Emotional Labor Research Articles

“Nosotras de robot no tenemos nada”: arreglos intersubjetivos tecnosociales en el trabajo doméstico mediado digitalmente

This article explores the intersubjective relationships between clients and workers on two digital domestic work platforms in Bogotá, Colombia. Drawing on feminist social studies of science and technology, it investigates the control, auditing, and subordination mechanisms affecting workers, with clients playing a key role in setting performance conditions. While much of the literature on digital labor focuses on technological intermediation and algorithmic management—used to track, monitor, and rate domestic workers—this article looks at the relationships with clients and how these shape the work process and technologies involved. Based on over thirty in-depth interviews with workers and clients, the study examines three areas: (i) clients’ expectations of mechanical efficiency; (ii) the use of rating systems; and (iii) domestic work as emotional labor. The article concludes by reflecting on the dual subordination experienced by workers due to digital service intermediaries and emphasizes the need for fair technologies that consider workers’ experiences and perspectives.

Nurses’ Emotional Labor and Intrinsic Motivation: Findings from a Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the level of nurses’ emotional labor and intrinsic motivation (IM) and to assess its relationship with patients’ perceptions of nursing care. Methodology: Data were provided by 71 staff nurses and corresponding 71 patients from a tertiary care hospital. The Emotional Labor (EL) Scale by Brotheridge and Lee, a self-structured IM Scale, and the Perception of Nursing Care Scale were used to collect the data between January and March 2021. The study is registered in the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI/2019/08/020592). Results: The study reveals that nurses frequently use EL in their work, use deep-acting more than surface-acting EL, and have a high level of IM. The patients were found to have a good perception of nursing care, with “good communication” as the highest-rated factor. No significant correlation was found between nurses’ EL and IM with patients’ perceptions of nursing care. Conclusion: As nurses frequently use emotional labor at work, it may lead to emotional dissonance. Therefore, interventions on emotional regulation skills may allow them to skillfully use emotional labor in practice and enable them to cope with the increased emotional demands at work.

Emoting up, emoting down: status, authenticity and the emotional labour of STEM graduate students

Various studies have examined emotional labour’s positive and negative aspects, but the structural conditions under which people experience emotional labour as fulfilling vs. taxing are underexplored. In this study, I use interviews with graduate students – a group whose relative social status changes routinely – to illuminate the types of emotion work that occasion positive and negative feelings. I find that graduate students often felt positive when performing emotional labour down the academic hierarchy to undergraduate students but felt negative about their emotional labour when performing it up the academic hierarchy to professors. I also find that women, people of colour and international students find their emotional labour particularly distressing when they perceive it to be an expectation of their marginalised social identity. Using identity theory, I show how status dynamics underlie people's emotional reactions when their identities are at risk of being disconfirmed. This research study contributes to the field of the sociology of emotions by specifying that status matters for whether emotional labour is a positive or negative experience for workers.

Developing an Emotional Labor Scale for Employees in the Service Industry

Purpose: This research aims to develop an emotional labor scale and examine the consistency of the emotional labor measurement model with empirical data. The study focuses on individuals with long-term work experience and incorporates cross-cultural perspectives to address gaps in current research. Additionally, it seeks to create a standardized model for measuring and evaluating emotional labor that is applicable to contemporary work environments. Methodology: The population is front-service employees of hotels in Chonburi Province, and the sample consists of 280 front-service employees of hotels in Pattaya City, Chonburi Province. The research methodology for developing the emotional labor scale in this phase is quantitative research, using confirmatory factor analysis to examine the consistency of the emotional labor measurement model. Findings: The results of the model fit analysis and quality assessment of the CFA model found that the RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) was 0.217, indicating a lack of fit between the model and data. The CFI (Comparative Fit Index) was 0.591. The TLI (Tucker-Lewis Index) was 0.442. Finally, the IFI (Incremental Fit Index) was 0.595. Based on the presented indices, this model has a poor fit with the data. The RMSEA, CFI, TLI, and IFI values are lower than the recommended criteria, indicating a discrepancy between the model and data. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: These findings suggest that current emotional labor measurement models may not accurately capture the experiences of workers across different cultures and with varying lengths of work experience. Policymakers and organizations should consider developing more nuanced and culturally sensitive approaches to assess and manage emotional labor in the workplace. This could involve creating tailored training programs, revising performance evaluation metrics, and implementing supportive policies that acknowledge the complexity of emotional labor across diverse work environments.

