Do Local Government Employees in Korea Engage in Emotional Labor and Do They Feel Stressed, Exhausted and/or Satisfied? = The Results of a Survey in Bucheon City

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Emotional labor in public administration represents a growing research concern in many countries. However, to date very few studies have been conducted on emotional labor in Korean public administration. The purpose of this study is to further understanding of emotional labor in the Korean context. In particular, the study focuses on who does emotional labor and whether they feel job stress, emotional exhaustion and/or job satisfaction. The study presents the results of a survey of local government employees (n=467) in Bucheon. The variables of educational level, age, service length, and position revealed significant differences in the factor analysis of emotional labor and in terms of job stress and emotional exhaustion. In contrast to the majority of studies on emotional labor, the analysis found no significant differences by gender for emotional labor, although women were significantly more likely to suffer from emotional exhaustion. In terms of job satisfaction, significant differences were only found according to the position variable, with employees at level 6 or over reporting the highest levels of job satisfaction. More generally the results revealed relatively low levels of emotional labor. Explanations for the results are offered based on the management and training of the Bucheon local authority, but also according to cultural factors of Korean public administration. Suggestions are made for policies on emotional labor and for future research on emotional labor in Korea.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Theoretical background
• Ⅲ. Research design
• Ⅳ. Results
• Ⅴ. Discussion
• Ⅵ. Conclusion
• References