The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Emotional Dissonance and Employee Retention: A Systematic Review

In private post-secondary academic institutions, one unseen strain on faculty is emotional dissonance or the cognitive dissonance between their true feelings and an institution's explicit or implicit expectations with regard to expression of feelings as part of their academic engagement. The emotional strain that faculty members experience - especially in recent years when the digital transition accelerated through the post-COVID online teaching environment (not to mention India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020) can lead to burnout, non-satisfaction in the academic role and turnover. In an academic context, emotional labor is inevitable, but academic institutions very often have no appropriate institutional structure that acknowledges and accommodates emotional labor experience to provide adequate cognitive and institutional supports. In this paper the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address emotional dissonance in practice and ultimately support retention of faculty. The essay builds upon four foundational theories, including: Emotional Labor Theory, Job Demands-Resources Model, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, and Social Exchange Theory while establishing a multi-dimensional framework in which AI serves as an element that complements institutional supports. Finally, the article suggests that through emotion analytics, predictive modelling, virtual counselling and managing workloads, AI provides adaptive, personalized, and preventive emotional care. As presented in the proposed AI-augmented framework, the article argue that emotional dissonance is a key reason for attrition and job satisfaction is the mediator while AI-augmented institutional supports act as the monitor. This study has shown that AI is no longer a luxury but should not be avoided as institutions seek to develop emotional intelligence as a dimension of sustainable faculty well-being, sustaining faculty engagement and academic career longevity.