Abstract
Occupational well-being indicates the overall mental and emotional engagement and professional fulfillment of individuals in their workplace. However, existing reports show increasing emotional labor and limited institutional support, but no study has measured this yet. This quantitative study aimed to explore a best-fit model that predicts the occupational well-being of guidance advocates in Region XII using path analysis. The study involved guidance advocates from various public secondary schools, and data were gathered through adapted and validated survey instruments using systematic random sampling. The findings revealed very high emotional intelligence, slightly high workplace expectations, slightly high coping strategies, and very high occupational well-being. The best-fit model with acceptable goodness-of-fit indices pointed directly to emotional intelligence as the determining factor for occupational well-being. Furthermore, coping strategies and workplace expectations acted as mediating variables. Subsequently, the practical applications to support the occupational well-being of the guidance advocates were very clearly defined.
