Emotional exhaustion and work attitudes: Moderating effect of personality among frontline hospitality employees

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe construct of emotional exhaustion has been widely investigated in service organizations, particularly in the hospitality industry. Individual differences in experiencing emotional exhaustion, however, have attracted less research attention. The present study explores the moderating effect of personality dimensions of extraversion and neuroticism on the relationship of emotional exhaustion with job satisfaction and organizational commitment among hospitality employees. Data for this study were collected from 250 frontline employees (waiters and waitresses) working in various hotels and restaurants in India. The results of the study indicate that emotional exhaustion is negatively associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The Extraversion dimension of personality was observed to have a significant interaction effect on the relationship of emotional exhaustion with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Moreover, neuroticism was observed to have a significant interaction effect on the association between emotional exhaustion and organizational commitment. The implications of these findings are mentioned.