Emotional labor in caregiving organizations.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This research investigated key linkages in a model of emotional labor and dissonance in caregiving organizations. The role of emotional dissonance as a mediator between emotional labor and distal outcomes was examined. The concept of role certainty was introduced as a moderator of the relationship between emotional labor and emotional dissonance. In addition, the perceived instrumentality of emotional labor was introduced as a moderator of the relationships between emotional dissonance and the outcomes of job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and intention to turnover. Finally, social support was predicted to be directly related to outcomes and to moderate the relationships between emotional dissonance and the outcomes.
The model was tailored to organizations engaged in caregiving activities. Employees of mental health agencies within the state of Ohio served as research participants. Participants completed questionnaires designed to measure the constructs from the model. Statistical analyses included zero-order correlations, t-tests of paired comparisons and standard, stepwise, hierarchical and mediated linear regression.
Emotional dissonance emerged as a central construct in the model. Direct relationships were found between several antecedent variables and emotional dissonance and between emotional dissonance and important outcomes. Emotional dissonance also mediated the linkages between some antecedent variables and outcomes.
Role certainty and two types of social support demonstrated direct relationships to other variables in the model, but did not moderate relationships as hypothesized. However, perceived instrumentality of emotional labor did moderate the relationships between emotional dissonance and the three outcomes. Workers who perceived their emotional labor as instrumental were less likely to report decreased job satisfaction or increased emotional exhaustion and intention to turnover than were workers who did not perceive their emotional labor as instrumental.
This research makes a number of contributions to the emotional labor literature. Internally consistent scales were developed, the mediating role of emotional dissonance was clarified, and a variable that potentially moderates the detrimental effects of emotional dissonance on important employment outcomes was identified. Implications for theory development and application are discussed.