Emotional labour and emotional exhaustion: Interpersonal and intrapersonal mechanisms

Abstract

In some occupations, particularly in the service sector, dealing with patients or clients may require an employee to pretend to have emotions that they do not really have, or to actually experience required emotions. The regulation of emotion can be either automatic or controlled. This study extends research on the consequences and processes of emotional labour in two ways. First, it examines how the use of different emotion regulation strategies with patients relates to doctors’ emotional exhaustion. Second, it tests two mechanisms that may explain those relationships. A survey of 345 general practitioners (GPs) working in a large urban community in Spain was conducted for the study. Based on Côté's (2005) social interaction model, GP satisfaction with the responses of their patients was tested as a potential interpersonal mediator between their use of automatic, surface, and deep emotion regulation strategies and their emotional exhaustion. Psychological effort was tested as a potential intrapersonal mediator in the same pathway. Regression analysis indicated that emotion regulation was associated with GP emotional exhaustion when it was performed automatically, but that it had a positive and a neutral association when it was performed using surface and deep acting respectively. The mediating role of interpersonal and intrapersonal factors helped explain the differential associations between the GPs’ emotion regulation strategies and their emotional exhaustion.     

Beyond demand-control: Emotional labour and symptoms of burnout in teachers

Teaching is a profession that involves a high level of emotional labour. This includes such behaviours as surface acting (displaying an emotion that is not actually felt), deep acting (the activity undertaken to actually feel a required emotion), and suppression of emotion. In many professions, this emotional labour is thought to be related to high levels of burnout. The aim of our study was to show that emotional labour has a unique relationship with burnout that is separate from its relationship with the variables of the Demand Control Support (DCS) model. Emotional labour was studied, together with the variables of the Karasek Job Demand Control Support model, in a random sample of 365 mathematics teachers in the Netherlands. We used the Dutch Questionnaire on Emotional Labor (D-QEL) that measures: (1) surface acting, (2) deep acting, (3) suppression, and (4) emotional consonance. In line with other studies, job characteristics were found to be specifically related to emotional exhaustion. Surface acting was significantly related to depersonalization, and emotional consonance (the absence of emotional labour) was related to personal accomplishment. We conclude that whereas the DCS model has been valuable for understanding emotional exhaustion, emotional labour provides an additional perspective for understanding work stress.     

Emotional strain and organizational citizenship behaviours: A meta-analysis and review

This paper provides a qualitative review and quantitative summary of the relationship between emotional strain and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and discusses five potential moderators of the strain-OCB relationship. OCB refers to discretionary behaviours that benefit organizations and their members. Emotional strain is important to consider because it has a broad impact on employee behaviours and is possibly more fundamental than other forms of strain. However, it has received less attention than aspects of job-related strain, such as job dissatisfaction. Based on the results of 29 empirical studies with 52 unique effect sizes, meta-analytic results revealed a negative relationship between strain and OCB (corrected estimate of the population correlation coefficient, ρ=-.16). Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by the type of OCB (OCB directed at the organization vs. that directed at individuals), type of organization (private vs. public), publication status (published vs. unpublished), OCB rating source (self vs. other), and type of sample (full-time employees vs. employed students). We present theoretical and practical implications of these findings, including steps that could be taken by organizations to increase OCB and to reduce emotional strain, and suggest directions for future research.     

Exploring turnover intentions among three professional groups of employees

Abstract

Although considerable research effort has been devoted to understanding work attitudes, behaviours and outcomes regarding turnover intentions, little has been done to explore it across different professions. This study takes a step in this direction and examines the effect of affective commitment, job satisfaction and job performance on turnover intentions across three professions. To this end, we surveyed three professional groups of employees and managers: financial officers and social workers employed in the public sector and lawyers employed in the private sector. The results of these three studies show that turnover intentions vary across these professions. Social workers exhibit lower turnover intentions than financial officers and lawyers, who tend to exhibit high turnover intentions. In addition, we found that job satisfaction and affective commitment are negatively associated with turnover intentions, while no significant relationship was found to exist between job performance and turnover intentions. The implications of this study suggest that both researchers and practitioners should take into consideration not only the organizational context, but also the occupational context while exploring the process of voluntary turnover.     

