Grandey(2000)JnlOccHP

Emotion Regulation in the Workplace

• Author: Alicia A. Grandey, Pennsylvania State University

• Journal: Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2000.

Introduction

• Increased interest from researchers in workplace emotions.

• Emotional labor involves managing emotions to meet workplace demands, especially in customer interactions.

• No unified framework for emotional labor existed at the time of writing.

• Objectives of the article:

  • Review previous definitions and perspectives on emotional labor.

  • Provide an integrated definition of emotional labor.

  • Discuss emotion regulation as a framework for understanding emotional labor.

  • Present a model incorporating individual and organizational factors.

Historical Context

• Traditional views: Emotions were often ignored in organizational behavior studies (e.g., Arvey, Renz, & Watson, 1998).

• The rational workplace paradigm characterized emotions as impediments to sound judgment.

• Current research recognizes the significance of emotions in organizational outcomes.

  • Example: Employees modulate emotions to better interact with clients.

Overview of Emotional Labor

• Emotional labor defined: Managing emotions to align with organizational display rules (Hochschild, 1983).

• Key components:

  • Enhancing, faking, or suppressing emotional expressions.

  • Organizational display rules dictate expected emotional expressions (Goffman, 1959).

Examples of Emotional Labor

• Customer service roles emphasize friendliness.

• Legal roles (e.g., bill collectors) may require emotional suppression (anger).

• Roles such as therapists necessitate emotional neutrality.

Effects on Employees

• While beneficial for organizational goals, emotional labor is linked to stress and burnout (Hochschild, 1983).

• Unclear mechanisms behind emotional labor's stress implications.

Theoretical Perspectives on Emotional Labor

• Hochschild's Perspective (1983):

  • Coined the term "emotional labor." Emphasizes facial and bodily displays in customer interactions.

  • Types of emotional management:

    • Surface acting: Regulating emotional expressions.

    • Deep acting: Modifying internal emotions to express genuine feelings.

  • Emotional labor viewed as effortful and potentially harmful to employees.

• Ashforth and Humphrey (1993):

  • Defined emotional labor as displaying appropriate emotions for impression management.

  • Focus on observable behaviors rather than internal emotional regulation.

  • Contrasts with Hochschild's focus; suggests routine acting does not require conscious effort.

• Morris and Feldman (1996):

  • Defined emotional labor as effort, planning, and control required to express desired emotions during interactions.

  • Introduced four dimensions of emotional labor:

    1. Frequency of interactions.

    2. Attentiveness (intensity and duration).

    3. Variety of emotions.

    4. Emotional dissonance (discrepancy between felt and displayed emotions).

Conceptualization of Emotional Labor

• Proposes an integrated definition encompassing both managing expressions and feelings.

  • Surface acting: Adjusting observable expressions.

  • Deep acting: Modifying feelings to align genuine expressions with organizational goals.

Emotion Regulation Theory Applied to Emotional Labor

• Emotion Regulation Theory:

  • Defined: Processes by which individuals influence their emotions and expressions (Gross, 1998).

  • Two main methods of emotion regulation:

    • Antecedent-focused regulation: Modify the situation or perception of the situation.

    • Response-focused regulation: Modify emotional expressions to meet social demands.

Antecedent-Focused Regulation

• Techniques include:

  • Situation selection and modification.

  • Attention deployment: Focusing on events that evoke necessary emotions.

  • Cognitive change: Reappraising the situation to lessen emotional impact (e.g., viewing a passenger's tantrum as childish).

Response-Focused Regulation

• Involves manipulating emotional expressions (surface acting).

• Example: Employee maintains politeness despite personal feelings.

Mechanisms for Emotion Regulation Outcomes

• Effects of Emotion Regulation:

  • Regulating emotions potentially leads to burnout due to physiological stress (Gross, 1998).

  • Chronic suppression increases autonomic nervous system activity, impacting health (e.g., heart disease, immune function).

Long-term Consequences of Emotional Labor

Burnout

• Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, diminished personal accomplishment (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993; Maslach, 1982).

• Linked to managing intense emotions without adequate renewal of emotional resources.

Job Satisfaction

• Emotional labor impacts job satisfaction differently across studies.

• Positive emotions may enhance satisfaction, while suppression or regulation may hinder personal expression.

Customer Service Performance

• Managing emotions effectively correlates positively with service outcomes (good customer experiences lead to loyalty).

• Insincere emotional expressions negatively affect customer perceptions.

Personal and Organizational Factors Affecting Emotional Labor

Personal Characteristics

• Gender: Women often engage more in emotional management, resulting in higher emotional labor demands.

• Emotional Expressivity: Influences an individual's ability to perform emotional labor effectively.

• Emotional Intelligence: Higher emotional intelligence correlates with better emotion regulation skills.

• Self-Monitoring: High self-monitors adapt emotional expressions more readily than low self-monitors.

Organizational Factors

• Job Autonomy: Lack of control can increase stress; higher autonomy is associated with lower emotional exhaustion.

• Supervisor & Coworker Support: Positive workplace relationships lessen emotional labor demands and buffer against stress.

Conclusion

• Future research should explore complex relationships between situational factors, individual characteristics, and emotional labor outcomes.

• Emphasis on both lab and field studies to develop a comprehensive understanding of emotional labor dynamics.

• As emotional labor becomes more prominent in workplaces, insights from emotion regulation theories will be crucial for enhancing employee well-being.