Search results

This chapter describes the role of service employees’ motives for emotion regulation in interactions with customers. To date, there has been little research and theoretical work on motives for emotion regulation in service work. The reason for this may lie in the fact that there is an implicit general assumption that employees regulate their emotions in customer interactions because of display rules given by the organization. We argue that service employees have more motives for emotion regulation than adhering to display rules. We propose that three fundamental motive categories which are relevant for general emotion regulation are also relevant in the service work context. Moreover, we argue that the different motive categories are important antecedents for the further emotion regulation process. We propose that depending on the motive category different emotion regulation strategies are used as well as moderating effects of the motives with an impact on the consequences of emotion regulation such as well-being. The chapter concludes by pointing to practical implications.

The objective of this study was to develop and test a structural model of psychological wellness of human resource employees in a platinum and steel production environment in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was utilized in this study. An availability sample (N=465) was taken from human resource employees in a platinum and steel production environment. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Frankfurt Emotion Work Scale, Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale, and Social Support Scale were administered. The results obtained from structural equation modeling showed that emotional intelligence and social support are negatively related to emotion work and burnout, and positively related to engagement, which means that employees with emotional intelligence and social support will be less likely to experience negative effects of emotion work and burnout and more likely to experience work engagement. Results also indicated that emotion work is positively related to burnout, meaning that emotion work leads to burnout.

Within the last two decades there has been an increased interest in the issue of work and emotion within work and organizational psychology and related fields. Although the cross-cultural perspective has a long tradition in research on emotions, organizational behavior researches on the dynamic of emotions at work have devoted surprisingly little attention to cross-cultural issues. In this paper, an attempt is made to show how important and useful a cross-cultural perspective is for understanding the role of emotion in the workplace. First, a review of recent publications of cross-national cross-cultural research of emotion at work is presented. In this, the focus is exclusively on cross-national organizational behavior studies of specific emotions with national culture as an explanatory variable. The aim of this is to identify core findings of cross-cultural research on emotion in organizational behavior and some gaps in this burgeoning literature. Second, a review is presented of findings on cross-cultural similarities and differences in emotion, culture-specific norms, and values and their effect on emotion. The aim of this is to identify the implications of these findings for future research on emotion at work. Third, a review of methodological issues in cross-cultural research is presented followed by some recommendations to further advance this area of research.

It is well recognized that emotions support adaptation to environmental demands by guiding cognitions and behavior in line with one’s implicit and explicit goals. This is true in the work context, as in other areas of life. Traditionally, however, research into emotion regulation within the work context has been centered on the problematic aspects of feeling and displaying emotion at work. In order to meet organizational goals, felt emotions need to be subdued or modified, and inauthentic emotions displayed. In this way, conceptualizations of work-related emotion regulation have disconnected emotion from its most basic and adaptive signal function. This disconnection has led to a dilemma regarding the real- and the fake-self and been associated with a range of negative consequences for employee health and well-being. Understanding how emotions can be regulated to help employees meet personal goals for growth and development has also been overlooked. In this chapter, we challenge this existing paradigm, and instead argue that examining emotion regulation in terms of its adaptive functions will help to unify disparate findings from within the emotion regulation literature and progress research in the field of emotion and emotion regulation at work.

Scholars and practitioners in the OB literature nowadays appreciate that emotions and emotional regulation constitute an inseparable part of work life, but the HRM literature has lagged in addressing the emotional dimensions of life at work. In this chapter therefore, beginning with a multi-level perspective taken from the OB literature, we introduce the roles played by emotions and emotional regulation in the workplace and discuss their implications for HRM. We do so by considering five levels of analysis: (1) within-person temporal variations, (2) between persons (individual differences), (3) interpersonal processes; (4) groups and teams, and (5) the organization as a whole. We focus especially on processes of emotional regulation in both self and others, including discussion of emotional labor and emotional intelligence. In the opening sections of the chapter, we discuss the nature of emotions and emotional regulation from an OB perspective by introducing the five-level model, and explaining in particular how emotions and emotional regulation play a role at each of the levels. We then apply these ideas to four major domains of concern to HR managers: (1) recruitment, selection, and socialization; (2) performance management; (3) training and development; and (4) compensation and benefits. In concluding, we stress the interconnectedness of emotions and emotional regulation across the five levels of the model, arguing that emotions and emotional regulation at each level can influence effects at other levels, ultimately culminating in the organization’s affective climate.

This chapter investigated tactics used by customer service employees in performing emotion work during their interactions with customers and those internal to organizations. Based on a qualitative study in the hospitality industry, I discovered that customer service employees used a range of tactics that impact different phases of the emotion regulation process in order to facilitate emotion work. One group of tactics was directed towards the work context while the other was self-directed in an attempt to regulate the experience and expression of emotion. Taken together these two groups of tactics provide a holistic portrayal of the range of tactics used by customer service employees in performing emotion work.

