EXAMINING THE REPERCUSSIONS OF EMOTIONAL LABOR AMONG MEDICAL DOCTORS - AN EXPLANATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED-METHOD DESIGN

Abstract

Emotional labor prevails in a variety of fields. However, degree of emotional labor practiced by medical professionals, during the COVID-19 pandemic, is considerably higher. This study adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach, where a survey-based quantitative study was conducted on 406 doctors working across Pakistan; followed by an interview-based qualitative study, conducted on 15 doctors. Quantitative analysis reveals that surface and deep acting both lead to high emotional exhaustion and low well-being, whereas genuine emotions lead to low emotional exhaustion and high well-being. No significant impact of emotional job demands is found on well-being via emotional exhaustion. Results from qualitative study reaffirm that due to high emotional job demands, doctors tend to heavily engage in emotional labor, which leads to emotional exhaustion, and compromises their well-being. The research highlights the contextual nature of emotional labor construct and investigates lesser-explored facets of psychological and physical well-being. The study also adds to the scant mixed-method literature, specifically an explanatory sequential design entailing structural equation modeling and thematic analysis. Keywords: Emotional Job Demands, Emotional Labor, Emotional Exhaustion, Psychological/Eudaimonic Well-being, Physical Well-being, COVID-19.