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Emotional??Labor??at??a??Crossroads:??WhereDo??We??Go??from??Here?
ARTICLE??·??JANUARY??2015
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2??AUTHORS:
Alicia??A.??Grandey
Pennsylvania??State??University
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2,224
Allison??Gabriel
The??University??of??Arizona
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ANNUALREVIEWSAnnu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 2015.2:323-349. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by 96.253.96.164 on 04/18/15. For personal use only.Click here for quick links to Annual Reviews content online, including:? Other articles in this volume? Top cited articles? Top downloaded articles? Our comprehensive searchFurtherEmotionalLaborata
Crossroads:WhereDoWeGofromHere?
AliciaA.Grandey1andAllisonS.Gabriel21DepartmentofPsychology,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark,Pennsylvania16802;email:aag6@psu.edu
DepartmentofManagement,VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity,Richmond,Virginia23284
2Annu.Rev.Organ.Psychol.Organ.Behav.2015.2:323–49
FirstpublishedonlineasaReviewinAdvanceonJanuary30,2015
TheAnnualReviewofOrganizationalPsychologyandOrganizationalBehaviorisonlineatorgpsych.annualreviews.org
Thisarticle’sdoi:
10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111400Copyright?2015byAnnualReviews.Allrightsreserved
Keywords
emotionallabor,emotionalperformance,emotionregulation
Abstract
Threedecadesafteritsintroductionasaconcept,emotionallabor—regulatingemotionsaspartoftheworkrole—isfullyonthemapinorganizationalbehaviorandorganizationalpsychology.Asresearchhasaccelerated,roadblocks,suchasfuzzyconstructconceptualiza-tions,assumedbutuntestedprocesses,andmethodologicalstagna-tion,haveemerged.Toprovidedirectiontonewscholarsandsuggestionstoseasonedemotionallaborresearchers,wereviewtheoreticalperspectivesandevidenceforemotionallaborandits(a)constructdevelopmentandmeasurement,(b)chronicandmo-mentarydeterminants,(c)predictionofemployeewell-being,and(d)influenceonorganizationalperformance.Onthispath,weintroduceemotionallaborasadynamicintegrationofthreecomponents(i.e.,emotionalrequirements,emotionregulation,andemotionper-formance),interpretpersonalandorganizationalmoderators,andpointtoinnovativenewmethodologicalapproaches.Overall,weprovideanewroadmaptojump-startthefieldinexcitingnewdirections.
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INTRODUCTION
Emotionallabor,theideaofmanagingemotionswithothersaspartoftheworkrole,waspro-posedinsociologythreedecadesago(Hochschild1983).Backthen,emotionallaborinorgani-zationalscienceswaslikethebackroadsofacountrytown:relativelyunexploredandhardtonavigate,withsomepeopletellingyounottotakethatroute.Slowly,theorganizationalbehavior(OB)andorganizationalpsychology(OP)literaturebeganrecognizingthevalueofunderstandingemotionsatwork,andemotionallaborbecameafocalareaofstudy(Barsadeetal.2003).Thepastdecadehasseenunprecedentedgrowthandimpactinthisfocalarea,asillustratedbyrecentmeta-analyses(Hülsheger&Schewe2011,Kammeyer-Muelleretal.2013,Mesmer-Magnusetal.2012),exponentialgrowthincitationcounts(over16,000,triplethenumberacrossthepriortwodecades),andacross-disciplinarybookdevotedtothetopic(Grandeyetal.2013c).
g.ylno esu lanosrepr oF .51/81/04 no 461.69.352.69 yb dedivorp sseccA Growthisexciting,butitcanalsocreatechallenges.AsBono&Vey(2005)statedintheirreviewofthetopic,emotionallaborhassurvivedthefirststageofscientificconstructdevelopment:conceptintroductionandelaboration.However,theyalsosummedupthestateofemotionallaborbystatingthat“[a]greementonhowtodefineand[operationalize]emotionallabor...hasnotbeenreached”andthat“emotionallabornowseemstobestrugglingthroughthethroesofconstructadolescence”(p.216).Almost10yearsafterBono&Vey’sreview,theassessmentremainsthesame(seeMesmer-Magnusetal.2012).Thus,emotionallaborisstalledatacrossroads.
Ourreviewismeanttojump-startnewresearchintheareaofemotionallaborbyreviewingwherewehavebeenandnewdirectionsthatseempromising.WeorganizeourreviewinthreemainsectionshighlightedinFigure1:(a)definingandmeasuringemotionallabor(hourglassincenter),(b)describingthechronicandmomentaryantecedentsofemotionallabor(leftside),andreviewinghowemotionallaborisrelatedto(c)employeewell-beingandjob/organizationalperformance(rightside).Acrossthesethreesections,wereviewdominanttheoreticalperspectives(showninsidethearrowsinFigure1)andhowpersonal,dyadic,andorganizationalmoderatingeffectsinformandchangeourconclusions(bottombox).
