27-06-2014, 11:21 AM
EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL LABOR ON WORK OUTCOMES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY AMONG TEACHERS, DOCTORS AND MARKETING PERSONNELS.
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ABSTRACT:
Emotional labor can be defined as the degree of manipulation of one’s inner feelings or outward behavior to display the appropriate emotion in response to display rules or occupational norms. This study tries to investigate the relationship of emotional labor with different work outcomes like job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and work family balance. The study also tries to investigate the impact of emotional labor on subjective well being of an individual. For the purpose already established scales were taken and a survey was conducted among 135 individuals out of which 50 were teachers, 39 doctors and 45 marketing executives.
Keywords- Emotional Labor, job satisfaction, social well being, emotional exhaustion, work home balance.
Introduction to emotional labor
Emotions are the basis of our social life. They function as filters of perception, affecting our conscious decisions and, sometimes, even making decisions for us on their own. However, we often find ourselves in situations in which our spontaneous emotions, or expression thereof, (would) bring about negative consequences. The range of acceptable emotions varies with culture, gender, and age.
Emotional labor is a form of emotion regulation that creates a publicly visible facial and bodily display. While emotion work happens within the private sphere, emotional labor is emotional management within the workforce that creates a situation in which the emotion management by workers can be exchanged in the marketplace.
Emotional labour refers to the “effort, planning, and control required to displayorganizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions” (Morris andFeldman, 1996, p .987). According to Hochschild (1983) who first introduced theconcept, expectations exist regarding the appropriate or inappropriate emotionaldisplay of employees whose jobs involve a considerable degree of contact with thepublic. Emotional labor occurs when an employee purposefully alters his or her emotions in order to meet an organizational demand. This indicates that in order to perform emotional labor, the employee must be experiencing, or must be about to experience, an emotional response that is not congruent with the organizational demand
Emotional labour
Hochschild’s (1983) original conceptualisation of emotional labour maintains that jobsinvolving extensive interpersonal contact with customers or clients necessarily involveemotional labour. Hochschild considered such jobs to be inherently dehumanising anddistressing, as opportunities for autonomy over emotional expression are constrained.More recently, however, it is recognised that emotional labour should beconceptualised as a subjective phenomenon encompassing different dimensions(Mann, 1999; Morris and Feldman, 1996). Emotional labour is generally considered toinclude an external component (employees’ perceptions of organisational emotionaldisplay rules, and the demands made upon them to comply with these rules) and aninternal component (the effort involved in regulating emotions in order to displayemotions that are required by the job role but not genuinely felt, or to suppressinappropriate emotions that are felt) (Grandey, 2000; Morris and Feldman, 1996). Thepresence of emotional display rules may not necessarily have a negative impact onemployees, as there may be congruence between the required emotional display andthe emotions that are actually experienced. Research findings suggest, however, thatwellbeing will be compromised where the level of dissonance between felt emotionsand those that should be displayed or suppressed require employees to engage inextensive emotional regulation (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993; Brotheridge andGrandey, 2002; Lewig and Dollard, 2003; Morris and Feldman, 1996).
Emotional labour and work outcomes
This study examines relationships between aspects of emotional labour and several work outcomes:
Job satisfaction. Research that has investigated associations between emotional labour and job satisfaction has yielded mixed findings. Some studies conclude that employees who perform more emotional labour typically report lower levels of satisfaction (e.g. Abraham, 1998; Pugliesi, 1999; Ybema and Smulders, 2001; Zapf et al., 1999), whereas others see it as a source of satisfaction (Adelmann, 1995; Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993; Morris and Feldman, 1996; Tolich, 1993; Wharton, 1993). Compliance with organisational display rules could make interactions with customers more structured and predictable, and help employees to distance themselves psychologically from emotionally demanding situations. Moreover, the requirement to be friendly with customers might reduce the monotony of repetitive work (Tolich, 1993).
