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Book part
Publication date: 29 July 2011

Chapter 1 Synthesizing What We Know and Looking Ahead: A Meta-Analytical Review of 30 Years of Emotional Labor Research

Gang Wang, Scott E. Seibert and Terry L. Boles

The purpose of the current chapter is to meta-analytically examine the nomological network around emotional labor. The results show that negative display rules, high level…

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Abstract

The purpose of the current chapter is to meta-analytically examine the nomological network around emotional labor. The results show that negative display rules, high level of job demand, frequent contacts with customers, and lack of autonomy and social support are significantly related to surface acting, whereas display rules, opportunities to display various emotions, and frequent, intensive, and long time contacts with customers are significantly related to deep acting. Further, people high on negative affectivity and neuroticism are more likely to surface act, whereas people high on positive affectivity and extraversion are more likely to deep act. In addition, surface acting is mainly associated with undesirable work outcomes, whereas deep acting is mainly related to desirable work outcomes.

Details

What Have We Learned? Ten Years On
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2011)0000007006
ISBN: 978-1-78052-208-1

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Article
Publication date: 13 July 2015

The effect of customer incivility on service employees’ customer orientation through double-mediation of surface acting and emotional exhaustion

Won-Moo Hur, Tae Won Moon and Su-Jin Han

The purpose of this paper is to examine how customer incivility affects service employees’ emotional labor (i.e. surface acting) and the way surface acting augments their…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how customer incivility affects service employees’ emotional labor (i.e. surface acting) and the way surface acting augments their emotional exhaustion at work, and in turn, damages customer orientations of service employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 309 department store sales employees in South Korea, a two-stage mediation model is used in terms of structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results indicate that customer incivility is positively related to service employees’ use of surface acting; this, in turn, results in feelings of emotional exhaustion, which are negatively related to their customer orientation. That is, the findings of this study shows that the negative relationship between customer incivility and service employees’ customer orientation was fully and sequentially mediated by service employees’ surface acting and emotional exhaustion.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is the nature of the cross-sectional data the authors used in the analysis. It gives us reason to be very cautious in reaching conclusions concerning causal relationships among variables, since the authors did not capture longitudinal variation.

Practical implications

The research shows that customer incivility has a negative effect on service employees’ customer-oriented behaviors since experiences of customer incivility among emotionally exhausted employees via surface acting generates inadequate and unfair sense-making related to the treatment offered by customers, which increases the tendency of decreasing their effort and loyalty for customers to prevent further loss of emotional resources. Therefore, service organizations should devise appropriate strategies and implement systematic programs for reducing employee exposure to customer incivility, or preventing it altogether.

Originality/value

The current study broadens the conceptual work and empirical studies in customer incivility literature by representing a fundamental mechanism of why customer incivility negatively affects service employees’ customer orientation. The primary contribution of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how customer incivility leads to lower employee customer-oriented behaviors through double mediating effects of surface acting and emotional exhaustion.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-02-2014-0034
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

  • Surface acting
  • Customer orientation
  • Emotional exhaustion
  • Customer incivility

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Article
Publication date: 15 August 2016

Surface-acting outcomes among service employees with two jobs: Investigating moderation and mediation effects

Gianfranco Walsh, Jason J. Dahling, Mario Schaarschmidt and Simon Brach

Service firms increasingly hire employees that work two or more jobs. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and the notion that employees have finite emotional…

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Abstract

Purpose

Service firms increasingly hire employees that work two or more jobs. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and the notion that employees have finite emotional resources, the purpose of this paper is to examine the consequences of emotional labour among employees who simultaneously work in two service jobs. The authors posit that emotional labour requirements from the primary job (PJ) and secondary job (SJ) interact to emotionally exhaust employees through a process of resource depletion. Specifically, building on extant work, this research tests a theoretical mediation model of surface acting predicting organizational commitment through emotional exhaustion.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a predictive survey approach, 171 frontline-service employees with two jobs from a variety of service industries are surveyed in two waves. The hypothesized model is tested using a bootstrap procedure for testing indirect effects. In addition, the authors investigate first- and second-stage moderation.

Findings

Results confirm full mediation of the relationship between surface acting and organizational commitment by emotional exhaustion, confirming that the effect of surface acting on organizational commitment is indirect through emotional exhaustion. In addition, results reveal that surface acting in the SJ moderates the link between surface acting in the PJ and emotional exhaustion, and that employees low on organizational identification congruence display lower levels of organizational commitment with the PJ.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the literature that relates emotional labour to organizational commitment by investigating contingent factors. The key contribution thus pertains to identifying contingent factors based in COR theory and social identity theory that influence the triadic relation between surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and organizational commitment.

Practical implications

Results reveal that surface acting in a second job not just simply adds to the level of employee emotional exhaustion. Instead levels of surface acting in a first and second job interact with each other to affect emotional exhaustion. This finding suggests service managers must take into account if and how employees are enforced to perform surface acting in the other job to prevent high exhaustion.

