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Emotional Labor in Service Roles: The Influence of Identity

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Blake E Ashforth at Arizona State University
Blake E Ashforth
Ronald H. Humphrey at Lancaster University
Ronald H. Humphrey
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Abstract

Emotional labor is the display of expected emotions by service agents during service encounters. It is performed through surface acting, deep acting, or the expression of genuine emotion. Emotional labor may facilitate task effectiveness and self-expression, but it also may prime customer expectations that cannot be met and may trigger emotive dissonance and self-alienation. However, following social identity theory, we argue that some effects of emotional labor are moderated by one's social and personal identities and that emotional labor stimulates pressures for the person to identify with the service role. Research implications for the micro, meso, and macro levels of organizations are discussed.
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Emotional labor in service roles: The influence of identity
Ashforth, Blake E; Humphrey, Ronald H
Academy of Management. The Academy of Management Review; Jan 1993; 18, 1; ABI/INFORM Global
pg. 88
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... 2 Literature overview 2.1 Emotional labor Emotional labor involves managing and adjusting one's emotions and emotional expressions to conform to workplace expectations and standards (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Grandey and Sayre, 2019). Emotional labor includes surface acting, deep acting, or expressing genuine emotions (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993). ...
... 2 Literature overview 2.1 Emotional labor Emotional labor involves managing and adjusting one's emotions and emotional expressions to conform to workplace expectations and standards (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Grandey and Sayre, 2019). Emotional labor includes surface acting, deep acting, or expressing genuine emotions (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993). Although emotional labor can improve job performance and client satisfaction, it can also create emotional conflicts and feelings of disconnection from one's authentic self (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Bono and Vey, 2005). ...
... Emotional labor includes surface acting, deep acting, or expressing genuine emotions (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993). Although emotional labor can improve job performance and client satisfaction, it can also create emotional conflicts and feelings of disconnection from one's authentic self (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Bono and Vey, 2005). When caregivers genuinely modify their emotional state to match workplace expectations (deep acting), it tends to enhance their job performance. ...
Emotional labor, job satisfaction, and retention among home care workers in Taiwan: a comprehensive analysis
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
Objective This study aims to investigate the relationships between emotional labor, job satisfaction, and retention among home care workers in Taiwan. Materials and methods This study is a cross-sectional study design. Data were randomly collected from home care workers in Taiwan’s Chiayi region through questionnaires. We included 365 participants, primarily female (80.3%), with ages ranging from 18 to 60 years old. The questionnaires assessed emotional labor, job satisfaction, and retention intention. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics software (version 28.0) and included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, K-means cluster analysis, and path analysis. Results The study included 365 participants, with females comprising the majority (80.3%). Emotional labor exhibits a significant positive relationship with job satisfaction (β = 0.157, p < 0.01) and willingness to stay (β = 0.115, p < 0.05). However, job satisfaction shows no significant relationship with willingness to stay (β = 0.48, p > 0.05). The participants were arbitrarily classified into two clusters based on cluster analysis. Cluster 1 exhibited more genuine emotional expressions (deep acting) during work, demonstrated higher job satisfaction, and showed a greater willingness to stay. Conclusion The study provides insights into the relationships between emotional labor, job satisfaction, and retention among home care workers in Taiwan. The findings aim to offer valuable insights for managers in hospitals and long-term care facilities to enhance their recruitment strategies and personnel management practices.
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... These emotional displays, particularly toward customers, reflect a psychological effort to manage and regulate emotions (Grandey, 2000). Despite various theoretical perspectives on emotional labor, the core tenet remains consistent: Individuals regulate their emotional expressions in alignment with organizational expectations (Hochschild, 1983;Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Morris and Feldman, 1996). Emotional labor thus entails both the regulation of emotions and their external expression in service of organizational goals. ...
... The contrasting effects of these emotional regulation strategies provide crucial insights into institutional training and stress management interventions (Grandey, 2000). On the other hand, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) proposed an additional dimension of emotional labor-the expression of genuine emotion. This perspective contends that emotional labor need not always be associated with negative outcomes such as emotional dissonance and burnout. ...
... The process of emotion management, or emotional labor, is significantly influenced by the work environment in which employees operate (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993;Morris and Feldman, 1996;Brotheridge and Grandey, 2002;Grandey, 2000). A supportive work environment promotes employee responsibility and encourages constructive problem-solving behaviors, thereby enhancing organizationally beneficial actions such as assisting colleagues and mitigating risks (George and Brief, 1992;Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). ...