Emotional labour profiles: Associations with key predictors and outcomes

ABSTRACT

The present study examines how three emotional labour strategies (hiding feelings, faking emotions, and deep acting) combine within different profiles of workers among two samples characterised by different types and intensity of customer contact. In addition, this research investigates the role of perceived workload as well as perceived organisational support, supervisor support, and colleagues support in the prediction of profile membership. Finally, this research also documents the relation between emotional labour profiles and adaptive and maladaptive work outcomes (job satisfaction, work performance, emotional exhaustion, sleeping problems, psychological detachment, and counterproductive work behaviours). Latent profile analysis revealed three similar emotional labour profiles in both samples. Results also showed the most desirable levels on all outcomes to be associated with Profile 3 (Low Emotional Labor/Low Surface Acting and Moderate Deep Acting), followed by Profile 2 (Moderate Emotional Labor/Moderate Surface Acting and High Deep Acting) and Profile 1 (High Emotional Labor), with most comparisons being statistically significant in both samples. In contrast, a more diversified pattern of findings was observed in the prediction of profile membership. For instance, perceived colleagues support did not predict membership into any of the profiles, while supervisor support predicted an increased likelihood of membership into Profile 3 relative to Profiles 1 and 2.     

工作不安全感与情绪耗竭:情绪劳动的中介作用

工作不安全感作为组织变革过程中产生的重要压力源,不仅引发员工对工作持续性和稳定性的担忧,同时导致员工诸多心理健康问题.研究工作不安全感对员工工作态度和行为的作用机制,基于资源保存理论和压力源-压力框架,构建情绪劳动为中介的工作不安全感对情绪耗竭影响和作用机制模型,从资源角度阐述认知性工作不安全感和情感性工作不安全感如何通过情绪劳动引发情绪耗竭,运用层次回归分析、相关分析等统计方法对10家企业的197份样本数据进行模型检验.研究结果表明,认知性工作不安全感和情感性工作不安全感对情绪耗竭均有正向影响,工作不安全感通过表层扮演和深层扮演两种情绪劳动的方式消耗心理努力以导致情绪耗竭.因此,组织不仅可以通过调岗等人事管理方法增加个人组织匹配,还可以通过心理辅导等培训活动改变员工的工作态度,采取积极的方式缓解工作不安全感对情绪耗竭的负面影响.     

Influences of individual-related factors and job satisfaction on workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel in Malaysian public service organizations

Workplace deviance has become pervasive in most organizations today. This cross-sectional study examines the influences of individual-related factors and job satisfaction on workplace deviance behaviour among 429 support personnel in Malaysian public service organizations. Samples were randomly selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. The findings of the study indicated that agreeableness, negative affectivity, conscientiousness, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction predicted the organizational deviant behaviour. The same variables, except for emotional intelligence, also correlated to interpersonal deviant behaviour. Implications and suggestion for future research are discussed.     

An exploratory factor analysis of workplace learning,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment in small to midsize enterprises in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify the factor structures associated with three Western-developed instruments (Small Business Workplace Learning Survey, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, hereinafter referred to as SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ) used to assess workplace learning, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment when applied in a non-Western setting; and (2) to determine if individuals who differed in terms of selected demographic variables, differed in terms of the derived constructs. The factor analytic structure of each instrument which was originally established using Western samples was compared to the factor structure results obtained for an Eastern sample. Quantitative data were collected from employees in 26 small to midsize IT companies in Taiwan. A total of 206 valid surveys were obtained and analysed out of 450 that were distributed. The factor structure of each instrument generated from this study appeared to be substantially different from those obtained for the original instruments. The researchers suggest that the highlighted structure deviations reflect some culturally oriented factors which might be useful for developing more indigenous instruments. Regarding the participants' demographic variables, no differences in terms of SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ were found for Gender, Age and Tenure. Marital status was significant in terms of MSQ and OCQ. Educational level was significant for SBWLS and OCQ.     

Job insecurity in temporary versus permanent workers: Associations with attitudes, well-being, and behaviour

Recent research suggests that the relationship between job insecurity and psychological outcomes is more negative among permanent compared with temporary workers. We investigate possible interaction effects between job insecurity and type of contract (temporary versus permanent) for various psychological outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self-rated performance), some of which have received little attention. We aim to explain these interaction effects, while taking into account the heterogeneous nature of temporary workers in terms of tenure, employment prospects, and wish to do temporary employment. We argue that permanent workers expect higher levels of job security; job insecurity breaches permanent workers' but not temporary workers' expectations. This may relate to unfavourable outcomes. Similarly, the heterogeneous nature of temporary workers may relate to job security expectations and thus to reactions to job insecurity. This study was conducted on a sample of 477 temporary and permanent workers from various occupational sectors in Belgium. The results suggested that the interaction effect between job insecurity and contract type may be limited to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, permanent workers had higher expectations about job security. Breach of these expectations furthermore mediated the relationship between job insecurity and all outcomes, except for self-rated performance. However, the heterogeneity indicators were found to be unrelated to job security expectations.     

