A Diary Investigation of Daily Emotions, Emotional Display, and Leaders’ Authenticity in a Cohort of City Traffic Police

Abstract

Purpose

This diary study tested some propositions to determine the effect of discrete emotions on three dimensions of emotional labor and their consequent effect on leaders and follower’s perception about leaders’ authenticity.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The data were collected from a cohort of city traffic police consisting 69 police officials at four different time points between their two shifts using experience sampling method. The data were analyzed using the latest technique known as latent growth curve modeling.

Findings

The statistical results demonstrated that negative emotions were negatively associated with deep-acting and three forms of emotional labor did not significantly affect followers’ perception about leaders’ authenticity. This study also demonstrated that surface-acting is not significantly associated with leaders’ self-perceived authenticity, but genuine-acting and deep-acting were negatively associated with leaders’ self-perceived authenticity.

Research Limitations/Implications

This study also offers certain implications for policing officials for improve authentic behavior through daily emotional displays in policing organizations.

Practical Implications

This study offers some practical implications for policing officials about emotion regulation strategies during policing practices with respect to the authentic sense of the leaders as well as the followers.

Originality/Value

This study offers an insight about how emotional labor affects the perceptions of policing officers about the authenticity of their leaders in the context of traffic police.

Citation

Asadullah, M.A., Abdullah, U. and Siddiquei, A. (2019), "A Diary Investigation of Daily Emotions, Emotional Display, and Leaders’ Authenticity in a Cohort of City Traffic Police", Emotions and Leadership (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 15), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 21-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120190000015002