The effect of health professionals’ perceptions of organizational impediments on emotional labor and job satisfaction
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
Introduction Healthcare professionals are often required to manage their emotions effectively within the workplace, a task that can contribute to considerable stress and psychological strain. Emotional displays, which can be affected by organizational impediments, can affect healthcare workers’ levels of job satisfaction. Materials and methods The study adopts a cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from 651 healthcare professionals in Turkey through a convenience sampling method, utilizing online and face-to-face survey questionnaires, and analyzed using SPSS Process Macro v4.2 and AMOS v24. Results The findings reveal that organizational impediments positively impact the surface acting and deep acting, as they compel healthcare workers to invest more effort, planning, and control in managing their emotions. However, these impediments also negatively affect job satisfaction. Furthermore, surface acting and deep acting were found to have distinct effects on job satisfaction, with surface acting serving as a mediator between organizational impediments and reduced job satisfaction. Conclusion The findings highlight the significant role of surface behaviors in mediating the negative relationship between organizational impediments and job satisfaction, underscoring their critical impact on employee satisfaction. Moreover, the pronounced influence of deep acting on job satisfaction emphasizes the need for strategies aimed at preserving or enhancing employees’ intrinsic motivation. These insights suggest that health institutions should prioritize the development of policies designed to alleviate the emotional labor demands placed on employees. Furthermore, addressing and mitigating organizational impediments appears to be a key strategy for fostering higher levels of job satisfaction among healthcare professionals. These results were compared with findings from previous studies and discussed within the theoretical frameworks of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and Conservation of Resources (COR) theories.
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... Bu yaklaşım, profesyonel mesafeyi koruyarak duygusal tükenmişliği azaltabilir. Gerçek davranış ise çalışanın iş sırasında hissettiği duygular ile sergilediği duygusal ifadelerin uyumlu olduğu durumu tanımlar (Ashforth ve Humphrey, 1993). Bu davranış biçimi, samimiyet ve güvene dayalı ilişkilerde kritik bir rol oynar (Diefendorff, Croyle, Gosserand, 2005). ...
... "Gerçek davranış", bireyin içsel duyguları, düşünceleri ve değerleriyle tam bir uyum içinde sergilediği davranışları ifade eder (Ashforth ve Humphrey, 1993 "Hobi ve İlgi Alanları, " "Fiziksel Aktivite ve Egzersiz, " "Dinlenme ve Rahatlama Teknikleri, " ve "Ekip Arkadaşlarıyla İyi İlişkiler Kurmak" gibi kodlar daha az sıklıkla ifade edilmiştir. Bununla birlikte, bu kodlar katılımcıların stresle başa çıkmada ve motivasyonlarını sürdürmede önemli bir rol oynadığını ortaya koymaktadır. ...
Hemşirelerin Duygusal Emek Deneyimleri Üzerine Bir Odak Grup Çalışması
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
Bu çalışma, duygusal emek kavramının mesleklerinde önemli bir yere sahip olduğu hemşirelerin duygusal emek kavramını mesleki yaşamlarındaki rolüyle birlikte nasıl algıladıklarını ve bu deneyimi nasıl yaşadıklarını derinlemesine incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında, Aydın ilinde görev yapan sekiz hemşire ile bir odak grup görüşmesi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, duygusal emeğin hemşirelerin mesleki uygulamalarında merkezi bir öneme sahip olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Katılımcılar, duygusal emek kavramını empati, güvenilirlik, sorumluluk ve iyimserlik gibi kavramlarla ilişkilendirmişlerdir. Katılımcılara duygusal emeğin hangi boyutlarını sergiledikleri sorulduğunda, tüm boyutlarını sergiledikleri tespit edilmiştir. Duygusal emeğin olumlu etkileri arasında iş tatmini, motivasyon, güvene dayalı ilişkiler, iş birliği ve ekip çalışması, hastaların tedaviye uyumu ve iyileşme süreçleri, aile memnuniyeti ve mesleki yetkinlik yer almaktadır. Duygusal emeğin hemşireler üzerindeki olumsuz etkileri incelendiğinde, yaşanan zorluklar arasında stres, tükenmişlik, mesleki tatminsizlik, psikolojik yıpranma ve fiziksel yorgunluk yer almaktadır. Katılımcılar, duygusal emekle ilgili zorlukların üstesinden gelmek için kişisel gelişim ve eğitim programları, psikolojik destek ve danışmanlık, sosyal destek, fiziksel aktivite, dinlenme ve rahatlama teknikleri ile mesleki rehberlik gibi çeşitli kişisel ve kurumsal kaynaklara başvurduklarını ve bu desteklerin hemşirelerin duygusal dayanıklılığını artırmada önemli bir rol oynadığını ifade etmişlerdir. Bunun yanı sıra, duygusal emekle başa çıkma ve motivasyon stratejileri arasında mesleğin anlamını ve değerini hatırlamak, pozitif düşünme ve olumlama tekniklerini kullanmak, sosyal aktivitelere katılmak, kendine zaman ayırmak, hobilerle meşgul olmak, fiziksel aktivite ve egzersiz yapmak, dinlenme ve rahatlama tekniklerini uygulamak ve ekip arkadaşlarıyla güçlü ilişkiler kurmak önemli bir yer tutmaktadır.
