The Effect of Emotional Labor on Depression and Job Dissatisfaction Among Young Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  de Castro AB
• Description:
  Emotional labor describes the management of feelings and expressions to create facial, bodily, and verbal displays for organizational goals in jobs involving direct interaction with clients and customers. Workers perform emotional labor through surface acting, by regulating emotional expressions, and deep acting, by modifying emotions to express a desired emotion. Emotional labor can cause dissonance between true emotions and emotions expected as part of the job, consequently leading to adverse psychosocial outcomes. Young workers typically fill jobs requiring emotional labor and may be at greater risk for adverse effects secondary to their psychosocial and emotional development. Cross-sectional analysis was conducted on data from a multi-racial sample (n = 127) of employed adolescents and young adults aged 17 to 28 years. First, a quantitative emotional labor scale was adapted for use with working youth. Second, relationships between emotional labor, factors of emotional vulnerability and job strain, depression, and job dissatisfaction were examined specifically testing for mediating and moderating effects of both surface acting and deep acting. The adapted scale measured a psychometrically sound two-factor structure of emotional labor capturing surface acting and deep acting. Neither form of emotional labor mediated associations between factors of emotional vulnerability or job strain and the outcomes of depression and job dissatisfaction. Negative affect, though, positively moderated the relationships for both surface acting and deep acting and the outcome depression. Regression analysis revealed that surface acting was negatively associated with depression, but that the interaction between surface acting and negative affect was positively associated. Neither form of emotional labor was associated with job dissatisfaction. Findings indicate that, among young workers, the performance of emotional labor itself may not have adverse consequences. But, for individuals possessing increased levels of negative affect, emotional labor can have a significant bearing upon depression. This study suggests that dispositional characteristics of the individual are particularly relevant when considering the experience of emotional labor and encourages the inclusion of such measures for future research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mental Health Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cross Sectional Studies Emotional Stress Psychological Effects Psychological Processes Psychosocial Factors Young Workers
• Publisher:
  ProQuest LLC.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Dissertation
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057875
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC., 2003 May; :3080649
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19940701
• Source Full Name:
  The effect of emotional labor on depression and job dissatisfaction among young workers
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ba50fc64b476b31e1c4c8b80e4738aa10516b769dce1519f96f5f3a9eff98ead40f7c67b7daa6f38980d8a05a54e3fa2fecb13e15bd228d3d8583953ccad352b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215081/cdc_215081_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.85 MB ]