An Examination of Individual and Organizational Factors Related to Emotional Labor

Managing emotions in the workplace, termed emotional labor (Hochschild, 1983), is becoming increasingly important as the economy continues to become more service-oriented. Grandey (2000) defines emotional labor as the process of regulating feelings and expressions of emotions in order to achieve organizational goals. The regulation of observable expressions of emotions is known as surface acting, and the regulation of felt emotions is called deep acting. The current study tested a model of emotional labor including factors hypothesized to be related to surface acting and deep acting. Proposed antecedents include perceived display rule demands, commitment to display rules, positive and negative affectivity, perceived organizational support, and three service interaction characteristics (frequency, duration, and task routineness). Outcomes of emotional labor include job satisfaction and customer service performance. A total of 318 employee and supervisor dyads were surveyed in order to examine the relationships among these constructs. Structural equation modeling results showed that display rules for hiding negative emotions, commitment to display rules, positive and negative affectivity, and duration of interactions were all predictors of at least one of the emotional labor strategies. In addition, individuals who are high on positive affectivity, low on negative affectivity, and feel supported by their organizations are likely to be satisfied with their jobs. Finally, employees who surface act tend to have lower job satisfaction, which in turn relates to their customer service performance. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.