The working day has always comprised frequent interruptions. Yet the frequency and intensity of these disruptions appear to be on the rise as a result of advancing technology, increasing interdependent work processes, and changing work environments (e.g., open-plan offices). Interestingly, there have only been a handful of studies on workplace interruptions, and the primary focus among researchers has been on the effects of interruptions on task completion. In this chapter, we argue that interruptions at work can be conceptualized as emotion-inducing events. We draw on research across different disciplines to develop a framework to show how the work-enhancing or work-hindering effects of different types of interruptions are, in part, determined by the employees' capability to manage (regulate) their emotional responses.

We initially review the literature regarding workplace interruptions. We then develop a framework for understanding the different types of interruptions experienced by individuals at work and then use this framework to develop a model linking interruptions to emotion regulation drawing on Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996). In essence, we advance our understanding of work interruptions by considering these as events that are able to produce positive or negative affective reactions that may enhance or hinder work performance.

The framework presented in this chapter increases understanding of the different types of workplace interruptions and shows how emotion regulation impacts subsequent work-related outcomes. This chapter provides valuable insights into the nature of work interruptions to identify both positive and negative aspects of work interruptions to establish two different domains of work interruptions that may improve (work-enhancing interruptions) or thwart (work-hindering interruptions) work-related outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Work and leisure, as important activity domains, play important roles in the lives of individuals. However, most previous studies focused on only the interference and negative effects of work on leisure, with little focus on the facilitation of work and the positive effects of work on leisure. In view of the shortcomings of previous studies, this study focuses on the facilitation effect of work on leisure and its impact on individual psychology. This study aims to explore the relationship between work–leisure facilitation (WLF) and turnover intention and the role of positive emotions and perceived supervisor support in this relationship.

In this study, the method of multipoint data collection was adopted to measure the subjects; 180 employees were sampled for 5 consecutive working days, and a multilevel structural equation model was established for analysis.

The results show that WLF is negatively related to turnover intention, and positive emotions play a mediating role in this relationship. Perceived supervisor support significantly positively moderates not only the relationship between WLF and positive emotions but also the indirect effect of WLF on turnover intention through positive emotions.

Based on affective events theory, this study explored the relationship between WLF and turnover intention and its mechanism by using the daily diary sampling method for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. The results not only deepen the understanding of affective events theory but also provide management suggestions for reducing employees’ turnover intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate new hypotheses regarding potential correlates and underpinnings of emotional dissonance experienced in call centre work. It is argued that prior attempts to measure emotional dissonance are incomplete because such measures often do not specify which emotions are actually not shown (e.g. faked, suppressed, veiled) during work.

A field study with 161 call centre agents was conducted. Positive affectivity (PA), negative affectivity (NA) of agents and customer verbal aggression were conceptualized as correlates of emotional dissonance, whereas job satisfaction, health disorders and burnout were assessed as indicators of agents' work motivation and well‐being. To investigate the emotional underpinnings of emotional dissonance the Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales (FEWS) was used and, in addition, agents were asked to report frequency, intensity and “not showing” of 15 separate emotions.

The results show that emotional dissonance was associated with lower work motivation and well‐being. Moreover, NA and customer aggression correlated positively whereas PA correlated negatively with emotional dissonance. Emotional dissonance measured with the FEWS was significantly related to the frequency of longing, the intensity of anger and the not showing of boredom, affection and anger.

The findings support the construct validity of the FEWS. However, based on correlations with agents' self‐rated ability to perform on a high level and interactions between NA and customer aggression that emerged only when emotion‐specific dissonance measures were analyzed, this paper suggests combining emotion‐specific dissonance measures with the FEWS in future research.

The main intension of this paper is to challenge the dominance of emotional labour in professional nursing.

The article begins by evaluating the central conceptual and definitional aspects of emotional labour, emotion work and emotional work. The purpose of this discussion is to argue against the false public and private dichotomy that has plagued emotional labour and emotion work. Second, it is proposed that the central and helpful defining aspects of emotional labour and emotion work are Marx's concepts of exchange‐value and use‐value. These defining attributes are used in conjunction with other re‐conceptualisations, which unite these terms in order to create more encompassing constructs that are useful for focusing on the waged and unwaged aspects of professional nurses' emotional work response behaviours. Finally, the use of emotional labour in professional nursing is contested on the grounds that the construct has limited theoretical and empirical utility for researching the complex nature of professional nurses' emotional work response behaviours.

It is recommended that a more robust encompassing concept needs to be developed, which accurately reflects the nature and complexity of professional nurses' waged and unwaged emotional work response behaviours, as they are important overlooked facets of behaviour that can be theoretically related to professional nurses' contextual performance.

The paper provides a better understanding of professional nurses' emotional work response behaviours, which benefit nursing research and practice by drawing on other areas of theory and research.