Emotional labor in intercultural service encounters: An experience sampling study

The body of literature surrounding emotional labor, defined as service employees’ effort to manage their emotions to meet organizational goals (Hochschild, 1983; Morris & Feldman, 1996), exhibits a severe lack of studies examining intercultural service encounters (i.e., service episodes in which a provider from culture A delivers a service to a customer from culture B; Stauss & Mang, 1999). This dissertation posits an intrapersonal model of emotional labor in intercultural service encounters. Central to this model is the construct of cultural competence (Earley & Ang, 2003), which is defined as the ability to adapt effectively and flexibly in culturally diverse settings. Using experience sampling methodology with a hospitality industry sample, I found that cultural competence was associated with deep acting and performance. Openness to experience predicted cultural competence through active seeking of multicultural experience (i.e., multicultural personality). Implications for the selection (based on openness) and training (for deep acting and cultural competence) of service providers in an increasingly globalized service industry are discussed.