Job demands and work-related psychological responses among Malaysian technical workers: The moderating effects of self-efficacy

Abstract

Job design has long been found to affect the work-related psychological responses of employees, such as psychological strain, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions, but scholars have begun to question whether established theoretical relations regarding job design continue to hold given the enormous changes in the nature of work during the past two decades. It is also increasingly recognized that individual differences affect work behaviours in substantial ways, but few studies on work design have investigated these differences. We addressed these concerns with a two-wave longitudinal study among 245 technical workers at a telecommunications company in Malaysia, a country that has a collectivist culture and a high power distance between managers and subordinates. We examined the moderating effects of job control and self-efficacy on the relationships between job demands and employee responses. The results failed to support the job demands-control model, as job control variables did not moderate the impact of demands on employee work-related psychological responses. However, self-efficacy moderated their impact on psychological strain (although not on job satisfaction or turnover intentions). Our findings provide insight into the moderating effect of self-efficacy, and suggest that practitioners interested in reducing psychological strain should consider making efforts to increase self-efficacy among employees.     

An investigation of career development programs,job satisfaction,professional development and productivity: the case of Taiwan

This study attempts to develop career development programs capable of responding to career needs at different career stages. The current implementation status of these career development programs in Taiwanese businesses is then examined, along with the level of satisfaction of R&D personnel with available career development programs. The relationship between the career development programs and job satisfaction, professional development and productivity is then examined, revealing an association between high satisfaction of R&D personnel with career development programs and high job satisfaction, professional development and productivity.     

Assessing the cumulative effects of stress: The association between job stress and allostatic load in a large sample of Chinese employees

Job stress can lead to various system dysfunctions, but until now no reliable biomarkers for its assessment have been identified. Allostatic load (AL) is an index that enables the cumulative effect on the body of chronic stress to be assessed, and is derived from a set of relevant biological measures. In this study, a 13-parameter index (building on the original 10-item index) was used to examine the relationship between job strain and AL. Participants were 1219 healthy Chinese employees. Job strain was measured using the Job Content Questionnaire, and AL was assessed by various possible stress responses, including blood pressure, cholesterol, indicators of glucose metabolism, and hormone and inflammation markers. AL in the high job strain group differed sharply from that in the low job strain group. The AL score was positively associated with age and educational level. Several individual parameters also differed between the two groups. Men scored significantly higher on AL and cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes, whereas for women the associations appeared in the biological indicators. Analyses indicated that decision latitude (DL) and job demands were significantly related to AL. Job demands correlated significantly with the primary biological indicators and DL with the secondary health outcomes. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the value of measuring allostatic load in assessing the chronic effects of job stress.     

Assessing the cumulative effects of stress: The association between job stress and allostatic load in a large sample of Chinese employees

Abstract

Job stress can lead to various system dysfunctions, but until now no reliable biomarkers for its assessment have been identified. Allostatic load (AL) is an index that enables the cumulative effect on the body of chronic stress to be assessed, and is derived from a set of relevant biological measures. In this study, a 13-parameter index (building on the original 10-item index) was used to examine the relationship between job strain and AL. Participants were 1219 healthy Chinese employees. Job strain was measured using the Job Content Questionnaire, and AL was assessed by various possible stress responses, including blood pressure, cholesterol, indicators of glucose metabolism, and hormone and inflammation markers. AL in the high job strain group differed sharply from that in the low job strain group. The AL score was positively associated with age and educational level. Several individual parameters also differed between the two groups. Men scored significantly higher on AL and cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes, whereas for women the associations appeared in the biological indicators. Analyses indicated that decision latitude (DL) and job demands were significantly related to AL. Job demands correlated significantly with the primary biological indicators and DL with the secondary health outcomes. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the value of measuring allostatic load in assessing the chronic effects of job stress.     

Economic crisis and the employee: The effects of economic crisis on employee job satisfaction,commitment, and self-regulation

Greece has been suffering a severe crisis starting in about 2009. This paper examines the impact of the recent economic crisis in Greece on employee work-related attitudes via changes in regulatory focus. We collected data in a large and heterogeneous sample of employees (N = 1024) during the crisis and compared them with a matched sample of employees surveyed (N = 882) half a decade earlier, i.e., before the crisis. Participants reported their job satisfaction, organizational commitment and their self-regulatory focus. Results show, as expected, that participants after start of the crisis were lower in extrinsic job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment and were also (unexpectedly) lower in normative commitment, while these attitudinal changes were explained by decreased promotion orientation and increased prevention focus. Rather unexpectedly, pre-crisis and crisis samples did not differ in levels of continuance commitment. This paper makes a relevant contribution by showing that the threatening crisis event does not only have negative effects on work-related outcomes, but also that changes in regulatory foci occur and explain attitudinal change indicating an adaptive mechanism to the threatening situation of an economic crisis.     

