Emotional labor

About: Emotional labor is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3948 publications have been published within this topic receiving 112110 citations. The topic is also known as: emotional labour.

The Effects of Performance Monitoring on Emotional Labor and Well-Being in Call Centers

Abstract: A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being. It also examined a mechanism, namely emotional labor, that might mediate the relationship between them, assessed the effect of the work context on the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being, and examined the relative effects of performance monitoring and work context on well-being. Three aspects of performance monitoring were covered, namely, its performance-related content (i.e., immediacy of feedback, clarity of performance criteria), its beneficial-purpose (i.e., developmental rather than punitive aims), and its perceived intensity. The participants were 347 customer service agents in two U.K. call centers who completed a battery of questionnaire scales. Regression analyses revealed that the performance-related content and the beneficial-purpose of monitoring were positively related to well-being, while perceived intensity had a strong negative association with well-being. Emotional labor did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being in the form hypothesized, although it was related to these two factors. Work context (job control, problem solving demand, supervisory support) did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being, but job control and supervisory support did moderate the relationship between perceived intensity and well-being. Relative to other study variables, perceived intensity showed stronger associations with emotional exhaustion, while job control and supervisory support tended to show stronger associations with depression and job satisfaction. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.

How rude! Emotional labor as a mediator between customer incivility and employee outcomes.

Abstract: Because of the large number of people employed in service occupations, customer incivility has become an increasingly prevalent and important workplace stressor. Unfortunately, relatively little research has examined the effects of customer incivility; of the research that does exist, virtually all of it has focused solely on employee mental health outcomes. The present study was designed to replicate previous research linking customer incivility to the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout and to expand on previous research by examining the effects of customer incivility on customer service quality. In addition, two models were proposed and tested in which emotional labor mediated the relationship between customer incivility and outcomes. Data from 120 bank tellers revealed that customer incivility was positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to customer service performance. In addition, both proposed models were supported. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future directions are discussed.

Leading with emotional labor

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to argue that leaders perform emotional labor whenever they display emotions in an attempt to influence their subordinates' moods and motivations.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that integrates the literature on leadership with the research on emotional labor.Findings – This paper develops 15 propositions that distinguish emotional labor performed by leaders from that performed by front‐line service workers.Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that leading with emotional labor is a fruitful research topic, and that considerable research could be done in this area.Practical implications – Instead of conducting business in a non‐emotional, “business‐like manner”, leaders would benefit by expressing their emotions in the workplace. Emotionally expressive leaders are more charismatic and are better motivators.Originality/value – This is the first paper to develop a theoretical model that describes how leaders perform emotional labor; thus t...

Missing Kin and Longing to be Together: Emotions and the Construction of Co-presence in Transnational Relationships

Abstract: In this paper I explore the emotions of “missing” and “longing” as integral (though not essential) features of the kin-work (di Leonardo) and emotional labour (Hochschild) needed to maintain transnational family relationships. I argue that these emotions manifest in at least four key ways: discursively (through words), physically (through the body) as well as through actions (practice) and imagination (ideas). Hence, I consider emotions through both of the dominant perspectives in theories of emotion – constructionism (with its emphasis on discourse) and embodiment (with its emphasis on sensory experience). Drawing on a sample of Italian migrants living in Australia and their ageing parents living in Italy, I argue that the emotions of missing and longing motivate kin to construct four types of shared (co)presence – virtual, proxy, physical and imagined – which reinforce the sense of family closeness that characterises Italian conceptions of health and well-being.

Emotional display rules and emotional labor: the moderating role of commitment.

Abstract: The authors examined whether commitment to emotional display rules is a necessary condition for emotional display rules to affect behavior at work. Results using structural equation modeling revealed that display rule commitment moderated the relationships of emotional display rule perceptions with surface acting, deep acting, and positive affective delivery at work, such that the relationships were strong and positive when commitment to display rules was high and weak when commitment to display rules was low. These findings suggest that motivation plays a role in the emotional labor process in that individuals must be committed to display rules for these rules to affect behavior.