Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Psychological Capital, Emotional Labor and Exhaustion: Examining Mediating and Moderating Models

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examines the total moderation role that psychological capital plays in the integrative emotional labor model in which positive display rule perceptions predict emotional exhaustion both directly and indirectly via emotional labor strategies, i.e., deep acting and surface acting. The results reveal that psychological capital moderates the direct and indirect relationships between positive display rule perceptions and emotional exhaustion. Psychological capital also moderates the relationship between deep acting, but not surface acting, and emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that psychological capital generally plays a positive role in the emotion regulation process. It is also noted that although psychological capital can reduce employees’ emotional exhaustion, employees with high psychological capital who practice surface acting may suffer increased emotional exhaustion. Suggestions are offered accordingly for organizations that wish to enhance their employees’ psychological capital and to reduce the negative effects of emotional labor.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, J. A., Diefendorff, J. M., & Ma, Y. (2014). Differences in emotional labor across cultures: a comparison of Chinese and US service workers. Journal of Business and Psychology, 29, 21–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arvey, R. D., Renz, G. L., & Watson, T. W. (1998). Emotionality and job performance: implications for personnel selection. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management (Vol. 16, pp. 103–147). Stamford, CT: JAI Press, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, E. J., Dore, T. P., & O’Donovan, K. M. (2008). Associations of personality and emotional intelligence with display rule perceptions and emotional labour. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 677–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avey, J. B., Patera, J. L., & West, B. J. (2006). The implications of positive psychological capital on employee absenteeism. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 42–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., & Geurts, S. A. E. (2004). Toward a dual-process model of work-home interference. Work and Occupations, 31, 345–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brotheridge, C. M., & Grandey, A. A. (2002). Emotional labor and burnout: comparing two perspectives of “people work.”. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 17–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brotheridge, C. M., & Lee, R. T. (2002). Testing a conservation of resources model of the dynamics of emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7, 57–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bulan, H. F., Erickson, R. J., & Wharton, A. S. (1997). Doing for others on the job: the affective requirements of service work, gender, and emotional well-being. Social Problems, 44(2), 235–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, F., Tang, K. S., & Tang, S. (2011). Psychological capital as a moderator between emotional labor, burnout, and job satisfaction among school teachers in China. International Journal of Stress Management, 18, 348–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, K., Daly, A., & Mak, A. (2009). Good for the soul: the relationship between work, wellbeing and psychological capital. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 38, 464–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jonge, J., & Dormann, C. (2003). The DISC model: demand-induced strain compensation mechanisms in job stress. In M. F. Dollard, A. H. Winefield, & H. R. Winefield (Eds.), Occupational stress in the service professions (pp. 43–74). London: Taylor & Francis.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dahling, J. J., & Perez, L. A. (2010). Older worker, different actor? Linking age and emotional labor strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 574–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deery, S., Iverson, R., & Walsh, J. (2002). Work relationships in telephone call centres: understanding emotional exhaustion and employee withdrawal. Journal of Management Studies, 39, 471–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diefendorff, J. M., & Greguras, G. J. (2009). Contextualizing emotional display rules: examining the roles of targets and discrete emotions in shaping display rule perceptions. Journal of Management, 35, 880–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diefendorff, J. M., Croyle, M. H., & Gosserand, R. H. (2005). The dimensionality and antecedents of emotional labor strategies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 339–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diefendorff, J. M., Richard, E. M., & Croyle, M. H. (2006). Are emotional display rules formal job requirements? Examination of employee and supervisor perceptions. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 79, 271–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: a general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12, 1–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feuerhahn, N., Bellingrath, S., & Kudielka, B. M. (2013). The interplay of matching and non-matching job demands and resources on emotional exhaustion among teachers. Applied Psychology. Health and Well-Being, 5, 171–192.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. J. (1993). Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 303–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosserand, R. H., & Diefendorff, J. M. (2005). Emotional display rules and emotional labor: the moderating role of commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1256–1264.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotion regulation in the workplace: a new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 95–110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: an integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harman, H. (1967). Modern factor analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2012). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. Columbus, CA: Guilford Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, H. A., & Spector, P. E. (2007). Service with a smile: do emotional intelligence, gender, and autonomy moderate the emotional labour process? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 319–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karim, J., & Weisz, R. (2011). Emotional intelligence as a moderator of affectivity/emotional labor and emotional labor/psychological distress relationships. Psychological Studies, 56, 348–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, T. (1972). Production-line approach to service. Harvard Business Review, 50, 41–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, C., & Shi, K. (2003). The influence of distributive justice and procedural justice on job burnout. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 35, 677–684 (In Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, X., & Guy, M. E. (2014). How emotional labor and ethical leadership affect job engagement for Chinese public servants. Public Personnel Management, 43, 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Emerging positive organizational behavior. Journal of Management, 33, 321–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007a). Positive psychological capital: measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60, 541–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. (2007b). Psychological capital: developing the human competitive edge. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., & Patera, J. L. (2008a). Experimental analysis of a web-based training intervention to develop positive psychological capital. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7, 209–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Clapp-Smith, R., & Li, W. (2008b). More evidence on the value of Chinese workers’ psychological capital: a potentially unlimited competitive resource? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19, 818–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Rawski, S. L. (2011). A tale of two paradigms: the impact of psychological capital and reinforcing feedback on problem solving and innovation. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 31, 333–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1986). MBI: Maslach burnout inventory. Palo Alto, CA: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, C. M., Diefendorff, J. M., & Greguras, G. J. (2013). Understanding emotional display rules at work and outside of work: the effects of country and gender. Motivation and Emotion, 37, 323–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narasimhan, R., & Jayaram, J. (2008). An empirical investigation of the antecedents and consequences of manufacturing gal achievement in north American, European and pan Pacific firms. Journal of Operations Management, 16, 159–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nederhof, A. J. (1985). Methods of coping with social desirability bias: a review. European Journal of Social Psychology, 15, 263–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, A., Ucbasaran, D., Zhu, F., & Hirst, G. (2014). Psychological capital: a review and synthesis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 120–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouchi, W. G., & Johnson, J. B. (1978). Types of organizational control and their relationship to emotional well being. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 293–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, S. K. (1998). Enhancing role breadth self-efficacy: the roles of job enrichment and other organizational interventions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 835–852.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, K. Z., Wong, C. S., & Che, H. S. (2010). The missing link between emotional demands and exhaustion. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25, 777–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schaubroeck, J., & Jones, J. R. (2000). Antecedents of workplace emotional labor dimensions and moderators of their effects on physical symptoms. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 163–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1996). Maslach burnout inventory–general survey. In C. Maslach, S. E. Jackson, & M. P. Leiter (Eds.), The Maslach burnout inventory—test manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D., & Simonsohn, U. (2011). False-positive psychology: undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant. Psychological Science, 22, 1359–1366.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S., & Tyler, M. (2000). Emotional labour and sexual difference in the airline industry. Work, Employment and Society, 14, 77–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van den Tooren, M., de Jonge, J., & Dormann, C. (2011). The demand-induced strain compensation model: background, key principles, theoretical underpinnings, and extended empirical evidence. In A. Caetano, S. A. Silva, & M. J. Chambel (Eds.), New challenges for a healthy workplace in human services (pp. 13–59). Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, W., Yin, H., & Huang, S. (2016). The missing links between emotional job demand and exhaustion and satisfaction: Testing a moderated mediation model. Journal of Management & Organization, 22, 80–95.

  • Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). Positive self-statements: power for some, peril for others. Psychological Science, 20, 860–866.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, H. (2016). Knife-like mouth and tofu-like heart: emotion regulation by Chinese teachers in classroom teaching. Social Psychology of Education, 19, 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, Y. T., & Dean, A. (2001). The contribution of emotional satisfaction to consumer loyalty. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12, 234–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf, D., & Holtz, M. (2006). On the positive and negative effects of emotion work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 15, 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X., Li, Y. L., Ma, S., Hu, J., & Jiang, L. (2014). A structured reading materials-based intervention program to develop the psychological capital of Chinese employees. Social Behavior and Personality, 42, 503–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China

    Hongbiao Yin & Shenghua Huang

  2. Department of Technology Economics and Strategic Management, School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Wenyan Wang

  3. Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China

    Hongli Li

Authors
  1. Hongbiao Yin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wenyan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shenghua Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hongli Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wenyan Wang.

Ethics declarations

This study was funded by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong SAR (Grant No. CUHK 14413314).

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

Hongbiao Yin declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Wenyan Wang declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Shenghua Huang declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Hongli Li declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yin, H., Wang, W., Huang, S. et al. Psychological Capital, Emotional Labor and Exhaustion: Examining Mediating and Moderating Models. Curr Psychol 37, 343–356 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9518-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9518-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation