Coping with emotional labor: an intervention study

Abstract

Purpose

Emotional labor is generally seen as a response to organizational display rules, which seek to guide the employee’s emotional expressions in such a way as to benefit the organization – generally by increasing customer satisfaction and fostering a positive regard for the organization itself. This study aims to investigate the degree to which a workshop intervention providing information about emotional labor and targeting effective coping strategies could have an effect on teachers’ burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of educators in primary and secondary schools, participants completed a pre-intervention survey, the training intervention and a post-intervention survey six months after the training.

Findings

Findings indicate that helpful coping strategy responses increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention. Regression tests showed the relationships between emotional labor and burnout weakened from time 1 to time 2.

Originality/value

These findings suggest that a brief, 60 min, intervention was effective in reducing the strength of the relationship between emotional labor and burnout. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Citation

Weaver, A.D., Allen, J.A. and Erks Byrne, R. (2019), "Coping with emotional labor: an intervention study", Management Research Review, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 1033-1048. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-07-2018-0259