The way you make me abuse: impression management matters

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan-Ling Chen ◽  
Ting Yi Chu

PurposeDrawing on the perspectives of emotional labor, self-concept and impression management, this study presents two major findings: (1) employees' excessive reliance on impression management can bother supervisors, and (2) the effectiveness of impression management depends on how the management affects targets' attribution of characteristics to actors.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a cross-sectional design and a sample of 259 employees to investigate the antecedents of abusive supervision and, in this regard, the potential mediating effects of impression management. Through Mplus analysis, the authors specifically show that deep acting and surface acting affect impression management and that impression management activates abusive supervision.FindingsEmotional labor is critical in triggering abusive supervision through impression management. The study specifically shows that impression management mediates two types of relationships: (1) the relationship between deep acting and abusive supervision, and (2) the relationship between surface acting and abusive supervision. The findings contribute to the abusive supervision literature by clarifying how impression management functions.Originality/valueThis study, by addressing how emotional labor is a potential antecedent of abusive supervision, reveals that impression management can be a mixed blessing, insofar as emotional labor can contribute to abusive supervision.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1009-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaewon Yoo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how service employee’s perceived customer participation influences beneficial deep acting behaviors among service personnel while dampening the development of the less-beneficial surface acting, which subsequently affects service employees’ work engagement. Specifically, the current research explores how the personal factors of customer orientation (CO) and employee-customer fit interact with the customer participation to ultimately develop either surface – or deep-acting behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were collected from a cross-sectional sample of retail bank and insurance companies in South Korea. Questionnaires were distributed to 750 frontline employees of several banks and insurance companies. Of these, 518 questionnaires were used for further analysis. Findings The results indicate that perceived customer participation exhibits the predicted negative influence on surface acting as well as the positive effect on deep acting. Using the hierarchical moderated regression approach, the interaction effect of customer participation and CO on the service employees’ surface acting was found. Finally, the positive moderating effect of employee’s perceived fit with customers in the relationship between perceived customer participation and employees’ deep acting was supported. Research limitations/implications First, the specific service sectors chosen for this study are retail banking and insurance. Furthermore, the study was conducted among the frontline employees of banks and insurance companies in South Korea. Second, the study used single-source data, which are prone to common method variance. While the survey instrument was structured carefully with this in mind and the results suggested that method bias may not have been an issue in this study, this problem can best be avoided by collecting data from multiple sources. Third, this study is limited by its cross-sectional approach. The cross-sectional nature of the present study does not allow causal inferences. Practical implications This study provides a practical implication for managers to understand the importance of customer participation for relieving the negative effects of employee emotional labor. From a practitioner standpoint, examining the relationship between customer participation and emotional labor is of great importance given the benefits and costs associated with managing customer participation. Thus, managers should magnify the positive effect of perceived customer participation on emotional labor by increasing frontline employees’ understanding of customer participation. Second, the finding that CO plays a more critical role in the reduction of surface acting has important managerial implications. The recruitment and selection of frontline employees should incorporate an assessment of the level of CO. The results of this study strongly suggest that service organizations can greatly benefit from hiring individuals with a higher CO for frontline positions because CO signals a better job-person fit. Originality/value The present study is the first to link employees’ perceived customer participation with their attempts at emotional labor at work and to study how those attempts lead to work engagement. This research also shows that understanding how service employees’ CO moderates the effects of customer participation on beneficial deep acting and on destructive surface acting is important in that emotional labor is a potential driver of customers’ emotional states and subsequent assessments of service interaction. A third contribution of this study is the use of a new concept, which will be called person-customer fit (PCF), to reflect employees’ perceived fit with customers. Although many researchers have investigated the relationship between customers and frontline employees, the research has primarily focussed on the employees’ perceived fit with their organization and members of the organization and overlooked the importance of PCF.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 3742-3760
Author(s):  
Chung-Jen Wang

Purpose The purpose of this study was based on the job demands -resources model (Bakker et al., 2004) and conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989) by using three levels of variables, namely, company (i.e., perceived organizational support), department (i.e., abusive supervision), and employee (i.e., deep acting, surface acting, and self-efficacy) levels, to investigate its interactions with contextual influences on service quality and its linkage with customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A three-level hierarchical linear model was examined in research settings by using a dyadic data set of 1,082 service employees and customers in international tourist hotels. Findings Findings revealed that deep acting relates positively to service quality, surface acting relates negatively to service quality, and service quality relates positively to customer loyalty. For the three-level interactions, the positive relationship between deep acting and service quality was strengthened by perceived organizational support (POS) and self-efficacy but weakened by abusive supervision. By contrast, the negative relationship between surface acting and service quality was mitigated by POS and self-efficacy but exacerbated by abusive supervision. Originality/value Given the importance of emotional labor research in the hospitality industry, the current study contributes to the areas of service quality and customer loyalty and suggests future directions for hospitality research.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won-Moo Hur ◽  
Su-Jin Han ◽  
Jeong-Ju Yoo ◽  
Tae Won Moon

