When we are onstage,we smile: The effects of emotional labor on employee work outcomes

A growing body of literature has confirmed the deleterious effects of emotional labor on service employees. The study adds to it by investigating two hypothesized antecedents to emotional labor; affectivity and empathy which is conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct composed of emotional contagion and empathic concern. It also examines the impact of emotional labor on job satisfaction and exhaustion. The results confirmed a two-dimensional structure of emotional labor, emotive dissonance, and emotive effort. Hospitality employees with higher positive affect tend to experience less emotive dissonance while individuals with higher negative affect exert more effort to enact emotional labor. A positive relationship was found between emotional contagion and emotive dissonance, and emotive effort and job satisfaction. The results also suggested a negative relationship between emotive effort and emotional exhaustion. An unexpected negative relationship was found between emotional dissonance and emotional exhaustion. Managerial implications discuss training and acting techniques to more effectively manage employee emotional labor.     

Service,emotional labor,and mindfulness

From the seclusion of monastic life to the noise of Silicon Valley, the ancient practice of mindfulness has ‘come out of the cloister.’ As an antidote to mindless cognition and behavior, the practice of mindfulness—with its principle of grounding attention in the present moment—has been shown to have powerful and positive effects at both the individual and the collective level and in fields as wide-ranging as medicine, schooling, prison programs, law and negotiation, business, and even the army. This installment of Marketing & Technology introduces mindfulness to managers and explores its potential for enhancing the service encounter. We begin by reviewing the two main conceptualizations of mindfulness: the cognitive and the contemplative. We then explore the service encounter from the perspective of emotional labor and show how mindfulness can change surface acting into deep acting, thereby significantly improving the service encounter for both the consumer and provider. We also explore the other benefits of mindfulness and their application to the service encounter: adaptability, flexibility, and creativity. We conclude by sharing resources for managers interested in implementing mindfulness training.     

Managing work-generated emotions at home: An exploration of the “Bright Side” of emotion regulation

This conceptual paper applies the construct of emotion regulation to the work-family interface in order to further expand our understanding of the positive aspects of emotional labor. Contrary to the predominant view that emotional labor is stressful and produces primarily harmful outcomes, we propose that emotion regulation in work-to-home transitions reduces an individual's work-family conflict, enhances job satisfaction, and improves their spouse's family satisfaction. Indeed, work stress can cause employees to remain preoccupied with work-related thoughts and negative moods when moving from work to family settings. We argue that social display rules positively influence an individual's engagement in emotion regulation to meet family role demands. Drawing on current research on role boundaries, emotion regulation, emotional labor, and work-family conflict, we offer testable propositions to encourage future research on the beneficial aspects of emotion regulation in research on work and family. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in closing.     

The relationship between newcomers’ emotional labor and service performance: the moderating roles of service training and mentoring functions

Abstract

Retaining newcomers and enhancing their service performance are critical issues for the human resource management and hospitality management fields. However, newcomers have just begun to learn the organizational display rules and often encounter more emotional problems than veteran employees. Thus, how organizations help the newcomers to manage their emotions in order to deliver better service is an important issue. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study explores the relationship between newcomers’ emotional labor and service performance, and examines whether human resource practices such as service training and mentoring functions can moderate this association. We collected data from hospitality newcomers and their supervisors from 34 hotels. A total of 244 valid paired questionnaires were collected during two different time phases. The results of hierarchical regression analysis show that newcomers’ deep acting positively relates to service performance and service training can enhance this relationship. In addition, mentoring functions also differentially moderate the relationships between the two emotional labor strategies and service performance.     

Explaining the Link Between Emotional Labor and Turnover Intentions: The Role of In-Depth Communication

This study investigates the relationships between three different emotional labor strategies (surface acting, deep acting, and genuine emotions) and turnover intentions and introduces the role of in-depth communication with colleagues as a potential moderator. This study was administered to employees in four Chinese hotel companies. Frontline employees were asked to participate in the survey and 216 valid responses were obtained for data analysis. The results showed that surface acting and deep acting were associated with turnover intentions, and in-depth communication with colleagues moderated the relation between deep acting and turnover intentions. Although there was not a direct effect of genuine emotions on turnover intentions, in-depth communication was a significant moderator of this relation. These findings extend previous literature by demonstrating the role of in-depth communication in shaping employees’ retention.     

企业中层管理者情绪劳动的对策研究

社会竞争日益激烈,导致企业员工的情绪波动、工作压力越来越大。中层管理者是企业的中坚和脊梁,其情绪波动,工作压力以及工作满意度对企业的绩效、关键人才保留和长期发展至关重要。作者首先分析企业中层管理者的作用和特点,然后通过问卷的方式调查企业中层管理者情绪劳动、工作压力、工作满意度及离职倾向的程度,并深入探讨情绪劳动与后三者之间的关系。     

How emotional labor affect hotel employees’ mental health: A longitudinal study

The current study aims to examine the longitudinal effects of emotional labor on the mental health of hotel employees based on the Allostatic Load and Conservation of Resources theories. Four waves of data were collected from 534 hotel interns in an eight-month period. Latent growth modeling and lagged path analysis were used to analyze the time-series data. The study results indicated that hotel employees experienced increased anxiety and depression within the first three months of their new jobs. Surface acting increased employees' anxiety and depression. Interestingly, deep acting decreased employees' anxiety and depression in the short run but increased their anxiety and depression in the long run. Emotional exhaustion explained the double-edged effect of deep acting on mental health. The study results provide meaningful implications for hotel managers in workplace stress management and employees’ mental health improvement.     

Evidence of the practical utility of Wong’s emotional intelligence scale in Hong Kong and mainland China

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been an emerging topic for psychological, educational, and management researchers and consultants in recent years. However, there is a lack of scientifically valid measures of this concept, especially for those that have practical utility in the Asian context. Recently, a 40-item forced-choice instrument was developed for Chinese respondents in Hong Kong. We collected data in three studies to further test the practical utility of this instrument in Hong Kong and mainland China. The results provided clear evidence for the instrument’s practical utility. More research that uses this measure in Asian countries is required.

银行柜员情绪表现规则对情绪劳动影响的实证研究

银行柜员情绪表现规则和情绪劳动的实证表明:表达积极情绪的表现规则对浅层行为、深层行为具有正向影响;抑制消极情绪的表现规则对浅层行为具有正向影响,对深层行为具有负向影响,深层行为和表达积极情绪的表现规则相关性较高,浅层行为和抑制消极情绪的表现规则相关性较高。     

Customer showrooming behavior,customer orientation,and emotional labor: Sales control as a moderator

Despite the popularity of customer showrooming behavior (CSB), few studies have investigated how this phenomenon affects salespeople's sales behavior. To answer this research call, we explored the effect of CSB on customer orientation (CO), as they are associated with emotional labor (EL) and perceived sales control as a moderator. We gathered data from 397 salespeople in South Korean department stores. Our study showed that CSB affected deep acting negatively by reducing CO. Perceived outcome-based sales control enhances CSB's negative impact on CO. Nevertheless, perceived behavior-based sales control does not moderate the relationship between CSB and CO. Our results indicate that supervising salespeople using outcome-based control only worsens the effect of CSB on salespeople who combat CSB.