EMOTIONALLABOR:DEFINITIONANDMEASUREMENT
ThequoteoftenusedtodefineemotionallaborishiddeninafootnoteinArlieHochschild’s(1983,p.7)seminalbookTheManagedHeart,inwhichsheisdistinguishingemotionallaborfromrelatedconcepts:“Iusethetermemotionallabortomeanthemanagementoffeelingtocreateapubliclyobservablefacialandbodilydisplay;emotionallaborissoldforawageandthereforehasexchangevalue.Iusethesynonymoustermsemotionworkoremotionmanagementtorefertothesesameactsdoneinaprivatecontextwheretheyhaveusevalue”(emphasisinoriginal).Hochschilddescribedherobservationsofhowmanagementpracticesareusedtoencourageflightattendantsandbillcollectorstoactivelyregulatetheirmoodsandexpressionswithcustomers,linkingtheireffortstodrama-turgicaltechniquesusedintheater.Attheendofherbook,Hochschildprovidedanappendixwithaproposedlistofhighemotionallaborjobsforfurtherstudy.
EmotionalLaborasThreeSeparateComponents
InlightofHochschild’s(1983)work,emotionallaborrepresentedanoccupationalcategory,theemotionaleffortorlabortoperformthatjob,andtheinterpersonalexpressionsasthefruitsofthelabor.Thesethreecomponents—emotionalrequirements,emotionregulation,andemo-tionperformance,respectively—werethenoftenstudiedandmeasuredseparatelyinemergentresearch.
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Emotion requirementsJob-based requirements foremotional displays with others? Emotional dissonance? Resource gain/lossFocal antecedentsPerson characteristicsPersonality traitsWork motivesEmotional abilitiesEvent characteristicsMoods/emotionsCustomer mistreatmentFocal outcomesEmployee well-beingJob satisfactionBurnout/healthOrganizational well-beingInterpersonal performanceTask/overall performancePerson–jobcongruenceAnnu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 2015.2:323-349. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by 96.253.96.164 on 04/18/15. For personal use only.Emotion–goalcongruenceEmotion regulationModification of feelingsor expressions? Contagion/judgments? Self-regulatory depletionEmotion performanceObservable expressions congruentwith requirementsModeratorsRelational factorsEmotional traits/abilitiesIdentification/valuesRelational power/intimacyContextual factorsJob status/autonomyFinancial rewardsSocial supportFigure1
Anintegratedthree-componentmodelofemotionallaborantecedents,outcomes,andmoderators.
Emotionalrequirements.Someresearchersfocusonemotionallaborasatypeofjobthathashighcustomeroremotionaldemands(Wharton1993).Suchemotionalrequirements,aswelabelthisapproach,typicallyhavean“integrative”goalwithshowingpositivedisplaysandhidingnegativeones(i.e.,“servicewithasmile”),butcanalsorequirenegativeorneutraldisplaysincertainoccupations(e.g.,judges,billcollectors;Sutton1991,Wharton&Erickson1993).
Emotionalrequirementsaretypicallymeasuredasemployeeperceptionsoftheirjobs’displayrules,whichvarybyjobcategorybutalsobypersonality(Brotheridge&Grandey2002,Diefendorffetal.2006).Asdiscussedlater,amoreconceptuallyconsistentandlessbiasedmethodistoaggregateperceptionseithertotheunitlevel(Diefendorffetal.2011)ortothejoblevel.Researchersusingthelatterapproachlinkparticipantjobtitlestotheiremotionalrequirementsasratedbyincumbentsand/orexperts(e.g.,O?NET)andthenlinkthosejobstooutcomeswithinterestingresults(Bhave&Glomb2015,Glombetal.2004,Grandeyetal.2007).Forexample,Glombandcolleagues(2004)demonstratedthatasemotionalrequirementsincreaseaccordingtotheO?NETcodes,employees’wagesdecreaseunlessthejobalsohashighcognitivedemands.InOB/OPresearch,emotionalrequirementsarealsoexperimentallymanipulatedforparticipantsinworksimulations(Bono&Vey2007,Goldberg&Grandey2007,Trougakosetal.2011).Emotionregulation.Thesecondcomponentistheeffortexpendedbytheemployeeintryingtomeetthesocioemotionaldemandsofthejob.Hochschild(1983)observedemployeesusingtwotypesofdramaturgicaltechniques:surfaceacting,inwhichoneisjustputtingontheemotionalmaskthatisexpected,anddeepacting(i.e.,methodacting),inwhichonetriestoreallycreatethe
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gfeelingsthatmustbeexpressed.Grandey(2000)connectedtheseconceptstothenowdominantemotionregulationtheoryinpsychology(Gross1998).Specifically,Grandeysuggestedthatdeepactingwassimilartothebroaderconceptofantecedent-focusedemotionregulation,whichisusedtochangeasituationorcognitionstomodifyfeelings(e.g.,situationalavoidance,reappraisal,distraction),andthatsurfaceactingisatypeofresponse-focusedemotionregulation,whichisusedtochangeexpressionsandbehaviorafteranemotionisfelt(e.g.,suppression,relaxation).Al-thoughthistheoreticallinkagepermittedearlyresearcherstodrawonarichlab-basedliterature,Grandey(2000,p.101)notedthecaveatthatsuchevidencemaynotperfectlyapplytothesetwoconceptsandtheworkcontext,apointwereturntolater.
