The Relationship between Emotional Labor and Mental Health of College Teachers: the Mediate Effect of Emotional Exhaustion

Abstract

Abstract. This study explores the relationship between emotional labor and mental health and the mediate effect of emotional exhaustion. Emotional Labor Scale, Mental Health Scale and Emotional Exhaustion Scale for teachers are used to investigate a survey of 710 college teachers in Shandong province. The results show that college teacher is a profession required high level of emotional labor, the most frequently used strategy is automatic acting and then the deep acting. Surface acting positively correlates with emotional exhaustion and has negatively effect on the mental health. Deep acting and automatic acting negatively correlate with emotional exhaustion and have positive effect on mental health respectively. Emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between emotional labor and mental health. Emotional exhaustion fully mediates the relationship between surface acting and mental health and the relationship between automatic acting and mental health. Emotional exhaustion partially mediates the relationship between deep acting and mental health.

Emotional labour strategies and job burnout: A meta‐analysis of Chinese employees

“…Compared to surface acting, deep acting, and job burnout results, this study found that when medical workers adopted more surface acting, they were more likely to suffer from job burnout, which is consistent with previous results (Hu & Sun, 2016;Li et al, 2015;Zhang, 2015aZhang, , 2015bZhang, Loerbroks, et al, 2018;. These findings have some implications for resolving doctor-patient conflicts and reducing the job burnout of healthcare workers, for example, strengthening social health service centres and family-contracted doctors, which are currently being promoted.…”

“…In empirical studies on the relationship between emotional labour strategies and job burnout, there are obvious differences in the findings for different occupational groups. Most studies on medical workers show that their surface acting is significantly positively correlated with job burnout, whereas their deep acting is significantly negatively correlated with job burnout (Hu & Sun, 2016; Li et al., 2015; Long et al., 2013; Zhang, 2015b; Zhang, Wang, et al., 2018). However, some scholars have pointed out that surface acting inhibits the generation of a reduced personal sense of achievement in medical workers (Luo et al., 2008; Wang, 2015; Xiong, 2014; Zhou, 2018).…”

The Influence of Emotional Labour Strategies on Psychological Well-being with Job Tenure as Moderator: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Research also shows university lecturers performed higher emotional labour (Berry & Cassidy, 2018). Additionally, educator who engaged in higher education such as college are more likely engaged in automatic acting which is the emotional labour strategies-genuine acting (Hu, Wang, & Yang, 2017).…”

Association between Emotional Labour and Psychological Well-Being: With Special Reference to Doctors Working at COVID - 19 Treatment Units in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka

“…It modifies their thinking to the cognitive assessment system, creating a balance between internal and external emotions and a resource acquisition strategy that lowers emotional disease (Zapt, 2002). Last but not least, sincere labour improves psychological well-being (Cheung & Lun, 2015;Hu et al, 2017;Zapt, 2002). Additionally, a large body of research (Ashforth & Hymphrey, 1993;Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002;Dall'Ora et al, 2016;Hochschild, 1983;Kinman & Leggetter, 2016, p. 2013Vermaak et al, 2017) demonstrated the effect of emotional labour on psychological well-being.…”

“…In response to stressful circumstances, surface and deep acting are more common than the study implies, and expressing genuine emotions is more often than the analysis suggests. It relates to how players must control their emotions when interacting with a demanding consumer and express them through deep acting (Hu et al, 2017). Additionally, when people express their true feelings, improved service quality results from sincerity (Diefender et al, 2005;Sohn & Lee, 2012).…”