Interaction effect of display rules and emotional intelligence on hotel managers’ and non-managers’ work engagement

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the interaction effect of job demands (e.g. display rules; DRs) and personal resources (e.g. emotional intelligence; EI) on work engagement and whether this interaction effect varies between managers and non-managers. Design/methodology/approach: This study has been conducted on 572 hotel employees (153 managers and 388 non-managers) in China, and multiple linear regression analyses have been used to analyze the data. Findings: The results indicate that the direct impact of DRs on work engagement was significantly positive for both hotel managers and non-managers; DRs boosted the positive impact of EI on work engagement, but only among managers; and EI boosted the positive impact of DRs on work engagement, but only among managers with high EI. Originality/value: Previous studies have primarily focused on the antecedents and outcomes of work engagement, but little is about the direct impact of job demands and the interaction effect of job demands and personal resources on work engagement. This is the first study investigating DRs and its interaction effect with EI on work engagement among hotel managers and non-managers, respectively.