White-collar work values and attitudes: A cross-cultural comparison of the U.S. and the Philippines

This paper examines the work values of white-collar workers in the United States and the Philippines. It compares the extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors and describes the core work motivators. Despite divergence in culture, economic environment, and level of industrialization, the results indicate that intrinsic factors are similarly effective for both groups while the effectiveness of extrinsic factors are more culturally determined.     

An empirical investigation of motivation and effective performance: A comparison of Arab and U.S. cultures

This study empirically examines motivational profiles within the Arab culture and compares them with the U.S. culture. The associations of needs for achievement, affiliation, and power with effectiveness (salary, promotion, and GPA) and job satisfaction in the Arab culture are investigated. The need for affiliation is negatively associated with effectiveness for managers and students, and the need for power is positively associated with effectiveness for managers. The Arab culture exhibits higher affiliation need, while the U.S. culture exhibits higher power and achievement needs. However, the two cultures exhibit similar profiles of effective motivation for managers, students, and professionals.     

Job tenure as a moderator of stressor-strain relations: A comparison of experienced and new-start teachers

Few studies have investigated the extent to which the effects of work stressors on strain change over the duration of employees' job incumbencies. Drawing on Karasek's (1979) job demands-control-support model, the current study examined the moderating influence of job tenure (experienced versus novice worker status) on stressor-strain relations. Using a sample of 422 experienced and 248 beginning schoolteachers in Australia, job factors and job strain were assessed on two occasions, 8 months apart. Analyses revealed that the three job factors were each correlated with strain as predicted, although the (elusive) demands×control interaction effect was evidenced amongst “new-start” teachers only. The findings provide mixed support for Karasek's model, and draw attention to the need to consider the role of job tenure and career stage in studies of work stress, as work stressor-strain effects may be routinely underestimated in research that ignores these factors.     

The use of multiple scenarios by U.S. industrial companies: A comparison study, 1977–1981

Over the past 5 years the authors have been examining the Fortune 1000 U.S. industrials' changes in corporate planning practices with respect to environmental analysis. Results of earlier studies have been reported in the February 1979 and October 1981 issues of Long Range Planning. This article documents the rapid, domestic increase in the use of multiple scenarios between 1977 and 1981. Given the intention for future use by present users and the length of time multiple scenarios have been used by some firms, this is strong evidence that multiple scenarios are a useful conjectural tool which can help corporate management plan in an unstable environment.     

Job satisfaction and mental health of temporary agency workers in Europe: a systematic review and research agenda

ABSTRACT

The current systematic literature review aimed to analyse the associations between temporary agency work (TAW), job satisfaction, and mental health in Europe, as well as to outline a future research agenda. Twenty-eight scientific articles were identified by searching different data bases (i.e. PSYNDEX, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science) for the time span from January 2000 to December 2016. Our review reveals first that TAW is not consistently negatively related to job satisfaction. However, job insecurity and working conditions are important mediators in the relation of TAW and lowered job satisfaction. Second, TAW is not consistently related to all investigated types of mental health impairments. However, when focusing on specific outcomes and comparing temporary agency workers to permanent employees, we still find consistent evidence regarding higher levels of depression and fatigue among temporary agency workers. Inconsistent associations between TAW, job satisfaction and mental health can partly be attributed to unfavourable methodological aspects of the included primary studies. To address these aspects, future research should consider applying a standard measurement of TAW, including a minimum of meaningful confounding variables, improving the operationalisation of outcome variables and the study design.     

NIMBY, CLAMP, and the Location of New Nuclear-Related Facilities: U.S. National and 11 Site-Specific Surveys

Public and political opposition have made finding locations for new nuclear power plants, waste management, and nuclear research and development facilities a challenge for the U.S. government and the nuclear industry. U.S. government-owned properties that already have nuclear-related activities and commercial nuclear power generating stations are logical locations. Several studies and utility applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suggest that concentrating locations at major plants (CLAMP) has become an implicit siting policy. We surveyed 2,101 people who lived within 50 miles of 11 existing major nuclear sites and 600 who lived elsewhere in the United States. Thirty-four percent favored CLAMP for new nuclear power plants, 52% for waste management facilities, and 50% for new nuclear laboratories. College educated, relatively affluent male whites were the strongest CLAMP supporters. They disproportionately trusted those responsible for the facilities and were not worried about existing nuclear facilities or other local environmental issues. Notably, they were concerned about continuing coal use. Not surprisingly, CLAMP proponents tended to be familiar with their existing local nuclear site. In short, likely CLAMP sites have a large and politically powerful core group to support a CLAMP policy. The challenge to proponents of nuclear technologies will be to sustain this support and expand the base among those who clearly are less connected and receptive to new nearby sites.