Emotional Labor Process Research Articles

The ethnographer and the paradox of emotional closeness. An autoethnography of shame in accounting research

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of the researcher’s emotions in ethnographic practice in accounting research. This paper focuses on shame as an emotion that lingers on, despite the efforts to work through those emotions. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a collective autoethnography to make sense of the fieldwork and after-fieldwork emotions and their consequences. This autoethnography began with the three authors discovering their shared feeling of shame. Findings Building on Hochschild’s theory (1979, 1983) on emotional labor, the authors demonstrate how shame emerged as a central and lingering emotion of the ethnographies beyond an emotional labor process. The authors show how a double shame appeared toward the field participants and the academic accounting community, affecting the writing and the work. Originality/value The authors demonstrate that the perception of the research community’s rules of feelings gives rise to emotions that ultimately change the work. The authors show how collective autoethnography can help accounting research to acknowledge and give room to emotions.

Understanding the Emotional Labor of English Language Teaching while Black in the United States

ABSTRACTThere is a robust literature examining emotional labor as it is experienced by English language teachers and how it is prompted by the emotional rules of their employers. However, it has not been sufficiently inclusive of native English‐speaking Black English language teachers (BELTs). Using the method of autoethnography I examine my experiences with emotional labor as I struggle to manage feelings stemming from race‐related stress to present feelings that are aligned with the emotional rules of an intensive English program (IEP) in the United States. Ultimately, this study highlights some of the unique challenges and emotional labor experienced by BELTs, including the endured triggering of race‐related stress in response to workplace racial microaggression and how and why, through the process of emotional labor, outward responses are constructed. I argue that enduring emotional labor brings about implicit oppressive messages for BELTs to either detach from their racial identity to some extent or to leave their field. Additionally, I provide suggestions for how TESOL programs housed in U.S. higher education contexts can address anti‐Black racism.

Constructing a model of the emotional labour process of junior high school teachers

ABSTRACT This study constructed a model of the emotional labour process of teachers. This study sampled 1,075 Taiwanese junior high school teachers for a structural equation modelling analysis. The results revealed the following: (1) Female teachers exhibit higher levels of emotional job demands (ED), extrinsic motivation (EM) and intrinsic motivation (IM) of emotional labour, as well as surface acting, deep acting, and emotional exhaustion (EE) compared to male teachers. However, females display lower levels of depersonalisation (DP) compared to males. (2) Non-STEM teachers have higher levels of ED and EE compared to STEM teachers. However, STEM teachers exhibit more positive emotions (PE) compared to Non-STEM teachers. (3) Teachers with administrative positions experienced higher levels of EE compared to teachers without administrative positions. (4) ED positively predicted emotional labour strategies (ELS). (5) The EM positively predicted maladaptive ELS and negatively predicted adaptive ELS. IM positively predicted adaptive ELS. (6) Maladaptive ELS negatively predicted PE and positively predicted negative emotions (NE), whereas adaptive ELS positively predicted PE and negatively predicted NE. (7) PE negatively predicted EE and reduced personal accomplishment (RA), while NE positively predicted EE and DP.

An Empirical Test of an Integrative Model of Emotional Labor Process

An Empirical Test of an Integrative Model of Emotional Labor Process

Managing burnout from engagement-derived acting strategy

PurposePerforming emotional labour is required of customer-contact employees (CCEs) to regulate their emotions through acting to conform to organisational display rules. Prior research is focused on investigating the detrimental outcomes of CCEs engaging in emotional labour acting to meet these display rules and organisational-related antecedents. This study takes a fresh perspective to propose how acting deriving from job engagement is related to employee burnout. Emotional intelligence is modelled as a moderator in these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe current study focuses on customer contact employees who are currently employed within the banking industry located in the United States of America. Participants of the study were recruited using panel data through Qualtrics both symmetrical and asymmetrical methods were employed in this study to test the proposed relationships.FindingsThe findings show that, prior to including EI in the analysis, job engagement was negatively related to surface acting but positively related to deep acting. However, when EI was entered in the equation, the relationship between job engagement and deep acting became negative. EI was also negatively related to both surface and deep acting. EI significantly strengthens the emotional labour process of engagement towards emotional labour strategies as well as lessening burnout. The asymmetrical analysis offer more insights to the proposed relationships.Originality/valueThis study employs both symmetrical and asymmetrical methods to examine emotional labour, emotional intelligence and employee burnout. In particular, job engagement proposed as an antecedent to acting strategy is novel. The study offers some novel insights into emotional labour and emotional intelligence research. The findings have practical implications for HR practitioners and management in the service organisations.