Asanintrapsychicconcept,measuresofemotionregulationtendtobeself-reported.Deepactingmeasuresaskaboutattemptsorefforttochangefeelingstobecongruentwithemotional.ylno esu lanosrepr oF .51/81/04 no 461.69.352.69 yb dedivorp sseccA requirements(Brotheridge&Lee2003)orabouttheextentofusingreappraisalorrefocusingtoimprovemoodsindifficultinterpersonalexchanges(Grandeyetal.2004).Surfaceactingismeasuredaspretending,suppressing,andfakingexpressionswithcustomers(Brotheridge&Lee2003,Grandey2003).Critically,theitemsoftenconfoundtheactingwiththeaffective-motivationalexperiencesforbothsurfaceacting(i.e.,confoundedwithnegativeaffect/stress)anddeepacting(i.e.,confoundedwithmotivation).Someresearchersfocusonlyonregulatingex-pressions,omittingdeepacting(Grandeyetal.2005b),differentiatingupregulating(i.e.,amplifying)fromdownregulating(i.e.,suppressing)emotionalexpressions(C?té&Morgan2002,C?téetal.2013),ordifferentiatingbetweenfaking,suppressing,andexpressing(i.e.,genuine)discreteemotions(Glomb&Tews2004).Otherresearchersfindthatgenuineemotionallabor,or“naturallydisplayingfeltemotions,”isaseparateemotionregulationdimension(Diefendorffetal.2005),whichseemstopredictcustomeroutcomesbeyonddeepacting(Hülshegeretal.2015).Thisdistinctionprovokesthequestionofwhatlowsurfaceanddeepactingindicateifnotgenuineexpression.Lowsurfaceanddeepactingcouldreflectlowmotivationtofollowdisplayrules(i.e.,goalabandonment;Diefendorff&Gosserand2003),highperson–jobfit(Gabrieletal.2015b),or,moreproblematically,ameasurementartifact.
Emotionperformance.Finally,thethirdcomponentofemotionallaborisobservableexpressions.Earlyauthorsfocusedonemotionallaborasobservableexpressionswithothersthatmaybeauthenticallyfeltorfaked(Ashforth&Humphrey1993).Emotionalperformanceiswhenem-ployeeexpressionsarecongruentwithjobemotionalrequirements(Bono&Vey2007),andemotionaldevianceiswhenexpressionsareincongruentwithsuchemotionalrequirements(Rafaeli&Sutton1987).Earlyresearchersfoundthatobservedexpressionswereunrelatedtoemployees’reportedmoods,supportingthatthedisplayswerestrategicratherthanexpressionsoffeelings(Pugh2001).
Emotionperformanceismeasuredinfieldobservationsoffacialorvocalcuesofemotionalexpressions,typicallyfrequencyofsmiling,eyecontact,andpleasanttonebytrainedcoders(Barger&Grandey2006,Bono&Vey2007,Pugh2001,Rafaeli&Sutton1990).Anotherapproachtostudyingemotionalperformanceistomanipulatethediscreteemotionscommunicated(e.g.,angerandhappiness;VanKleefetal.2004)ortheauthenticityoftheemotionalperformanceinvideosorwithconfederates(Grandeyetal.2005a,Syetal.2005).Thisapproachisclearlymorefocusedonhowperceiversrespondtotheemotionallaborthanontheexperienceoftheactor.
EmotionalLaborasanIntegratedProcess
Thewholeofemotionallaborisgreaterthanthesumofitsparts.Tomostclearlyrecognizetheuniquenatureofemotionallaboranddifferentiateitfromotherconcepts,scholarsshould
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