Emotional labor: links to work attitudes and emotional exhaustion

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the links from self-focused emotional labor (Surface acting) and other-focused emotion l labor (emotional enhancement) to job satisfaction, affective commitment, emotional exhaustion, and intentions to quit. Design/methodology/approach - The study employed a cross-sectional survey of 363 nurses' aides and childcare workers. Findings - Surface acting, a type of self-focused emotional labor, was related to negative work outcomes (lower job satisfaction and affective commitment as well as higher turnover intentions and emotional exhaustion). Emotional enhancement, a form of other-focused emotional labor, was related to positive outcomes (lower turnover intentions and emotional exhaustion) when performed for clients' family members, but not for clients. Research limitations/implications - The cross sectional design of this study limits the ability to map the temporal ordering of these relationships, and thus to determine if emotional enhancement is a job resource or response to positive work experiences. In addition, two helping occupations - nurses' aides and child care workers - were sampled, and thus, the findings may not generalize to other types of occupations. Originality/value - This study adds to the research about job-related emotional labor because other-focused emotional labor largely has been neglected in previous research. In addition, it is the first to differentiate workers' emotional labor With different groups of clients (patients/children; family members).