Abstract
Elevated stress levels in emotional laborers has been documented in a number of studies. To minimize the negative effects of stress, the need to examine potential protective factors has been highlighted. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the differential moderating effect of ego-resiliency on the relationship between emotional labor and salivary cortisol level by comparing two groups of bank clerks deemed to experience different degree of emotional labor. Twenty-four bank clerks working in regional branch offices who provided face-to-face customer service (customer service group) and 33 administrative-duty bank clerks who work without face-to-face customer service (administrative work group) were recruited to participate in the study. Participants were asked to draw saliva into a specimen tube at an identical time during a work day and complete self-report scales measuring emotional labor and ego-resiliency. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the interaction effect of ego-resiliency on the relationship between emotional labor and salivary cortisol level by controlling for gender, age and education level as covariates. The results demonstrated that the degree of emotional labor reported by the customer service group was higher than that of the administrative work group. Furthermore, ego-resiliency moderated the relationship between emotional labor and cortisol levels in the customer service group but not in the administrative work group. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed along with suggestions for future research.
Highlights
Emotional labor refers to a type of labor wherein one must experience and/or express only particular emotions as dictated by the norms of the organization [1,2]
We investigated the degree of emotional labor and salivary cortisol level, physiological marker of stress in bank clerks
We examined whether ego-resiliency differentially moderated this relationship by comparing salivary cortisol levels of two groups of bank differentially moderated this relationship by comparing salivary cortisol levels of two groups of bank employees expected to report different degrees of emotional labor
Summary
Emotional labor refers to a type of labor wherein one must experience and/or express only particular emotions as dictated by the norms of the organization [1,2]. Outward emotional expression may not be consistent and congruent with internally experienced emotions and with greater incongruence, the demand and efforts to regulate one’s emotional experience may increase [3,4,5]. Since such processes may require non-expression of genuine emotional experiences and artificial expression of emotion, emotional labor can deplete energy and lower motivation [6,7,8]. Emotional suppression induces physiological stress responses such as the activation of the sympathetic nervous system [15,16]. Customer service bank employees represent a group of emotional laborers and oftentimes may be required to suppress genuinely experienced emotions and follow the emotional display rules required by the organization such as “service with a smile” in the course of their occupational functioning
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