Emotional labor in pediatric nursing considering the repercussions of covid-19 in childhood and adolescence.

To discuss the emotional labor in pediatric nursing considering the repercussions of COVID-19 in childhood and adolescence. Reflexion based on theoretical aspects and scientific evidence of emotional labor in pediatric nursing. Given the repercussions of COVID-19 on children and adolescents, it is up to the nurse to recognize them and nurture a non-traumatic and affectionate care. However, measures to control the disease affect the care provided. In this context, emotional labor process become essential, as they guide the management of the child's and family's emotions, associated with the suffering caused by the pandemic and the nurse's emotional experience when caring. Emotional support and care processes are essential in pediatrics, especially in a stressful time such as a pandemic, which requires the positive transformation of the intense and disturbing experiences of people for them to achieve psychosocial well-being.

Construction of College Teachers’ emotional labor strategy model based on emotional intelligence theory

In China, colleges and universities bear the important responsibility of cultivating high-quality talents. The quality, ability and work performance of university teachers are more and more concerned by the whole society, including colleges and universities. Emotional labor of college teachers refers to the process in which teachers control and express their emotions according to the requirements of the school. Emotional intelligence is related to emotional labor, and emotional labor strategy is the means to optimize the emotional labor process. College Teachers’ emotional labor strategies include five basic strategies: self-awareness, selfregulation, self motivation, empathy, and social skills. It can stimulate college teachers’ real emotions and deep acting behaviors, help to avoid job burnout and enhance their sense of professional identity and happiness. From the perspective of emotional labor, it is of great significance to study the working state of young teachers and put forward the strategies to improve their working enthusiasm, whether it is of great significance to the career development of young teachers, the improvement of teaching and scientific research quality and the cultivation of talents.

Rolling with the punches: receiving peer reviews as prescriptive emotion management

ABSTRACT Although Collier’s [2002. “The Changing University and the (Legal) Academic Career – Rethinking the Relationship between Women, Men and the Private Life of the Law School.” Legal Studies 22: 1–32] ‘emotional economy’ of academia is well travelled in management and organization studies research, this literature is predominantly informed by Hochschild’s [1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press] original formulation of emotional labour as mandated by management for commercial reasons. Equally, there is little analysis of research and even less of receiving peer reviews. Nonetheless, authors can find peer review emotionally challenging, especially when they receive rejections or caustic reviews. Qualitative interviews with management and organization studies academics indicate an understanding of the receipt of peer reviews as properly governed by Bolton’s [2005. Emotion Management in the Workplace. London: Palgrave, 2009. “Getting to the Heart of the Emotional Labour Process: A Reply to Brook.” Work, Employment and Society 23: 549–60; Bolton and Boyd 2003. “Trolley Dolly or Skilled Emotion Manager? Moving on from Hochschild’s Managed Heart.” Work, Employment and Society 17: 289–308] prescriptive feeling rules. This suggests such emotion work demands private processing to underpin public displays, even though these are anonymized and written. It may mean authors choose not to appeal to editors about reviewing outcomes except where due process has been breached, as well as involving proxy work by editors to forestall potential hurt to authors.

Testing a multidimensional model of emotional labor, emotional abilities, and exhaustion: A multilevel, multimethod approach.

Addressing health-related risks for employees in the service sector, we identify emotion regulation (ER) ability-a dimension of emotional intelligence-as a promising resource with potential for facilitating emotional labor. We use an event-sampling design to investigate whether person-level ER ability moderates situation-dependent relationships of three different emotional labor strategies with emotional exhaustion in a beneficial way. Study 1 included data from 861 customer interactions from 187 service employees in the financial sector. All measures were self-ratings. Study 2 included 479 interactions from 101 employees in different service occupations; following a multimethod approach, ER ability was additionally assessed with peer ratings and an objective test. Controlling for age and gender, hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated main effects of event-level surface acting and automatic regulation on emotional exhaustion in both studies. Multilevel results showed that ER ability-in contrast to the global score of emotional intelligence-moderated relationships of three different emotional labor strategies with exhaustion. In particular, resource loss via surface acting was buffered. Overall, findings contribute to knowledge on emotional abilities in emotional labor processes, and differences in operationalizing and assessing ER ability. Practical implications concerning employee health are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Is spirituality an important variable as the predictor of emotional labour for nursing students?