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate how emotional labor strategies (i.e. surface acting and deep acting) affect job performance through job satisfaction. Another important objective of this study was to see whether perceived organizational support (POS) moderates the relationship between emotional labor strategies and job-related outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and job performance). Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling analysis provided support for the hypotheses from a sample of 309 South Korean department store sales employees. Findings – The results revealed that surface acting had a negative effect, whereas deep acting had a positive effect on job satisfaction. In addition, the relationship between emotional labor strategies (i.e. surface acting and deep acting) and job performance was significantly mediated by job satisfaction. Finally, POS significantly moderated the relationship between surface acting and job satisfaction, as well as the relationship between deep acting and job performance. Originality/value – The findings of this study contributed to the literature by identifying the relationship between surface and deep acting on organizational outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and job performance), especially in a collectivist society (i.e. South Korea). In addition, this study also confirmed the important role of POS based on the norm of reciprocity between an organization and its members.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian An Zhong ◽  
Zhong-Liang Cao ◽  
Yuanyuan Huo ◽  
Ziguang Chen ◽  
Wing Lam

The associations between neuroticism, employees' preference of emotional labor strategies, and job feedback were investigated using a cross-sectional self-report questionnaire survey. The mediating effect of job feedback was tested using regression analysis with a sample of 168 nurses. Results showed that neuroticism was associated more with surface acting, and less with both deep acting and job feedback; job feedback fully mediated the relationship between neuroticism and deep acting. Implications and directions for future research and practices are suggested.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
I-An Wang ◽  
Szu-Yin Lin ◽  
Yeong-Shyang Chen ◽  
Shou-Tsung Wu

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to empirically test and explore the influences of abusive supervision on subordinates' job satisfaction and mental health. Specifically, the authors focus on the mediation effects of emotional labor and compare the discrepancies between surface acting and deep acting.Design/methodology/approachTime-lagged data were obtained from 239 employees in the hospitality industry in Taiwan. The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling with Mplus 7.4.FindingsResults showed that abusive supervision is not only negatively related to employees' job satisfaction and mental health but also positively associated with employee surface acting and negatively associated with deep acting. For mediating effects, surface acting mediates the relationships between abusive supervision and employee job satisfaction, while deep acting mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and mental health.Practical implicationsAbusive supervision is detrimental; it should be reduced in the workplace. Also, frontline employees can be provided with training programs to improve their deep acting strategies, which lead to better job satisfaction and mental health.Originality/valueThis research is among the first to examine the link between abusive supervision and both employee job satisfaction and mental health in the hospitality industry and extends the authors’ knowledge by demonstrating the mediating effects of surface acting and deep acting.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won-Moo Hur ◽  
Tae-Won Moon ◽  
Yeon Sung Jung

Purpose – This study aims to extend emotional labor theories to the customer outcomes by examining a theoretical model of how emotional labor performed by the service worker affects customer satisfaction in a mediated way. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling analyses partially support for our hypotheses from 282 dyadic survey data [i.e. service interactions customers (seniors) and service employees (caregivers)] from a home caregiver firm in South Korea. Findings – The results of our study found that employee’s emotional regulation strategies of deep acting and surface acting differentially affect customer satisfaction, and that employee’s job satisfaction mediates the relationship between employee’s emotional regulation strategies and customer satisfaction. More specifically, the relationship between surface acting and customer satisfaction is fully mediated by employee’s job satisfaction, whereas the relationship between deep acting and customer satisfaction is partially mediated by employee’s job satisfaction. Originality/value – Our study is the first to provide an empirical test of how employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship between employee emotional labor and customer satisfaction in service interactions. This research sheds light on the crucial role of employee job satisfaction that can be an important consideration to boost service quality and customer satisfaction by facilitating employee emotional labor.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Zhan ◽  
Wenhao Luo ◽  
Hanyu Ding ◽  
Yanghao Zhu ◽  
Yirong Guo