Originality/value

This study is the first to investigate emotional labour among dual job holders, a growing segment of the service workforce that poses unique challenges to organizations.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2015-0169
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

  • Employees
  • Emotional exhaustion
  • Surface acting
  • Work
  • Dual employment
  • Organizational identification and commitment

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Article
Publication date: 8 April 2019

Faking it or feeling it: The emotional displays of surface and deep acting on stress and engagement

Lindsey Lee and Juan M. Madera

The purpose of this paper is to examine how emotional labor strategies (deep and surface acting) impact engagement through stress via two different emotional displays…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how emotional labor strategies (deep and surface acting) impact engagement through stress via two different emotional displays (suppressing negative emotions and expressing positive emotions) in coworker-to-coworker relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used psychological and temporal separation techniques to survey hotel managers (Study 1) and hospitality students with frontline service jobs (Study 2).

Findings

Across both samples, the results showed that surface acting was related to suppressing negative emotions, which was positively related to stress, deep acting was related to expressing positive emotions, which was negatively related to stress, and stress was negatively related to engagement, suggesting that emotional labor affects engagement through either deep acting or surface acting and their related emotional displays.

Practical implications

The results show that hospitality employees either genuinely express positive emotions as a strategy to deep act or suppress negative emotions as a strategy to surface act with coworkers. Both emotional displays were related to engagement, suggesting that employers should alter expectations for emotional displays among coworkers and train employees how to manage their emotions to have a positive impact on engagement.

Originality/value

The unique contribution of the current paper is showing how emotional labor is related to engagement in the context of coworker-to-coworker emotional labor, which is rarely found in customer-based emotional labor. The results also provide a better understanding of how surface and deep acting are used in a hospitality context, because the measures of surface and deep acting usually focus on broad emotions rather than discrete emotions.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2018-0405
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

  • Stress
  • Emotional labor
  • Surface acting
  • Deep acting
  • Engagement

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Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

The effects of emotional labor on frontline employee creativity

Zizhen Geng, Chao Liu, Xinmei Liu and Jie Feng

– The purpose of this study is to empirically test and extend knowledge of the effects of emotional labor of frontline service employee.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to empirically test and extend knowledge of the effects of emotional labor of frontline service employee.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined the effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on frontline employee creativity, as well as the mediating effects of different kinds of job stress (hindrance stress and challenge stress) on the relationship between emotional labor and creativity. The research hypotheses were tested using data collected from 416 service employee–supervisor dyads in 82 Chinese local restaurants.

Findings

Results show that surface acting is negatively related to and deep acting is positively related to frontline employee creativity; surface acting is positively related to hindrance stress, while deep acting is positively related to challenge stress; and hindrance stress mediates the relationship between surface acting and creativity.

Originality/value

This study extends the consequences of emotional labor to frontline employee creativity from a cognitive perspective. It also advances knowledge about the effects of emotional labor on stress by classifying different kinds of job stress caused by different cognitive appraisals of surfacing acting and deep acting, and revealing the role of hindrance stress as psychological mechanism through which surface acting affects creativity.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2012-0244
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

  • Creativity
  • Mediating effect
  • Emotional labor
  • Service employee
  • Job stress
  • Service industry
  • Frontline employee
  • Surface acting
  • Deep acting
  • Challenge stress
  • Hindrance stress

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Article
Publication date: 25 May 2010

Further scale refinement for emotional labor: Exploring distinctions between types of surface versus deep acting using a difficult client referent

Gary Blau, Jason Fertig, Donna Surges Tatum, Stacey Connaughton, Dong Soo Park and Catherine Marshall

Within the emotional labor (EL) literature, the paper's aim is to test for additional scale distinctions in surface acting and deep acting, using a “difficult client” referent.

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Abstract

Purpose

Within the emotional labor (EL) literature, the paper's aim is to test for additional scale distinctions in surface acting and deep acting, using a “difficult client” referent.

Design/methodology/approach

Working with existing definitions and operationalizations across prior EL studies, an on‐line sample of 1,975 massage therapists and bodywork practitioners (M&Bs) was used to test the hypotheses. Hinkin's recommended three steps for scale development: item development, scale development and scale evaluation were applied. The M&B sample was randomly split to carry out exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A smaller validation sample of 203 working adults was also tested using EFA.

Findings

Convergent support was found for EFA between the M&B and validation samples, as well as between EFA and CFA for the M&B sample. Two types of surface acting could be distinguished, basic surface acting (BSA) and challenged surface acting (CSA), while three types of deep acting could be distinguished, basic deep acting (BDA), perspective taking deep acting (PTDA) and positive refocus deep acting (PRDA).

Originality/value

This paper studies a unique sample, massage and body therapists, and the “difficult client” stimulus has not been formally tested in prior EL scale work.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/13620431011040969
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

  • Emotional dissonance
  • Customer relations
  • Problem solving
  • Work identity

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Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Surface acting as a mediator between personality and attitudes

Martha C. Andrews, K. Michele Kacmar and Matthew Valle

The purpose of this paper is to explore surface acting as a mediator in the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics and personality, with stress…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore surface acting as a mediator in the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics and personality, with stress, turnover intentions, and job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were obtained via survey from 276 working adults, and responses were subjected to structural equation modeling to confirm the measurement model and test hypotheses.