Emotional Exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion is a specific stress-related reaction that refers to a state of depleted energy caused by the excessive psychological and emotional demands that occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity (Jackson, Turner, & Brief, 1987). It describes feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work, since emotions are not an inexhaustible resource (Frijda, 1994). Emotional exhaustion is manifested by both physical fatigue and a sense of feeling psychologically and emotionally “drained” (Maslach& Jackson, 1981; Wright &Cropanzano, 1998). It is considered the core characteristic of burnout (Maslach, 1982). Maslach (1982) claimed that emotionally exhausted individuals are those engaging in emotionally charged situations on a regular basis. She further indicated that as it is a general belief that service providers alone are responsible for ensuring the future well-being of their customers and clients, it is also this belief that constitutes an awesome and exhausting burden to service providers (Maslach, 1982). Her view was supported by empirical research that has shown that employees who interact with customers on a frequent and continuous basis (a form of role overload) were found to suffer higher levels of emotional exhaustion (Maslach, 1982; Saxton, Phillips, &Blakeney, 1991). Emotional exhaustion is one of the most-often-cited consequences of emotional labor (Hochschild, 1983; Rafaeli& Sutton, 1987; Wharton, 1993; Morris & Feldman, 1996; Jones, 1998; Grandey, 1999; Kruml& Geddes, 2000a). Kruml and Geddes (2000a) suggested that the degree of exhaustion which workers experience varies according to acting types (Kruml& Geddes, 2000b). According to Hochschild’s (1983) research, employees who cannot separate their “true self” and “acted self” are more vulnerable to emotional exhaustion. They cannot maintain an emotional distance from their customers. This view corresponds to Maslach (1982), who found that individuals are most susceptible to emotional exhaustion when they invest more emotion in the enactment of their helping roles (Maslach, 1982).
Research Methodology
Participants: A total of 134 participants were surveyed out of which there were 50 teachers (35 males and 15 females) with an average mean age of 29.3 years , 39 doctors (27 males and 12 females) with an average mean age of 32.54 years and 45 marketing personnel’s ( 23 males and 22 females) with an average mean age of 28.02 years. Overall 200 questionnaires were distributed out of which 134 were returned representing a response rate of 67%.
Measures:
Emotional labour:This was measured by an amended version of the Emotional LabourInventory developed by Mann (1999). Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with eachstatement on an eight-point scale ranging from 1“strongly disagree” to8“strongly agree.” Mean scores across items were computed for each scale, with a high score denoting a more emotional display rules, more faking and more emotionalSuppression. The cronbach alpha for this 17 item scale was 0.811.
Job satisfaction:This was measured by the 15-item scale developed by Warret al.(1979). Respondents are required to indicate on a seven-point response scale the extent towhich they are satisfied or dissatisfied with each feature of their jobs. Mean scoresacross items were computed, with high scores representing more satisfaction towards the job. The Cronbach’s alpha for the 15 item scale was 0.919.
Subjective wellbeing: This was measured through two scales developed by Dieneret el. (2009).
Flourishing Scale (FS). The Flourishing Scale consists of eight items describing importantaspects of human functioning ranging from positive relationships, to feelings of competence, to having meaning and purpose in life. Each item of the FS is answered on a 1–7 scale that ranges from StrongDisagreement to Strong Agreement. The Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.936.
The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE). This measure is a brief12-item scale, with six items devoted to positive experiences and six items designed toassess negative experiences. Because the scale includes general positive and negativefeelings, it assesses the full range of positive and negative experiences, including specificfeelings that may have unique labels in particular cultures. Each SPANE item is scored on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 represents ‘‘veryrarely or never’’ and 5 represents ‘‘very often or always’’. The positive and negative scalesare scored separately because of the partial independence or separability of the two types offeelings. The Chronbach’s alpha of Spane-P was 0.857 and Chronbach’s alpha for Spane-N was 0.765.
Work family balance: This measureis a six item scale developed byGrzywacz and Carlson (2007). Respondents are required to indicate on a seven-point response scale the extent towhich they are satisfied or dissatisfied with each feature of their work family balance. The Chronbach’ alpha for this scale was 0.874.
Emotional Exhaustion scale: Emotional exhaustion was measured using Maslach and Jackson’s (1981) nine-item emotional exhaustion subscale of the 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Emotional exhaustion is measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from (1) = “strongly disagree” to (7) = “strongly agree,” A high degree of burnout is reflected in high scores on the emotional exhaustion subscale. The Chronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.924.