models for comparison: one that includes DMLV (social desirability) and one that does not. By comparing the fit of these two models, we can assess the impact of DMLV on the model. Fifthly, interpret the results. If the model with DMLV significantly outperforms the model without DMLV, we can conclude that CMB has been effectively controlled.

The data analysis results show that the model including DMLV (RMSEA = 0.04, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.06) significantly outperforms the model excluding DMLV (RMSEA = 0.09, CFI = 0.72, TLI = 0.74, SRMR = 0.08). Therefore, CMB has been effectively controlled in this study.

Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation of each variable

The means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients between the variables involved in this study are shown in Table 1. As shown in Table 1, teachers’ authoritarian leadership was significantly and positively correlated with emotional exhaustion (r = 0.332, p < 0.001), teachers’ authoritarian leadership was significantly and negatively correlated with well-being (r=-0.335, p < 0.001), and emotional exhaustion was significantly and negatively correlated with well-being (r=-0.292, p < 0.001).

Table 1.

Means, standard deviations and correlation coefficients of the variables

	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1.Gender	1.448	0.449	-
2.Tenure	2.443	1.443	0.012	-
3.Age	20.034	1.953	-0.035	0.843***	-
4.Authoritarian leadership	3.753	0.890	0.041	0.031	0.033	-
5.Narcissism	2.153	0.845	0.045	-0.111	-0.091	-0.291***	-
6.Well-being	3.695	1.032	0.011	0.078	0.074	-0.335***	-0.253***	-
7.Emotional exhaustion	3.956	0.854	-0.085	0.043	0.042	0.332***	-0.256***	-0.292***	-
CR	-	-	-	-	-	0.955	0.954	0.935	0.945
Square root of AVE	-	-	-	-	-	0.759	0.732	0.867	0.856

* p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001

In addition, the combined reliability (CR) of each variable and the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) of each variable are shown in Table 1. As can be seen from Table 1, the CR values of each variable are greater than 0.900, which indicates that each variable has good combined reliability. The square root of AVE of each variable is greater than the correlation coefficient of that variable with other variables. This indicates that the variables have good discriminant validity.

Confirmatory factor analysis

This study used AMOS 22.0 to validate the discriminant validity of four variables (authoritarian leadership, emotional exhaustion, narcissism, and well-being) of this study using confirmatory factor analysis. Specifically, we first construct a four-factor model (authoritarian leadership, emotional exhaustion, narcissism, and well-being) and test the four-factor model. Subsequently, we constructed three-factor models (authoritarian leadership + narcissism, emotional exhaustion, and well-being), two-factor models (authoritarian leadership + emotional exhaustion + narcissism, and well-being), and one-factor models (authoritarian leadership + emotional exhaustion + narcissism + well-being), and tested the related models separately. The results of the test are shown in Table 2. As can be seen from Table 2, the fit indices of the four-factor model are better than the other models (χ² = 203.35, df = 183, χ²/df = 1.11, RMSEA = 0.03, SRMR = 0.03, TLI = 0.98, CFI = 0.99). Therefore, the data of this study passed the confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 2.

Confirmatory factor analysis

Models	χ2	df	χ2/ df	RMSEA	SRMR	TLI	CFI
1. Baseline model (including AL, NA, WB, and EE)	203.35	183	1.11	0.03	0.04	0.98	0.99
2. Three-factor model (combining AL and NA into one factor)	722.21	186	3.88	0.11	0.10	0.81	0.82
3.Two-factor model (combining AL, NA and EE into one factor)	1114.45	188	5.93	0.14	0.13	0.72	0.75
4. One-factor model (combining all the items into one factor)	1712.67	189	9.06	0.17	0.14	0.42	0.43

Note.n = 369; AL = Authoritarian leadership, NA = Narcissism, WB = Well-being, EE = Emotional exhaustion, df = degree of freedom.

Hypothesis testing

The fit indexes for the whole structural model are as follows: χ²/df = 2.34, RMSEA = 0.03, SRMR = 0.02, TLI = 0.96, CFI = 0.97. This indicates that the structural model in this study is fitted well. This study used SPSS 24.0 to test the hypotheses and the results are shown in Table 3. From M1, it is clear that teachers’ authoritarian leadership significantly and negatively impacts students’ well-being when controlling age, tenure, and gender (B=-0.37, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001). H1 was supported.

Table 3.