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... Emotional labour refers to the management of one's own emotions to show a publicly observable facial and bodily display so as to satisfy the requirements from organization or work (Hochschild, 1983). Three dimensions of surface acting, deep acting and natural emotional expressions conceptualized by Ashforth were widely identified as the main emotional labour strategies, which represented how employees expressed emotions in the workplace (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). ...
A qualitative study of the emotional labour among neonatal nurses based on the affective events theory
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2025
Objectives To explore the work events, strategies, context and individual characteristics of the emotional labour among neonatal nurses based on the reaction mechanism of individual affections, so as to provide a reference for improving the emotional labour strategies. Methods A phenomenological qualitative design was utilized. Fourteen neonatal nurses from a tertiary Grade A children’s hospital were selected for semi-structured interviews, and the data were analysed, summarized and refined by Colaizzi’s seven-step analysis method. Results Four themes and eight sub-themes were refined to explain the experience of the emotional labour among neonatal nurses: (a) sources of the emotional labour in a relatively confined environment; (b) the strategies and consequences of the emotional labour under different emotional reactions; (c) contextual factors of the emotional labour strategies; (d) personality traits. Conclusion Given the reaction mechanism of individual affections, both internal and external factors contribute to the emotional labour among neonatal nurses. Since little work has been performed on improving their emotional labour, organizational efforts to provide interventions by hospitals and nursing managers are essential to improve the emotional labour strategies, and thus enhance their mental health and the quality of neonatal nursing.
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Sorry We Missed You Filminde Duygusal ve Duygulanımsal Emek: Hardt ve Negri Perspektifinden Bir Değerlendirme
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Bu çalışma, Ken Loach’un Sorry We Missed You (2019) filmini, duygusal ve duygulanımsal emek perspektifinden incelemektedir. Loach’un, neoliberal kapitalizmin iş gücü üzerindeki etkilerini işlediği bu filmde, karakterler yalnızca bedensel değil aynı zamanda duygusal ve bilişsel emeğin de metalaştırılması sürecine tabi tutulmaktadır. Hardt ve Negri’nin Empire ve Multitude eserlerinde vurgulanan, kapitalizmin yeni üretim biçimlerinin işçilerin yalnızca fiziksel emeklerini değil, duygusal dünyalarını da nasıl sömürdüğü tartışılmaktadır. Sorry We Missed You filminde, Ricky ve Abby’nin yaşamları üzerinden, neoliberal sistemin işçileri ve aileleri nasıl sömürdüğü, iş güvencesizliği ve düşük ücretli işlerin insan yaşamındaki etkileri derinlemesine ele alınır. Ricky, teslimat şoförü olarak “özgürlük” vaatleri altında, iş yerindeki duygusal ve fiziksel baskıları hissederken, Abby de bakıcılık yaparak, duygulanımsal emek sarf etmek zorunda kalır. Bu duygulanımsal emeğin, iş yerinde ve özel yaşamda yarattığı tükenmişlik, karakterlerin hem bireysel hem de toplumsal kimliklerini şekillendirir. Filmde, duygusal ve duygulanımsal emeğin metalaştırılması ve neoliberal ekonomik düzenin aile içindeki ilişkilerdeki yıkıcı etkisi işlenir. Çalışma filmdeki bu temaları, Hardt, Negri ve Lazzarato’nun, eleştirileriyle duygulanımsal emeğin kapitalist toplumdaki artan önemini ve bireysel ile toplumsal anlamların inşasında nasıl bir rol oynadığını tartışmaktadır.
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Duygusal Emek ve Müşteri Sosyal Stresörleri Araştırması: Belediye Örneği
Article
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This evidence-based Systematic Literature Review (SLR) comprehensively examines existing research on the connections between organizational commitment (OC), trust, and leadership. Additionally, this study explores the theories underlying the relationships among these variables. Previous research has extensively discussed OC, but there is a need for more empirical evidence regarding its theories and antecedents. Therefore, it is essential to identify, critically analyze, and synthesize the available literature from various geographical regions. This review identified ten different theories used within the OC model. Analysis of publications between 1985 and 2023 revealed that 2011 had the highest number of publications (N = 26) on this subject. Most articles concerning individual behavioral theories in model development were based on empirical research. Furthermore, Google Scholar emerged as the most frequently used database, while SCOPUS was the most considered indexing body among researchers. As expected, the USA topped the list of publications, followed by the UK and India. This systematic review will help practitioners and researchers identify key factors and theories essential for developing a comprehensive model of OC.