Leader's Conveyed Emotional Labor and Leadership Evaluations

Abstract: We examined whether leader gender moderated the relationship between leader's conveyed emotional labor (EL) strategies and followers’ leadership evaluations [effectiveness, trust, leader–member exchange (LMX)]. Participants read a fictitious interview of a CEO (male/female) reflecting on their strategy (surface acting/deep acting/genuine displays) to express emotions. The results suggest that conveyed EL influenced evaluations of female, but not male, leaders for the three measures. Notably, females received better trust evaluations for genuine displays (vs. surface and deep acting), whereas males received similar evaluations across EL strategies. Although less clear for effectiveness and LMX ratings, the results suggest leader EL might influence evaluations of female (vs. male) leaders more strongly. This study sheds light on the role of gender stereotypes in evaluations of leaders performing EL.

Diversity and emotional labor in the gig economy

Diversity and emotional labor in the gig economy

“What Goes on Tour, Shouldn’t Stay on Tour”: Composite Vignettes of the Challenges of Being on Tour, Emotional Labor, and Self-Care for Sport Psychology Practitioners

Sport psychology practitioners (SPP) are often required to work unsociable hours and in atypical settings (e.g., during transport, in a gym or canteen). To maintain competence while facing the demands of their role, SPPs regulate their emotions and demonstrate emotional performativity in line with perceived role requirements. Grounded in the first author’s experiences, we critically reflect on how being on tour exacerbated these professional challenges wherein the demands became more prevalent and pervasive across time and settings, leading to negative emotional (e.g., burnout) and professional (e.g., poor quality of service delivery) outcomes. In two composite vignettes, we illustrate the impact the demands of touring can have in the face of significant emotional labor and the absence of adequate SPP self-care. Finally, we share several lessons learned, pragmatic self-care strategies, and implications for SPPs and supervisors, and offer our vignettes as a developmental resource to be used in education and training.

Emotional Dissonance, Perceived Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intention among Physical Education Professors in China

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among emotional dissonance, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among physical education professors in China. The population for this study consisted of physical education professors in L province, China. Convenience sampling was utilized, and a total of 192 participants participated the study. An online survey system, Tencent Questionnaire, was employed to administer the survey. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 27.0, and structural equation model was employed to examine the relationships among the variables. According to the results, first, perceived organizational support has no significant effect on emotional dissonance. Second, perceived organizational support is positively related to job satisfaction. Third, perceived organizational support has no significant effect on turnover intention. Fourth, emotional dissonance is negatively related to job satisfaction. Fifth, job satisfaction has no significant effect on turnover intention. Sixth, emotional dissonance is positively related to turnover intention. Moreover, perceived organizational support was a significant predictor of job satisfaction. Additionally, emotional dissonance demonstrated a negative association with job satisfaction and a positive association with turnover intention. This is the first study to highlight the importance of emotional states and contextual factors on well-being and job-related attitudes in the physical education context.

호텔 식음료 부서 종사원의 혁신행동 향상을 위한 선행요소

This study aims to enhance the innovative behavior of hotel food and beverage department employees, who are emotional laborers, and to understand the relationship between employees' organizational adaptation and innovative behavior by exploring the application of managers' empathetic leadership in food and beverage departments. The empirical results are as follows. First, the manager's empathetic leadership was found to significantly and positively affect organizational adaptation. Second, empathetic leadership was found to have a significant and positive effect on the innovative behavior of hotel members. Lastly, organizational adaptation was found to have a significant and positive effect on innovative behavior. These findings imply that it is necessary to have the empathetic leadership of a mature leader who embraces the emotions of the members, fosters mutual empathy, and respects each individual, rather than relying on traditional leadership that merely directs the department in order to enhance organizational adaptation and innovative behavior among hotel members through the empathetic leadership of the hotel F&B department manager.

The Effect of Client Violence on Caring Attitudes among Home-visiting Care Workers: Dual Mediating Effect of Emotional Dissonance and Emotional Exhaustion

The Effect of Client Violence on Caring Attitudes among Home-visiting Care Workers: Dual Mediating Effect of Emotional Dissonance and Emotional Exhaustion

The Mediating Path of Emotional Labor Strategies on the Relationship between COVID-19 Risk Perception and Depression among Hotel Workers: Moderated Mediating Effect of Optimism

The Mediating Path of Emotional Labor Strategies on the Relationship between COVID-19 Risk Perception and Depression among Hotel Workers: Moderated Mediating Effect of Optimism

The mediating effect of job satisfaction in the impact of emotional labor on turnover intention of hotel employees

The mediating effect of job satisfaction in the impact of emotional labor on turnover intention of hotel employees

The Relationship between School Managers' Authentic Leadership Behaviors and Teachers' Emotional Labor Behaviors

This study examines the relationship between authentic leadership behaviors of school administrators and emotional labor behaviors of teachers. A total of 426 teachers working in Istanbul participated in the study. In this quantitative study using relational survey model, Demographic Information Form, Authentic Leadership Scale and Emotional Labor Scale were used in the data collection process. As a result of the study, it was found that teachers' emotional labor behaviors and deep acting sub-dimension did not differ significantly according to gender. However, they differed in the sub-dimensions of surface acting and genuine emotions. While there were significant differences in general emotional labor level and genuine emotions sub-dimension according to age variable, there were no significant differences in surface acting and deep acting sub-dimensions. It was observed that teachers who chose the teaching profession voluntarily had a higher level of genuine emotions than those who chose the teaching profession with the influence of family and environment. A positive relationship was found between self-awareness, balanced processing and an internalized moral perspective, sub-dimensions of authentic leadership, and emotional labor behaviors. No significant relationship was found between relational transparency and emotional labor behaviors.

Translating 'proportionate universal healthcare' into meaningful system design to optimize equity in child and family services.

To conduct a child and family health nursing service redesign to improve pathways of access, response and outcomes for all families with children aged 0-5 years. The study was conducted as an iterative, mixed-method study of the process and impact of the service redesign, informed by a participatory action research paradigm and the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation process for developing a model of care. Diagnostic, solution design, implementation and sustainability phases were undertaken. Quantitative analyses were undertaken of administrative data, and child and family health nurse and client surveys. Qualitative analyses were undertaken of design workshops. The administrative data demonstrated that prior to the redesign service provision was the same for all clients regardless of levels of risk. The design solution, developed through a series of diagnostic and visioning workshops, included multiple new client response pathways. Implementation included development of tools and training. Sustainability of the redistribution of resources to the new pathways was assessed though an evaluation demonstrating a positive impact for families with adversity, with no deleterious effects for families receiving a universal response, and improvements in the emotional labour undertaken by nurses. Despite this, nurse burnout increased post-redesign. The shift from equal services (everyone receives the same) to equitable proportionate universal provision in response to need can be achieved and has positive impacts for nurses and families. This study shows the value of undertaking a systematic and participatory approach to service redesign. A proportionate universalism approach can ensure that early childhood nursing services are available to all in relation to needs. The Revised Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) check-list was used to guide reporting. No patient or public contribution.

The Impact of Emotional Work And Work Stress On The Work-Life Balance of Employees In Private Banking Subsidiaries

Emotional labor is an integral part of many jobs, especially those that involve interactions with other people. Employees who perform emotional labor are required to manage their emotions and display emotions that are appropriate to the demands of the job. This research aims to analyze the impact of emotional labor on employees' work-life balance. This research uses quantitative research. The data collection technique used was a questionnaire. The data that has been collected is then analyzed in the validity test, reliability test, normality test, and regression test. The results showed that emotional labor and work stress affect employees' work-life balance. Employees who do emotional labor and work stress are more likely to experience fatigue, and difficulty separating work life and personal life. Companies need to overcome these negative impacts, including with various social support company policies that support work-life balance can help employees overcome the negative impacts of emotional labor and work stress.

The impact of stretch service goals on unethical behaviors of nurses: A three-wave cross-sectional study.

Stretch service goals strive to motivate healthcare practitioners to maintain high quality in service provision. However, little is known about how stretch service goals trigger nurses' unethical behavior. This study aimed to investigate the influence of stretch service goals on nurses' unethical behavior, as well as the mediating effects of patient entitlement and nurses' emotional dissonance. A quantitative cross-sectional study is designed. We sourced data by conducting a time-lagged three-wave survey study from March to September 2020. Random sampling was used, and data were collected from 422 nurse-patient pairs in Chinese hospitals. Bootstrapping method and structural equation modeling were employed to verify the conceptual model. The study was approved by the designated authority within hospitals and ethical committees. Stretch service goals are not directly related to nurses' unethical behavior. Stretch service goals can trigger nurses' unethical behavior via patient entitlement. Patient entitlement and nurses' emotional dissonance play a chain-mediating role between stretch service goals and nurses' unethical behavior. In the context of the healthcare industry, nurses may engage in unethical behavior due to the pressure of achieving stretch service goals. This study contributes to opening the "black box" of stretch service goals and nurses' unethical behavior by exploring the chain-mediating effect of patient entitlement and nurses' emotional dissonance.