In the present study, the purpose was to examine nursing students' spirituality and their sociodemographic and professional characteristics as the predictor of emotional labour. In the study, the descriptive cross-sectional and relational research design was used. The study was carried out with 167 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students from the School of Health at a state university located in Southeast of Turkey. For the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, correlations and stepwise multilinear regression analysis were used. The results revealed that spirituality (β = 0.198), the average academic achievement score ranging between 80 and 100 (β = 0.152), perception of the school atmosphere to be “poor” (β = −0.367) and “average” (β = −0.269, p = .048) and a) increasing one's motivation by doing his or her job (Yes) (β = 0.154) and c) being in a peaceful environment (Yes) (β = 0.188) for psychological relaxation were found to be important predictors for the sub-dimension of in-depth behaviours of the nurses (p < .05). For the sub-dimension of superficial behaviour, perception of the school atmosphere to be “poor” (β = −0.204) was a statistically significant predictor (p < .05). As for the intimate behaviour, spirituality (β = 0.254), c) being in a peaceful environment (Yes) for psychological relaxation (β = 0.241) and gender (being female) (β = 0.230) were statistically significant predictors (p < .05). In order for nursing instructors and nurses to manage the nursing students' emotional labour process well, an appropriate educational and clinic environment should be established. Also, strategies considering nursing students' spiritual values and development should be developed.

Emotional Labor in Knowledge-Based Service Relationships: The Roles of Self-Monitoring and Display Rule Perceptions.

Focusing on knowledge-based service relationships, this study examined knowledge-based service workers’ (i.e., school teachers) emotional labor process and the consequential outcomes for their well-being. The study also examined the roles of two antecedents, namely, teachers’ perceptions of display rules and self-monitoring tendencies. A sample of 1,656 school teachers participated in the study. The results showed that self-monitoring generally had stronger, though maladaptive, effects than display rule perceptions on individuals’ use of emotional labor strategies (ELS) (i.e., surface acting and deep acting) and well-being (i.e., anxiety, depression, contentment, and enthusiasm). Both self-monitoring and display rule perceptions were positively related to two ELS. There were relatively stronger relationships between self-monitoring and surface acting, and between display rule perceptions and deep acting. Surface acting was positively related to anxiety and depression and negatively related to contentment and enthusiasm. Deep acting was positively related to anxiety, contentment, and enthusiasm. The examination of indirect effects showed that self-monitoring was positively related to anxiety and depression and negatively related to enthusiasm and contentment. Display rule perceptions were weakly, but positively, related to anxiety and depression. These results suggest that self-monitoring may be less beneficial than previously thought. Knowledge-based service workers’ display rule perceptions and deep acting may not necessarily be harmful to their well-being, but reflect their role identification and commitment. Theoretical contributions and practical suggestions of this study were discussed.

The Moment of Truth: A Review, Synthesis, and Research Agenda for the Customer Service Experience

Customer service is a central feature of the service context. As service research has evolved into a burgeoning multidisciplinary field, management scholars have developed an impressive body of research regarding the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of customer service. We provide an integrative review and synthesis of the literature with a focus on three important and interrelated aspects of customer service that specifically focus on the interpersonal service interaction between employees and customers: ( a) affect in customer service, including emotional labor and emotional contagion processes; ( b) customer mistreatment, the low-quality interpersonal treatment of customers toward service employees; and ( c) customer service behaviors, including customer orientation and service-oriented citizenship behaviors. We review theoretical perspectives for each of these streams of research and summarize the current knowledge regarding empirical findings. We provide a critical assessment of the literature and conclude with a discussion of future research agendas and practical implications for service managers.

Burdens and benefits of diversity work: emotion management in STEM doctoral students

PurposeAs part of the broader effort to diversify higher education in the USA, many science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) doctoral programs are deeply engaged in diversity work – an array of formal activities and practices meant to boost the representation of women and students of color. This paper aims to examine how underrepresented doctoral students in high-diversity STEM PhD programs contribute to diversity work in their programs.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach was used to understand the nature of diversity work in four STEM doctoral programs that have enrolled and graduated women and/or underrepresented students of color at rates significantly higher than their disciplines, despite being located in states with affirmative action bans. This study analyzes qualitative data from 24 semi-structured interviews and four focus groups with students from across the four departments.FindingsData reveal that underrepresented students are simultaneously positioned as representatives of progress and uncompensated consultants in their departments’ ongoing equity and diversity efforts. As a result, student contributions to diversity work are experienced as an ongoing process of emotional labor in which institutional ethos and/or feeling rules in the department shape how students manage their internal and external emotions.Originality/valueAlthough diversity-related work is widespread and growing within colleges and universities, this study shows how student engagement in diversification efforts can lead to significant emotional burdens that go unnoticed and uncompensated. In highlighting the invisibility of emotional labor and the skew of its distribution toward minoritized groups, this research calls attention to how tacit feeling rules can undermine the ultimate goal of diversity initiatives within graduate departments and programs.

