Relation Between Emotional Labor and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: An Investigation Among Chinese Teaching Professionals

This study examined the association between emotional labor and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the mediation of work engagement in this relationship. A total of 264 teachers in Mainland China were recruited for this study. Bivariate correlation showed that both deep acting and the expression of naturally felt emotion were positively related to the two dimensions of OCB, namely, OCB toward the individual (OCBI) and OCB toward the organization (OCBO), whereas surface acting was not related to the OCB dimensions. Work engagement was also positively associated with both OCB dimensions. Regression results showed that work engagement partially mediated the relation between deep acting and OCBO, and that between the expression of naturally felt emotion and OCBI. Work engagement also fully mediated the association between deep acting and OCBI, and that between the expression of naturally felt emotion and OCBO. In light of these findings, strategies that encourage employees to display emotions consistent with their inner experience were discussed.     

Emotions naturally and laboriously expressed: Antecedents,consequences, and the role of valence

The emotion regulation literature has focused primarily on comparing the methods of surface acting and deep acting, yet scholars have also noted the importance of naturally felt emotions as a means for achieving a desired emotional display. The literature has also mainly examined positive displays, yet there are many situations that call for the display of negative emotions. To advance theory and research, we draw from theory on central principles of approach/avoidance motivation to understand why an individual would choose a given emotional display method, as well as the extent to which a given method is beneficial versus harmful to individuals. In doing so, we identify the valence of the emotion being displayed as a critical factor influencing the benefits and detriments of emotional display methods. Results of a 3-week experience-sampling study of 218 employees revealed that mood was associated with the natural display of positive emotion, promotion focus was associated with deep acting, and prevention focus was associated with surface acting. In positive display contexts, displaying emotion naturally was most beneficial (in terms of effects on emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and work withdrawal), whereas surface acting was most detrimental. In negative contexts, this relationship pattern was reversed.     

Tailoring emotions in romantic relationships: A person-centered approach

Adapting the concept of emotional labor to romantic relationships, we examined how people tailor their emotions based on beliefs about partner expectations. Participants (N = 521) completed measures of faking one’s felt emotions (surface acting) and attempting to change felt emotions (deep acting) in response to four contexts. Using latent profile analysis, we identified five profiles (non-actors, deep-actors, moderates, actors, and extreme regulators), and evaluated how profile membership corresponded to relationship quality, self-esteem, and general emotional regulation tendencies. Relationship quality was higher among deep actors and non-actors compared with actors and extreme regulators. Although people may benefit from deep acting, the co-occurrence of surface acting appears to maximize the costs and minimize the benefits of deep acting in romantic relationships.     

The primacy of perceiving: emotion recognition buffers negative effects of emotional labor

There is ample empirical evidence for negative effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on workers' well-being. This study analyzed to what extent workers' ability to recognize others' emotions may buffer these effects. In a 4-week study with 85 nurses and police officers, emotion recognition moderated the relationship between emotional labor and work engagement: Workers with high emotion recognition engaging in emotional labor did not report lower work engagement after 4 weeks, whereas those with low emotion recognition did. These effects pertained to both surface and deep acting. The results suggest that emotional labor be not necessarily detrimental to workers' engagement. Instead, the impact of emotional labor hinges upon workers' ability to correctly identify interaction partners' emotions.     

Teachers’ emotions and emotion management: integrating emotion regulation theory with emotional labor research

While the similarities between emotion regulation (Gross in J Personal Soc Psychol 74:224–237, 1998a) and emotional labor (Hochschild in The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983) have been theoretically discussed, empirical research on their relation is lacking. We examined the relations between the two constructs as well as their relations with teachers’ discrete emotions in a sample of 189 secondary school teachers. The results showed that reappraisal correlated positively with deep acting, whereas suppression correlated positively with surface acting. The findings further suggest that reappraisal and deep acting are linked to experiencing positive emotions, whereas suppression and surface acting are linked to experiencing negative emotions. However, there also were some differences in how emotion regulation and emotional labor were related to teachers’ discrete emotional experiences. Specifically, reappraisal and deep acting strategies were positively related to enjoyment; in addition, deep acting was negatively related to negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and frustration. By contrast, suppression and surface acting strategies were positively associated with negative emotions (i.e., suppression with anxiety; surface acting with anxiety, anger, and frustration), and surface acting was negatively associated with the positive emotion enjoyment. Implications for integrating research on teachers’ emotion regulation and emotional labor are discussed.     