A perspective on psychological factors affecting the emotional labor of teachers

Several psychological factors are discussed in relation to teachers’ emotional labor (EL). Ecological systems theory (EST) is used in relation to the role of emotional intelligence (EI) to provide a perspective on ways to conceptualize how to address secondary traumatic stress (STS) risk among teachers. An international selection of the literature is synthesized in relation to the factors that may affect EL in relation to STS risk among teachers who have students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The concept of EI is central to this discussion of theoretical relationships between EI and STS risk relevant to teachers’ EL. While there is much literature on Bronfenbrenner’s EST and Gardner’s multiple intelligences (MI) theory separately, there is room in the literature for exploring EST to contextualize the topic of STS risk as it relates to the concept of EI. The purpose of this study is to discuss allostatic load factors that may affect teachers’ EL and to discuss potential ways to acknowledge EL.

“Don't cry or show your anger in public places”: Exploring the emotional labor experiences of novice Chinese language teachers in Cameroon

This study explores the emotional rules and corresponding emotional labor strategies of novice Chinese language teachers in Cameroonian secondary schools. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with six novice Chinese language teachers, the findings reveal that novice teachers comply with three types of emotional rules, including professional, sociocultural, and personal rules. Surface acting, deep acting, and the expression of naturally felt emotions strategies were employed by novice teachers to meet these emotional rules. It is suggested that regular emotional training and psychological care for novice teachers should be provided to facilitate the well-being improvement of Chinese language teachers in Cameroon.

“Every Day We Wake Up with Something to Prove”: Black Misandry and Black Men’s Experiences in Navigating the College Environment

This research analyzes how Black men understand and make sense of their college experiences through their racialized and gendered identities and the campus climate. In-depth interviews with 105 Black men attending 5 different institutions, including three historically White institutions (HWIs) and two Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), reveal how they are accosted by Black misandry on a continual and routine basis during their college years. Based on students’ narratives, I find that Black misandry renders Black men as undeserving and unworthy, which is predicated on their seeming nothingness and nonbeing. Students cite being unseen and misperceived, acknowledge various ways that they are subjected to hyper-surveillance on campus, and discuss differential treatment. Given the ways that they are troubled and challenged on campus, the students describe what can be considered as daily battles of Black misandry—a specific form of gendered racism that creates seemingly daily phenomena that require them to prove their worth and being. Such efforts, including the emotional and psychological labor that they must enact, inform how they make sense of and navigate the campus ethos at HWIs and HSIs alike. Findings are presented across two main themes: (1) always already facing deficits and (2) dispositions and responses to anti-Blackness and Black misandry. These themes reveal a near consistency of Black misandry across both institutional types and inform the coping strategies that Black men employ in order to pursue their educational goals and keep their humanity intact.

My most intense years: An autoethnographic analysis of language teacher identities and emotions of one dissertating (adjunct) language instructor

AbstractRevisiting his dissertation journal, the author undertook an autoethnographic study of that period in his life. As a full‐time student within a U.S. research university, he had funded his studies by teaching international teaching assistants and undergraduates learning French and Arabic. In this study, he used inductive analysis to explore his language teacher identity (De Costa & Norton, 2017) and language teacher emotion (Han et al., 2023). Three identities and two emotions emerged: a challenged time manager (1) and an aspiring professional instructor (2), and the related emotions of pride in observing his former students and efficacy in bridging his teaching undergraduates and grad students. Nonetheless, managing these roles sensitized him to (adjunct) coworkers' cynicism. He started to become a cynic (3), bringing emotion labor (Benesch & Prior, 2023). Findings confirmed language teacher emotion as relational and conjoined to language teacher identity. This study urges the field of Applied Linguistics to rectify its past omissions by acknowledging today's “invisible practitioners”: adjuncted language instructors.