Beyond the negative view of music teacher stress: how stress enhances occupational well-being through teacher agency.

This study aims to examine the relationship between teacher stress and occupational well-being among Chinese in-service primary and secondary school music teachers, with particular attention to its non-linear effects and the serial mediating roles of teacher agency and job burnout. A quantitative research design was adopted, and data were collected from 205 in-service primary and secondary school music teachers in China. Structural equation modeling and serial mediation analysis were employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that music teacher stress exerts a positive direct association on occupational well-being and exhibits a U-shaped relationship. In addition, teacher stress does not have a significant direct association on job burnout but influences occupational well-being through teacher agency and a serial mediation pathway involving teacher agency and job burnout. By incorporating a non-linear perspective and a serial mediation framework, this study explains how music teacher stress influences occupational well-being through a mechanism centered on teacher agency and job burnout. Practically, the findings suggest that maintaining an appropriate level of stress and fostering music teacher agency are important for supporting teachers' occupational well-being and sustainable professional development.