Findings

Surface acting was found to mediate the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics and intent to turnover and satisfaction, and between proactive personality and intent to turnover and satisfaction. No mediating effect for surface acting was found between agreeableness and the outcomes.

Practical implications

Individual differences and situational contingencies do affect surface acting in the workplace, and individual work-related outcomes. Managers need to be aware of personality characteristics and situational contexts that impact surface acting in organizations to help understand the effects of potential divergent attitudes and behaviors on employee outcomes.

Originality/value

Previous research examining surface acting assessed behavior in light of employee-customer interactions. This research extends the study of surface acting by examining the mediating role of surface acting among new predictors including organizational politics, proactive personality, and agreeableness with stress, turnover intentions, and job satisfaction.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 31 no. 8
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-11-2015-0414
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

  • Personality
  • Stress
  • Job satisfaction
  • Turnover
  • Surface acting
  • Perceptions of organizational politics

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Book part
Publication date: 29 July 2011

Chapter 2 Understanding the Relationship between Emotional Labor and Effort

Robyn E. Goodwin

This chapter addresses how emotional labor relates to effort; an important mediator in the relationship between emotional labor strategies and important outcomes. To…

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Abstract

This chapter addresses how emotional labor relates to effort; an important mediator in the relationship between emotional labor strategies and important outcomes. To better understand how effort functions in these relationships, a new way of understanding emotional labor strategies is considered. This new approach accounts for effort profiles associated with different types of emotional labor. Consequently, three distinct categories of emotional labor strategies emerge; cause-focused, symptom-focused, and avoidance actions. These new categories are contrasted with the current dichotomous understanding of emotional labor strategies; surface and deep acting. How these three distinct sets of emotional labor strategies are specifically related to effort – and thus to outcomes of interest – is discussed and propositions are made. The implications of, and avenues for future research afforded by this new categorization of emotional labor are discussed.

Details

What Have We Learned? Ten Years On
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2011)0000007007
ISBN: 978-1-78052-208-1

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Book part
Publication date: 29 July 2011

Chapter 8 Display Rules and Emotional Labor within Work Teams

William J. Becker and Russell Cropanzano

Previous research on emotional labor has typically been conducted at the individual level of analysis, despite the fact that many organizations have incorporated work…

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Abstract

Previous research on emotional labor has typically been conducted at the individual level of analysis, despite the fact that many organizations have incorporated work teams into their business model. The use of work teams turns emotional management into a group task on which employees work as a collective. The present chapter proposes a conceptual model that describes the antecedents and consequences of team-level emotional labor. We propose that work groups often impose positive display rules (express integrative emotion) and negative display rules (suppress differentiating emotions) on their members. Positive display rules generally trigger group-level deep acting, whereby teammates seek to change their internal feelings. Negative display rules generally trigger surface acting, whereby teammates retain their actual emotions but do not actually express differentiating feelings. These two dimensions of emotional labor, for their part, impact emotional exhaustion. Deep acting one's positive emotions lowers emotional exhaustion and surface acting increases it. We discuss the consequences of our model for workplace behavior, such as performance. We also discuss how the relationships involving emotional labor change when one considers these constructs at the group-level of analysis.

Details

What Have We Learned? Ten Years On
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2011)0000007013
ISBN: 978-1-78052-208-1

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Article
Publication date: 16 May 2019

Effects of service employees’ negative personality traits on emotional labour and job satisfaction: Evidence from two countries

Gianfranco Walsh, Zhiyong Yang, Jason Dahling, Mario Schaarschmidt and Ikuo Takahashi

Frontline service employees’ (FLEs) positive personality traits enhance service experiences, for both employee and customer outcomes. Yet, limited research addresses…

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Abstract

Purpose

Frontline service employees’ (FLEs) positive personality traits enhance service experiences, for both employee and customer outcomes. Yet, limited research addresses negative personality traits. Drawing on the emotion regulation framework, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model in which three negative personality traits – Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism (the so-called dark triad (DT)) – represent antecedents, and FLE emotion regulation strategies (surface and deep acting) are mediators, all of which predict job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The test of this model includes occupationally diverse samples of FLEs from an individualistic (the USA) and a collectivistic (Japan) country, to assess the potential moderating role of culture.

Findings

The findings suggest that Machiavellianism relates more positively to surface and deep acting in Japan, whereas psychopathy relates more negatively to surface acting than in the USA. Unexpectedly, narcissism exhibits mixed effects on surface and deep acting in both countries: It relates positively to surface acting in the USA but prompts a negative relationship in Japan. The positive narcissism–deep acting relationship is also stronger for Japanese than for US FLEs. These findings help specify the effects of negative personality traits on important employee outcomes.

Originality/value

This is the first study that relates service employees’ DTs with emotional labor resulting in new avenues for further research. The findings are managerially relevant because they help specify the effects of negative personality traits on important employee outcomes.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 58 no. 6
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2018-1206
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

  • Job satisfaction
  • Personality
  • Dark triad
  • Service employees
  • Emotional labour

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