Emotional Intelligence as a Moderator of Affectivity/Emotional Labor and Emotional Labor/Psychological Distress Relationships

Emotional labor refers to effort, planning, and control required to display organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions and performed by individuals either through deep acting or surface acting. Deep acting refers to the modification of inner feeling in order to express the organizationally desired emotions, whereas surface acting refers to the change of emotional expression without facilitating the change of inner emotional state. The authors examined the moderating role of emotional intelligence dimensions (self-emotional appraisal; others’ emotional appraisal, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion) in the affectivity (a general positive or negative tendency to experience a particular mood)-emotional labor and emotional labor-psychological distress relationships among 210 university teachers. Specifically, we found that (a) regulation of emotion was a particularly important emotional intelligence dimension in influencing the use of deep acting, both directly and indirectly through the interaction with negative affectivity; (b) positive affectivity emerged as an important affectivity dimension in influencing the use of deep acting both directly and indirectly through the interaction with self-emotional appraisal; (c) negative affectivity was a particularly important affectivity dimension in influencing the use of surface acting, both directly and indirectly through its interaction with emotional intelligence dimensions of self-emotional appraisal and use of emotion; and finally (d) regulation of emotion interacted with deep acting to influence the psychological distress arising from EL requirements.     

特质应对与展现规则对情绪劳动的影响

采用2×3组间设计, 检测特质应对(积极与消极)与展现规则(积极、消极、无规则)对情绪劳动的影响。结果表明, 积极应对引起更多深层动作; 积极规则下出现较少表层扮演(与消极应对比)。积极和消极规则都引起较多深层和表层动作。积极应对在积极规则下表层扮演较少(与消极规则比); 消极应对在积极规则下表层扮演较多(与消极规则比)。研究提示, 特质情绪性可能是调节展现规则与情绪劳动关系的重要原因。     

Social support mediating between coping by emotional expression and depression

The present purpose was to investigate the effects of social support on the relationship between coping by expressing emotions and depression in women. Japanese undergraduate students (N = 218) completed four self-report questionnaires: the dispositional and situational versions of the Emotional Coping Questionnaire which measures the mode of expression as being either to self as in a diary or to others as in telling a friend, the Social Support Scale to evaluate received support, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. Analysis showed that expression of emotions to self in both dispositional and situational coping had significant positive correlations with depression, especially for women who scored high on depression, and expression of emotions to others in both dispositional and situational coping were significantly positively correlated with social support. However, no significant mediation effects of social support in emotional expression and depression were found. Limitations and topics for research are discussed.     

情绪劳动策略对主动破坏行为的影响

如何开展员工情绪劳动管理,避免负面行为结果,是服务行业面对的重要问题。以788名呼叫中心员工为研究对象,本文获得的结果表明:1)表层动作显著促进主动破坏行为,而深层动作的影响不显著。2)政策强度感知显著调节表层动作与主动破坏行为间关系;当政策强度感知较低时,表层动作对主动破坏行为的正向影响更为显著。3)情感社会分享显著调节深层动作与主动破坏行为间关系;当情感社会分享水平较高时,深层动作对主动破坏行为的负向影响更为显著。本研究从资源保存视角提出工作场所开展情绪劳动管理的有效策略。     

Abusive supervision and subordinate emotional labor: The moderating role of openness personality

We investigated the differential relationships between abusive supervision and two emotional labor strategies used by subordinates (surface acting and deep acting). Furthermore, we examined whether subordinates' openness personality moderated the above relationships. Using the questionnaire survey method, we collected data from 210 employees in China. The results of hierarchical regression showed that abusive supervision related positively to surface acting (regulating facial expression) but negatively to deep acting (regulating inner feeling). Openness personality moderated the relationships between abusive supervision and the two emotional labor strategies, such that the relationships were stronger for employees with lower openness. Findings of our study contribute to the literature on workplace emotions and negative leadership.     

