How Does Emotional Labor Impact Employees’ Perceptions of Well-Being? Examining the Mediating Role of Emotional Disorder

Lixia Yao, Jie Gao, Chengye Chen and Dan Mu
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Lixia Yao: School of Business and Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Jie Gao: Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA
Chengye Chen: School of Business and Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Dan Mu: School of Business and Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: Since bank employees are prone to high psychological pressure, it is key to explore the influencing mechanism of their emotional labor so as to relieve their pressure, as well as improve organizational performance and service quality. This study aimed to investigate the effects of emotional labor on bank employees’ well-being and to determine the mediating role of emotional disorder in this relationship. Employees responded to a survey regarding their use of emotional labor as well as perceptions of their well-being and emotional disorder. The results showed that employees’ use of emotional labor was related to their perceptions of well-being and confirmed the mediating role of emotional disorder in this relationship. The results indicated that surface acting has a significant negative impact on employee well-being, while deep acting has a significant positive impact. Moreover, emotional disorder played a role in mediating emotional labor and employee well-being, and emotional disorder was positively correlated with surface acting and negatively correlated with deep acting. The results revealed that developing deep-acting skills is important for increasing front-line bank staff’s well-being in China, who are accustomed to repressing their emotions, and emotional disorder might occur more often than has been previously believed, which worsens their well-being.

Keywords: emotions; surface acting; deep acting; emotion regulation; happiness; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:23:p:6798-:d:292552

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