Fake it till you make it with your boss? Surface acting in interactions with leaders

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to its influence on important workplace outcomes, surface acting has drawn increasing attention from researchers in recent years. Most of the research in this area has focused on employees’ interactions with individuals external to the organization, such as customers and clients. With the current study, we contribute to and extend the literature by focusing on employees’ leader-directed surface acting and examining how leader-directed surface acting (i.e., faking positive emotions and suppressing negative emotions in interactions with one’s leader) relates to leader ratings of employee task performance. Data collected from 414 employees and 103 leaders showed that employees’ faking positive emotions in interactions with leaders was positively associated with employee withdrawal, but withdrawal was not significantly related to leader-rated task performance. In addition, male employees’ suppressing negative emotions in interactions with leaders was positively associated with leaders’ communication satisfaction, which was, in turn, positively related to leader-rated task performance. Yet, similar effects were not found for female employees. Theoretical and practical study implications are discussed.