Quality of Work Life as a Mediator Between Emotional Labor and Work Family Interference

Purpose  We adopted the conservation of resources model (COR, Hobfoll Am Psychol 44:513–524, 1989; Hobfoll in Stress, culture, and community: the psychology and philosophy of stress, Plenum, New York, 1998) to examine the associations among emotional labor, work family interference, and quality of work life. Design/Methodology/Approach  Cross-sectional, self-reported data were obtained from 442 Hong Kong Chinese service employees. Findings  Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses showed that surface acting was a salient correlate of work-to-family interference, even when organizational display rules and employees’ demographic information were controlled. Furthermore, quality of work life had partially mediated the relationship between surface acting and work-to-family interference. However, deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion did not relate to work-to-family interference. Finally, we found that family-to-work interference was a salient correlate of the use of surface acting in workplace. Implication  This study provided useful information of how adopting different emotional labor strategies related to work family interference. Based on our results, the use of deep acting should be promoted in workplace because it related positively to quality of work life and it did not amplify the work-to-family interference. Originality/value  While past studies often explored the role of emotional labor as the precursor of work family interference, our study is among the first attempt to examine family-to-work interference as the antecedent of emotional labor. Additionally, we had also confirmed the role of quality of work life as an important mediator between emotional labor-work-to-family interference.     

情绪劳动与抑郁及焦虑的关系：情绪耗竭的中介作用

本研究探讨情绪劳动与抑郁、焦虑的关系,着力考察情绪耗竭在二者之间的中介作用。采用情绪劳动量表、情绪耗竭量表和SCL-90对328名零售业员工进行调查。结果表明：表面行为与情绪耗竭、抑郁及焦虑没有显著相关;深度行为对情绪耗竭、抑郁及焦虑有显著的负预测作用;情绪耗竭在情绪劳动与抑郁及焦虑之间起完全中介作用。     

Willing and able to fake emotions: a closer examination of the link between emotional dissonance and employee well-being

Emotional dissonance resulting from an employee's emotional labor is usually considered to lead to negative employee outcomes, such as job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Drawing on Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory, we argue that the relationship between service employees' surface acting and job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion is moderated by 2 aspects of a service worker's self-concept: the importance of displaying authentic emotions (reflecting the self-concept's self-liking dimension) and the employee's self-efficacy when faking emotions (reflecting the self-competence dimension). A survey of 528 frontline employees from a wide variety of service jobs provides support for the moderating role of both self-concept dimensions, which moderate 3 out of 4 relationships. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed from the perspectives of cognitive dissonance and emotional labor theories.     

Emotional labor among trainee police officers: The interpersonal role of positive emotions

The aim of this study is to get an insight of the interpersonal process of emotional labor, and the role of positive emotions in the interaction between the sender and receiver, while taking both the perspective of the sender and the receiver into account. We tested the influence of the perceived display of positive emotions of Dutch trainee police officers (N?=?80) during an interaction with offenders on perceived authenticity and perceived performance success, incorporating the senders’ emotion regulation technique (i.e., deep acting and surface acting). Consistent with hypotheses, results of structural equation modeling analyses showed that perceived authenticity mediates the relationship between the perceived display of positive emotions and perceived performance success, while the specific senders’ emotion regulation technique was not related to perceived performance success. Furthermore, results showed that perceived performance success mediated the relationship between the perceived display of positive emotions and senders’ felt positive emotions after the interaction, controlling for senders’ positive affect.     

IS EMOTIONAL LABOR MORE DIFFICULT FOR SOME THAN FOR OTHERS? A MULTILEVEL,EXPERIENCE‐SAMPLING STUDY

In response to 2 areas for development in the emotional labor literature—(a) the contemporaneous associations between emotional labor and affective reactions, and (b) whether emotional labor might be more personally costly for some employees than others—this study tested a conceptual model explaining the differential effects of deep and surface acting on job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion via their asymmetrical influences on mood, and whether extraverts fare better when engaging in emotional labor. As expected, surface acting was positively associated with negative mood, and this explained some of the association of surface acting with increased emotional exhaustion and decreased job satisfaction. Contrary to hypotheses, deep acting was unrelated to job satisfaction and was associated with lower positive affect. Extraversion moderated several emotional labor relationships such that, in general, surface and deep acting had more positive (or less negative) effects for extraverts (compared to introverts). Overall, the results support the importance of considering the roles of mood and disposition in the impact of emotional labor.     