Results of hypothesis testing

Model	Well-being		Emotional exhaustion		Well-being		Emotional exhaustion
	M1		M2		M3		M4
	B	SE	B	SE	B	SE	B	SE
Gender	-0.03	0.12	-0.19*	0.08	0.04	0.15	-0.12	0.10
Tenure	0.02	0.13	0.12	0.13	0.02	0.13	0.09	0.11
Age	0.03	0.10	-0.10	0.09	0.05	0.10	-0.07	0.10
Authoritarian leadership	-0.37***	0.08	0.36***	0.06	-0.33***	0.09	0.41**	0.13
Emotional exhaustion					-0.24***	0.07
Narcissism							-1.22***	0.22
Authoritarian leadership*Narcissism							-0.29***	0.07
R2	0.10		0.12		0.13		0.21
Adjusted R2	0.09		0.11		0.12		0.19
F Value	10.11***		11.84***		11.34***		15.45***

* p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001

The mediating role of emotional exhaustion was subsequently tested. As shown by M1, when controlling for age, tenure, and gender, teachers’ authoritarian leadership significantly and negatively impacted students’ well-being (B = -0.37, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001). As shown by M2, when controlling for age, tenure, and gender, teachers’ authoritarian leadership significantly and positively related to emotional exhaustion (B = 0.36, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001). As shown by M3, both teachers’ authoritarian leadership (B = -0.33, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001) and emotional exhaustion (B = -0.24, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001) significantly impacted students’ well-being when controlling for age, tenure, and gender. Thus, emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being, and H2 was supported. To further test the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion, we used Bootstrap for the mediating effect test. The results of the analysis showed that the confidence interval of the indirect effect of emotional exhaustion was [0.02,0.07], which did not contain 0. Therefore, the mediating role of emotional exhaustion was tested again.

The moderating effect of narcissism was subsequently tested. As seen in M4, when controlling for age, tenure, and gender, teachers’ authoritarian leadership (B = 0.41, SE = 0.14, p < 0.01), narcissism (B=-1.22, SE = 0.20, p < 0.001), and the Int (B=-0.29, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001) significantly impacted emotional exhaustion. Therefore, narcissism mediates the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and emotional exhaustion. The present study plots the moderating effect of narcissism between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and emotional exhaustion, as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, when students had lower narcissistic traits, students’ overall level of emotional exhaustion was higher than that of students with higher narcissistic traits. Also, the slope of the high narcissistic trait was smaller than the slope of the low narcissistic trait. This indicates that the higher the narcissistic trait of the students, the lower the effect of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion. H3 was supported.

Fig. 2.

Figure of the moderating role of narcissism between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and emotional exhaustion

The test of moderated-mediation effect. As shown in Table 4, when students’ narcissism is low, the confidence interval for the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion is [-0.04,0.03], and the confidence interval contains 0. When students had high levels of narcissism, the confidence interval for the mediated effect of emotional exhaustion was [0.05,0.22] with a confidence interval that did not contain 0. This suggests that the effect of the mediated effect of emotional exhaustion differs when students have different levels of narcissism. Also, the effect value for the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion was − 0.01 when the students’ narcissism was low and 0.10 when the students’ narcissism was high. This indicates that the higher the students’ narcissism, the weaker the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion. H4 was supported.

Table 4.

Results of the test of moderated-mediation effect

Level	Effect	Boot SE	Boot LLCI	Boot ULCI
Low level (-1SD)	-0.01	0.03	-0.04	0.03
High level(+1SD)	0.10	0.03	0.04	0.17
Difference	0.11	0.04	0.02	0.26

Discussion

First, this study found that teachers’ authoritarian leadership is related to students’ well-being. most of the past research on teachers’ authoritarian leadership has focused on the impact of this leadership style on teachers themselves. For example, Huang and Yin found that authoritarian leadership had a positive association with teachers’ absorption [19]. Shi et al. found that teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacts their job Shi et al. found that teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacted their job satisfaction [60]. In addition, teachers’ authoritarian leadership was found to impact teachers’ collective self-concept and work-family conflict [61, 62]. These studies provide insights into how teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacts teachers’ own attitudes and behaviours. However, related studies have neglected the impact of this leadership style on students. Therefore, this study explored the impact of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students.

Second, this study found that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being. Past research has demonstrated that emotional exhaustion can mediate the effects of teachers’ teaching on behaviour. For example, emotional exhaustion has been examined as a mediator between kindergarten teachers’ emotional and physical well-being [63]. The present study further validates this research by considering emotional exhaustion as an important mediating variable in the influence of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being.

Third, this study found that narcissistic plays a moderating role in teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacting students’ well-being. Past research has begun to focus on the importance of students’ narcissistic. For example, some scholars have examined the impact of students’ narcissistic on citizenship behaviour in organisations [64]. Others have examined the impact of narcissistic traits on creativity among college students [65]. However, few studies have considered narcissistic as a boundary condition. This study extends the research on narcissistic by considering it as an important boundary condition in the process of teachers’ authoritarian leadership impacting students’ well-being.

Theoretical implications

First, this study explores the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being based on a resource perspective, extending the findings on authoritative leadership and students’ physical and mental health dimensions. There is a broad consensus that authoritarian leadership can have adverse effects on individuals. However, most of the current research on authoritarian leadership has focused on the field of organizational behavior, exploring the effects of authoritarian leadership on employees’ work and life behaviors [59, 66]. Not many studies have explored the effects of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students from the perspective of students’ physical and mental health. Therefore, although the negative effects of authoritarian leadership on individuals have been relevantly verified, this study further extends the research on authoritarian leadership by expanding the relevant studies from the traditional manager-employee perspective to a teacher-student perspective.