PurposePrior studies have mainly attributed customer incivility to dispositional characteristics, whereas little attention has been paid to exploring service employees' role in triggering or reducing customer incivility. The purpose of the present study is to propose and test a model in which service employees' emotional labor strategies affect customer incivility via influencing customers' self-esteem threat, as well as examine the moderating role of customer's perception of service climate.Design/methodology/approachBased on a matched sample consisting of 317 employee-customer dyads in China, multiple regression analysis and indirect effect tests were employed to test our model.FindingsThe study shows that employee surface acting is positively related to customer incivility, whereas deep acting is negatively associated with customer incivility. Moreover, customer self-esteem threat mediates the relationship between both types of emotional labor and customer incivility. Customer perception of service climate moderates the relationship between deep acting and customer self-esteem threat.Originality/valueThe current research broadens the antecedents of customer incivility from the employee perspective and sheds more light on the role of customer self-esteem in the interactions between employees and customers. It also demonstrates a complementary relationship between service climate and individual employees' emotional labor strategies, thereby expanding the existing understanding of the management of employees' emotional labor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31
Author(s):  
Mikyoung Lee ◽  
Keum-Seong Jang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between emotional labor, emotions, and job satisfaction among nurses, and explore the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between emotional labor and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was designed with 168 nurses in Korea. Structural equation modeling and path analysis were performed to analyze data. Findings Surface acting correlated positively with anxiety and frustration. Deep acting correlated positively with enjoyment and pride but correlated negatively with anxiety, anger and frustration. Enjoyment and pride correlated positively with job satisfaction; anger correlated negatively with job satisfaction. Deep acting correlated positively with job satisfaction, while surface acting did not show a significant relationship. Enjoyment, pride and anger mediated the relationship between deep acting and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This research expands empirical findings on nurses’ emotional experiences, by considering their discrete emotions rather than general affect. It is the first study to empirically examine the relationships between emotional labor, discrete emotions and job satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between emotional labor and job satisfaction in the nursing field. The mediating role of emotions suggests that not only nurses and nurse managers but also hospital administrators should take nurses’ emotions into account to increase nurses’ well-being and their job satisfaction. Finally, differential influences of surface acting and deep acting on nurses’ emotional experiences and job satisfaction highlight the need for practical interventions to promote the use of deep acting among nurses. Originality/value This study confirms the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between emotional labor and job satisfaction in the nursing field. It encourages future research to pay greater attention to nurses’ emotions themselves along with emotional labor. Findings add an interdisciplinary aspect to research on nursing by assimilating psychological perspectives of emotion and emotion management research to this field.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1046-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zizhen Geng ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Xinmei Liu ◽  
Jie Feng

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to empirically test and extend knowledge of the effects of emotional labor of frontline service employee. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined the effects of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) on frontline employee creativity, as well as the mediating effects of different kinds of job stress (hindrance stress and challenge stress) on the relationship between emotional labor and creativity. The research hypotheses were tested using data collected from 416 service employee–supervisor dyads in 82 Chinese local restaurants. Findings – Results show that surface acting is negatively related to and deep acting is positively related to frontline employee creativity; surface acting is positively related to hindrance stress, while deep acting is positively related to challenge stress; and hindrance stress mediates the relationship between surface acting and creativity. Originality/value – This study extends the consequences of emotional labor to frontline employee creativity from a cognitive perspective. It also advances knowledge about the effects of emotional labor on stress by classifying different kinds of job stress caused by different cognitive appraisals of surfacing acting and deep acting, and revealing the role of hindrance stress as psychological mechanism through which surface acting affects creativity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 845-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushanta Kumar Mishra

Purpose – Based on two studies on different occupational groups, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and different forms of emotional labor. Drawing from social identity theory, the present study extends the social exchange theory to provide an alternate explanation to the above relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The survey design following questionnaire in English language was physically administered among medical sales employees and subsequently among employees in the hospitality industry. Findings – The study found that POS is positively related to deep acting and negatively related to surface acting. The study further found that organizational identification mediates the relationship between POS and deep acting where as there was no mediation effect of organizational identification on the relationship between POS and surface acting. Research limitations/implications – The research relies on a cross-sectional design with a single source of data collected from two sources at different time periods. Practical implications – With the emergence of service economy there is an increasing emphasis on the performance of emotional labor. The present study suggests that organizations need to focus on organizational practices as employees’ perception of organizational support is related to the way they express their emotions during customer interactions. The finding of the study suggests that on what the organizations should do to motivate employees to perform expected emotional labor. Originality/value – The literature is relatively silent on the relationship between POS and different forms of emotional labor. The present study adds to the existing body of knowledge by explaining POS as an important antecedent of emotional labor. Further, the study contributes by exploring the mediation effect of organizational identification on the relationship between POS and different forms of emotional labor.


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