Spillover Effects of Emotional Labor in Customer Service Encounters Toward Coworker Harming: A Resource Depletion Perspective

This research examines how the implications of emotional labor can transfer from customer encounters to coworker interactions using temporally lagged data from a sample of frontline service employees. The results show that surface acting in customer service encounters is positively, and deep acting is negatively, related to ego depletion. Employees’ ego depletion, in turn, is positively associated with their interpersonally harmful behavior toward coworkers. Hence, ego depletion appears as a mediating variable that translates the implications of distinct emotional labor strategies into coworker harming. Moreover, emotion regulation self‐efficacy moderates the role of surface acting. The positive indirect relationship between surface acting and coworker harming, via ego depletion, is buffered among employees with higher emotion regulation self‐efficacy. These findings shed new light on the complex and far‐reaching consequences of emotional labor. We demonstrate the relevance of emotional labor to third parties not directly involved in customer service encounters and highlight important mediators and boundary conditions of these indirect relations.     

Knife-like mouth and tofu-like heart: emotion regulation by Chinese teachers in classroom teaching

This study attempts to bring together two lines of enquiry into teacher emotion, emotional labor and emotion regulation, arguing that the process of teachers’ emotional labor is their regulation of feelings and expressions to achieve professional goals. Through the analysis of qualitative data collected from two projects concerning teacher emotion in China, the study summarizes three categories and seven strategies adopted by Chinese teachers to regulate their emotions in the classroom. Teachers regulate their emotions by genuinely expressing their feelings in teaching, along with surface acting and deep acting. These emotion regulation strategies help teachers fulfill their professional goals, and may therefore influence their well-being. The influence of Chinese culture on the emotion regulation of teachers, and the teacher–student relationship in China, are also discussed.     

Emotional labor and burnout among female teachers: Work–family conflict as mediator

With the increasing number of women in the workforce, there is a need to understand how the interrelationship between emotions and the demands of work and family influence their well‐being. This study examined how emotional labor [surface acting (SA) and deep acting] and work–family conflict contribute to explaining variance in burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization). In a sample of 102 married, female Malay teachers, with at least one child living at home, results showed that SA was positively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The results also showed that work–family conflict mediated the relationship between emotional labor and burnout. However, no moderation effect of work–family on the SA–burnout relationship was found. The results are discussed with respect to the general literature on the stress–strain relation and work–family conflict.     

Coping through emotional approach: scale construction and validation

Four studies demonstrate the psychometric adequacy and validity of scales designed to assess coping through emotional approach. In separate undergraduate samples, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of dispositional (Study 1) and situational (Study 3) coping item sets yielded 2 distinct emotional approach coping factors: emotional processing (i.e., active attempts to acknowledge and understand emotions) and emotional expression. The 2 scales yielded high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. A study (Study 2) of young adults and their parents established the scales' interjudge reliabilities. Longitudinal (Study 3) and experimental (Study 4) research supported the predictive validity of the emotional approach coping scales with regard to adjustment to stressful encounters. Findings highlight the utility of functionalist theories of emotion as applied to coping theory.     

Relationships between emotional labor, job performance, and turnover

The present study investigates the relationship between the emotional labor strategies surface acting and deep acting and organizational outcomes, specifically, employees' overall job performance and turnover. Call center employees from two large financial service organizations completed an online survey about their use of surface and deep acting. Their responses were matched with supervisors' ratings of overall job performance and organizational turnover records obtained 9 months later. Results indicate that surface acting is directly related to employee turnover and emotional exhaustion and that the relationship between surface acting and job performance is indirect via employee affective delivery. Deep acting was not linked to these outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed from the perspective of emotional labor theories.