Second, this study incorporates emotional exhaustion as a mediating factor and gains empirical support, providing a new explanatory path for exploring the relationship between authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being. The study found that teachers’ authoritarian leadership not only directly impacts students’ well-being, but also indirectly impacts well-being through emotional exhaustion. In previous studies, it was found that teachers’ overly strict management of students impacts students’ academic performance, but not enough attention has been paid to the outcomes and behaviors they trigger in terms of students’ physical and mental health [67]. The education of students in colleges and universities currently focuses not only on academic performance but also on their physical and mental health. Therefore, this study explores the mediating role of emotional exhaustion in the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being to help scholars understand more deeply the mechanisms of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being.

Third, this study verifies the moderating role of students’ narcissistic traits and enrichs boundary conditions in research on the impact of authoritarian teacher leadership on student psychology and behaviour. This study selected students’ narcissistic traits as moderating variables and analyzed the effects of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ emotional exhaustion and well-being under different levels of student narcissism. Previous studies on the mechanisms influencing students’ well-being have focused on individual teachers’ or students’ perspectives, and few studies have explored their effects on students’ well-being based on both individual student traits and teachers’ leadership styles [68, 69]. Thus, the present study enriches the study of narcissism.

Practical implications

First, teachers should improve their management style to enhance student well-being at the root. From the teacher’s perspective, teachers should use authoritarian leadership in their daily management of students in a reasonable way. On the one hand, teachers should establish authority among students and take strict management measures. On the other hand, teachers should pay attention to the scale when managing students and should not be so harsh to students that it impacts their physical and mental health. From the school’s point of view, the school should regularly invite renowned experts and scholars in the field of student management to train teachers so that they can pay attention to the ways and means of managing students in such a way that the purpose of educating them can be achieved without impacting their well-being.

Second, teachers need to understand each student’s personality and traits in the process of managing students, and target management to students with different traits. Research has found that students’ narcissistic traits moderate the effects of authoritarian leadership on emotional exhaustion and well-being, and the stronger the students’ narcissistic traits, the weaker the negative effects of authoritarian leadership on students. Therefore, teachers should pay attention to understanding students’ traits in their daily management process, and can focus on students’ personalities by filling out personality test questionnaires and other methods. In the management process, different management strategies are adopted for students with different traits in order to reduce students’ emotional exhaustion and enhance their well-being. For example, students with a high degree of narcissism can be managed in a more severe style, but for those who are very sensitive students should pay attention to the language of communication to prevent irritating the students and thus the bad results.

Thirdly, teachers should have an objective understanding of students’ narcissistic traits in daily management work. Narcissism can be divided into healthy narcissism and unhealthy narcissism. Students with healthy narcissism have confidence and self-esteem, but they do not overly focus on themselves or harm others. Students with unhealthy narcissism often overly focus on themselves, believe they are the most important, and may harm others. Therefore, teachers need to distinguish between different types of narcissism and encourage healthy narcissism. If students exhibit unhealthy narcissistic behavior, teachers need to guide them to reflect on their behavior and help them establish healthier self-esteem and confidence. In addition, when interacting with students, teachers need to remain objective and fair, and should not give special treatment or unfair evaluations due to students’ narcissistic traits. Teachers should cultivate students’ empathy, help them understand the feelings and needs of others, and enable them to better understand themselves and their classmates and exhibit better behavior in daily learning.

Limitations and future research directions

The present study also has some limitations. First, although this study used a multi-temporal data collection approach to collect data, it still could not avoid the interference from common method bias. The use of a scenario-based experiment could be considered in the future to explore the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and students’ well-being. Second, teachers’ authoritarian leadership is essentially a leadership style, and this study focused only on the individual student level; a stratified design could be considered in the future to investigate the relationship between teachers’ authoritarian leadership and student well-being at multiple levels, such as grade level, classroom, and individual. Third, this study examined the effects of teachers’ authoritarian leadership on students’ well-being using emotional exhaustion as a mediating variable and narcissism as a moderating variable. However, there may be other mediating and moderating variables in the process of teachers’ authoritarian leadership’s effect on students’ well-being. Therefore, new mediating and moderating mechanisms can be explored in future studies to enrich the research on the mechanism of teachers’ authoritarian leadership’s influence on students’ well-being.

Author contributions

Peng and Huang had the research idea, conceptualised and designed the research. Peng collected and curated the data. Peng and Huang wrote the main manuscript text. Huang reviewed and edited the paper. Huang supervised the process and acquired the funds needed for the study. All authors have read and approved the final draft.

Funding

Not applicable.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the first author.

Declarations

Ethical approval and consent to participate

The study procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of Sichuan University and were in line with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was signed and obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical guidelines

Ethics approval was not required as per institutional guidelines and national laws and regulations because no unethical behavior existed in this study. We only conducted paper–pencil testing and were exempt from further ethics board approval because our study did not involve human clinical trials or animal experiments. In the survey process, all participants were informed that participation was voluntary and were assured that their responses would be only used for our study and kept strictly confidential. Therefore, only those who were willing to participate were recruited.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.