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Duygusal Emek, Görev Performansı Etkileşiminde Çalışan Enerjisinin Aracılık Etkisi
Article
  • Mar 2025
Günümüz iş ortamlarında, çalışanların duygusal emek harcaması, çoğunlukla iş performansı üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahiptir. Ancak, duygusal emeğin görev performansıyla ilişkisinde çalışan enerjisinin ne ölçüde aracılık ettiği hala net değildir. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışmanın odaklandığı temel problem, çalışanların duygusal emek düzeyleri ile görev performansları arasındaki ilişkide, çalışan enerjisinin aracılık etkisi var mıdır ve eğer varsa, bu etki ne kadar belirgindir? Çalışmanın temel amacı, iş yerlerinde duygusal emek, görev performansı ve çalışan enerjisi arasındaki ilişkileri derinlemesine incelemektir. Özellikle, çalışanların duygusal emek harcaması ile görev performansı arasındaki ilişkide çalışan enerjisinin aracılık etkisinin varlığını ve gücünü değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Açıklayıcı nitelikte olan bu çalışmada ilişkisel tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen araştırma verilerine öncelikle doğrulayıcı ve açıklayıcı faktör analizleri uygulanmış daha sonra, açımlayıcı ve tanımlayıcı istatistiki analizler yapılmıştır. Değişkenler arasındaki ilişkileri anlamak için tek yönlü varyans analizi kullanılırken, bağımlı ve bağımsız değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek için basit ve çoklu regresyon analizleri yapılmış ve son olarak aracılık etkisinin test edilmesi Hayes Processi kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analizlerde değişkenlerin bazı beşeri özellikler açısından farklılaştığı, duygusal emeğin görev performansı üzerindeki belirgin etkisinin, çalışan enerjisi modele dahil edildiğinde ortadan kalktığı ve tüm etkinin görev performansına çalışan enerjisi aracılığıyla aktarıldığı görülmüştür. Bu durum kurulan modelde çalışan enerjisinin tam bir aracı değişken rolü olduğunu göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Duygusal emek, görev performansı, çalışan enerjisi, aracılık etkisi.
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Positive emotional demands and psychological distance between teachers and students affect teachers’ work engagement in universities
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Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
High-quality higher education requires greater work engagement (WE) from university faculty. This paper uses the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and Construal Level Theory (CLT) to investigate the influences of positive emotional demands (PED) and teacher-student psychological distance(T-SPD) on WE and the mediating role of emotional labor (EL). A questionnaire survey involving 316 Chinese college and university teachers was carried out to explore the impacts of these factors on teachers’ WE. The findings showed that (1) PED and T-S PD all have a beneficial effect on WE; (2) PED had positive relationships with surface acting (SA), deep acting (DA), and naturally felt emotion (NFE); (3) T-SPD had negative correlation with SA and positive correlation with DA and NFE; (4) DA and NFE play a partial mediating role between PED, T-SPD, and WE, whereas SA does not mediate these relationships. These findings enrich the theoretical model of university teachers’ WE and offer practical recommendations for enhancing WE among Chinese university educators.
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Services: Lever to Growth
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  • Jan 1987
The changeover from one type of economy to another is seldom perceptible at the time it occurs. In advanced societies, services activities represent up to two-thirds of national product (figure 1-1). They have supplanted industry in the role of engine of growth. But this phenomenon has almost gone unnoticed by economists or governments up to now, and it remains largely unexplained. In classical economic theory, services were considered to be unproductive.1 This point of view influenced the methods of analysis of production as well as statistical research, so that very few researchers were interested in the activities of services as sources of value, and the data available on these activities remained scant and fragmentary.2 The concepts devised to explain the production of goods cannot necessarily be applied to the nonmaterial production of services. Two questions arise which this book tries to answer: what is it that constitutes the essential element of a service as a product and how can one assess the value of the latter?
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Clients as "Partial" Employees of Service Organizations: Role Development in Client Participation
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Clients of service organizations have important roles to perform in creating services. Yet, comparatively little attention has been directed at the participation of clients in complex and demanding client performance domains. In this paper, clients are viewed as "partial" employees and (1) a model of client involvement stages is proposed, (2) role definition and control for clients in complex service creation are discussed, and (3) attention to issues that emerge from this discussion is encouraged.
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