Psychophysiological effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction |
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Authors: | Henrik Hopp Sonja Rohrmann Dieter Zapf Volker Hodapp |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology , Goethe-University Frankfurt , PO Box 11 19 32, Frankfurt am Main, D-60054, Germany hopp@psych.uni-frankfurt.de;3. Department of Psychology , Technical University Darmstadt , Alexanderstrasse 10, Darmstadt, D-64283, Germany;4. Department of Psychology , Goethe-University Frankfurt , PO Box 11 19 32, Frankfurt am Main, D-60054, Germany |
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Abstract: | Abstract Current research demonstrates that requirements to express emotions which are not genuinely felt in the particular situation (emotional dissonance) are associated with negative long and short-term effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate: (a) the psychophysiological short-term effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction and (b) the moderating role of gender and neuroticism. In total, 32 women and 27 men were instructed to play the role of a service employee, who had to interact with an angry and rude customer. Half of the sample was given information that the organization expected them to be friendly (emotional dissonance), the other half was told they were expected to act naturally and show their genuine feelings (no emotional dissonance). Subjective and behavioral responses revealed that participants in the “friendly” condition modulated their emotional expressions to a greater extent than those in the “naturally” condition. Participants in the “friendly” condition showed stronger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses yielded that gender and neuroticism partly moderated the association between emotional dissonance and participants' psychophysiological response. |
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Keywords: | display rules emotional dissonance emotional labor gender neuroticism |
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