Buffering the Harmful Effects of Surface Acting: A Moderated Mediation Model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of ethical leadership on surface acting, positive mood and affective commitment via the mediating effect of employee frustration. The authors also explored the moderating role of humor on the relationship between ethical leadership and frustration as well as its moderating effect on the mediational chain. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected in two separate surveys from 156 individuals working fulltime; data collections were separated by six weeks to reduce common method variance. The measurement model was confirmed before the authors tested the moderated mediation model. Findings Ethical leadership was negatively related to employee frustration, and frustration mediated the relationships between ethical leadership and surface acting and positive mood but not affective commitment. Humor moderated the relationship between ethical leadership and frustration such that when humor was low, the relationship was stronger. Research limitations/implications Interestingly, the authors failed to find a significant effect for any of the relationships between ethical leadership and affective commitment. Ethical leaders can enhance positive mood and reduce surface acting among employees by reducing frustration. Humor may be more important under conditions of unethical leadership but may be distracting under ethical leadership. Originality/value This study demonstrates how frustration acts as a mediator and humor serves as a moderator in the unethical behavior-outcomes relationship.

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Workplace Surface Acting and Employee Insomnia: A Moderated Mediation Model of Psychological Detachment and Dispositional Mindfulness

The Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1080/00223980.2020.1757595 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 154 (5) ◽

pp. 367-385

Author(s):

Yuanbo Gu ◽

Xuqun You ◽

Ruimei Wang

Keyword(s):

Moderated Mediation ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Surface Acting ◽

Dispositional Mindfulness ◽

Psychological Detachment ◽

Moderated Mediation Model

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Understanding Ostracism from Attachment Perspective

Journal of International Students ◽

10.32674/jis.v0i0.706 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 856-872 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ning Hou ◽

Jinyan Fan ◽

James Tan ◽

Melissa Stuhlman ◽

Cong Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Public University ◽

Attachment Anxiety ◽

Foreign Country ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Harmful Effects ◽

Practical Implications

The perception of being ostracized in a foreign country is a great obstacle that may lead to international students’ strain. The present study aimed to understand ostracism from the perspective of adult attachment. We proposed a moderated mediation model in which attachment anxiety was hypothesized as an antecedent of ostracism and as a moderator of the ostracism – strain links. Participants were 119 international students enrolled at a large public university in U.S. Results largely supported the model, which showed that the attachment anxiety exaggerate the harmful effects of perceived ostracism on depression and physical symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

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Emotional Intelligence Mitigates the Effects of Customer Incivility on Surface Acting and Exhaustion in Service Occupations: A Moderated Mediation Model

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.506085 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Dorota Daniela Szczygiel ◽

Róz·a Bazińska

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Customer Service ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Surface Acting ◽

Service Employees ◽

Personal Resource ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Training Programmes ◽

Customer Service Representatives

This study contributes to the constantly accumulating evidence on the effects of customer incivility (CI) on service employee exhaustion. Previous research has demonstrated that surface acting (SA) acts as a mediating variable in the relationship between CI and exhaustion. This study extended prior findings in two ways. The results of Study 1 (315 retail sales employees, 62.2% female) demonstrated that SA mediates the positive relationship between CI and exhaustion while controlling for employees’ trait positive and negative affectivity (NA). The results of Study 2 (292 customer service representatives, 51% female) supported a moderated mediation model demonstrating that trait emotional intelligence (EI) buffers the direct and indirect (through SA) effects of CI on exhaustion. Specifically, it was found that employees exposed to many uncivil customer behaviors but high in trait EI reported using less SA and, thus, experienced fewer exhaustion symptoms than their low in trait EI counterparts. These results highlight EI as an important personal resource that mitigates the adverse effects of CI on service employees’ exhaustion, and suggest that organizations should consider implementing EI training programmes for their frontline service employees.

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