Emotional Labor in Interaction with Patients, Companions, and Coworkers: A Multilevel Approach in a Hospital Context

Abstract

Purpose

We test a multilevel exploratory predictive model, examining the relationships between emotional labor (EL) and workers' affectivity traits at a philanthropic hospital, where EL involves a process of emotional regulation at work involving emotional display rules, regulatory strategies, and emotional performance. Specifically, we test a model of the mediation effects of regulatory strategies and the moderation effects of emotional demands.

Study design and methods

Participants were 306 workers from 45 different units of a hospital institution, whose performance was evaluated by 30 supervisors. Since workers' emotional display rules could not be represented as shared, unit-level beliefs, we chose two critical demands to test our hypotheses: (1) demand to express compassion and (2) demand to conceal anger or disapproval.

Findings

Using multilevel analysis, we found evidence that deep acting mediates between emotional demands to express compassion and emotional performance. We found further that demands to conceal anger toward coworkers increase the strength of the relationship between negative affectivity and surface acting.

Originality/value

Theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed.

Citation

Araújo Simões, A.C., Guedes Gondim, S.M. and Puente-Palacios, K.E. (2023), "Emotional Labor in Interaction with Patients, Companions, and Coworkers: A Multilevel Approach in a Hospital Context", Troth, A.C., Ashkanasy, N.M. and Humphrey, R.H. (Ed.) Emotions During Times of Disruption (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 18), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 93-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120220000018006