A Multilevel Theoretical Framework Integrating Diversity and Emotional Labor

Science designed to understand the effects of diversity in organizations and science designed to understand the processes and outcomes of emotional labor have accumulated with increased rapidity, but rarely have the two research streams merged. We present a conceptual framework to integrate diversity with emotional labor, with the goals of prompting new research pathways and forging better understanding of the role emotional labor processes play in diverse work environments. This multilevel framework allows for conceptualizing and testing ideas about the interplay of both of these concepts at the individual and team levels, and introduces potential boundary conditions for their effects.

Effects of Emotional Labor on Leadership Identity Construction among Healthcare Hybrid Managers

In this longitudinal study, we extend theory on leadership identity construction by integrating the process of emotional labor into leadership identity claims. The study aims to fulfill the gap in the relevant literature about how emotions are managed to gain relational recognition in the process of leadership identity construction, specifically among healthcare hybrid managers who fulfill both clinical and managerial duties. Using random coefficient modeling, effects of deep acting, surface acting, and genuine emotion on the change of leadership identity at the relational level were tested on a sample of 106 manager-employee dyads over three consecutive time points. The results suggest variability in both initial leadership identity and changing rates. Hybrid managers conducting effortful strategies: deep and surface acting, have lower initial leadership identity. However, the effortful strategies help hybrid managers improve their leadership identity over time, while the effortless strategy or genuine emotion negatively interacts with the process of leadership identity construction. Our findings highlight the importance of cognitive attention required in the emotional process of leadership identity construction.

Dual Roles of Emotional Intelligence in the Emotional Labor Processes

Dual Roles of Emotional Intelligence in the Emotional Labor Processes

Workplace spirituality buffers the effects of emotional labour on employee well-being

ABSTRACTThis research examines how workplace spirituality buffers the detrimental relationship between emotional labour and subjective well-being among two samples of service workers in the United States and southern China. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we found that the negative relationship between surface acting and subjective well-being was moderated by workplace spirituality. Specifically, employees with high spirituality were buffered from the harmful effects of surface acting on subjective well-being, whereas employees with low spirituality were not. We found no evidence of a moderating effect on the relationship between deep acting and subjective well-being. These findings shed light on individual differences that influence the emotional labour process and expand our knowledge of cross-cultural similarities and differences in emotion management.

The mediating effect of emotional labor strategies on the relationship between emotional labor staff self-efficacy and emotional dissonance

Since Hochschild (1983) argued that the emotions of emotional labor workers are controlled and managed not by their individual voluntary will but by social class and structure as well as various external factors, most studies related to emotional labor have been carried out on the premise that emotional labor workers passively conduct emotional labor in accordance with emotional display rules set by companies. However, it is reasonable to think that emotional labor workers resort to an emotional labor strategy to enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy by themselves when they conduct emotional labor. It seems that service laborers have incentives to adopt an attitude and behavior in a strategic way to maintain and improve their own psychological wellbeing. The objective of this study is to find out whether the selection of emotional labor strategies, which are mainly divided into surface acting and deep acting, is done strategically to maintain and enhance the self-efficacy of emotional labor workers. Also, the function as a mediating variable, in the case of emotional dissonance resulting from emotional labor, is investigated for education service staff members who are working at four-year universities. All in all, the results of this study show that educational service workers are strategic decision-makers who employ an emotional labor strategy to enhance self-efficacy while reducing emotional dissonance in emotional labor processes occurring at their workplaces.

Getting the money back! The effects and boundaries of bill collectors' emotional labor strategies

Past research on emotional labor has mainly focused on the occupations that require displaying positive emotions. As such, whether service providers engage in the emotional labor processes to displ...

Understanding the Emotional Labor Process: Does Individual Differences Make a Difference?

The emotional labor literature suffers from a lack of consensus in regards to what emotional labor is and what are its outcomes. This paper expands upon the work of Van Dijk & Brown (2006) who argu...