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ABSTRACT. Emotional dissonance, or person-role conflict originating from the conflict between expressed and experienced emotions, was examined. The study was based on a reconceptualization of the emotional labor construct, with dissonance as a facet rather than a consequence of emotional labor. The effects of emotional dissonance on organizational criteria were isolated, thereby explaining some of the conflicting results of earlier studies. Empirically, job autonomy and negative affectivity as antecedents of emotional dissonance, and emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction as consequences of emotional dissonance, were explored. Self-monitoring and social support were tested as moderators of the emotional dissonance-job satisfaction relationship. Significant relationships with job autonomy, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction were found. Social support significantly moderated the emotional dissonance-job satisfaction relationship.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ECONOMY to a service economy has been rapid. Currently, three fourths of the gross national product and 9 of every 10 new jobs are related to services (Wharton, 1993; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990). Concomitant with this transition, there has been a sharp rise in jobs requiring direct, face-to-face interaction with the final customer. Because customers' perceptions of quality are partly contingent on the expressed emotions of service providers, organizations attempt to control the emotional displays of their employees. Adelmann (1989) estimated that the jobs of fully one third of U.S. workers incorporate elements of emotional barter: Workers are rewarded specifically for overt displays of feeling. For example, bill collectors are expected to be hostile, funeral home directors somber, and health service workers nurturing and caring. The act of expressing organizationally desired emotions during service transactions is termed emotional labor (Morris & Feldman, 1996).
In an assessment of seven job classes spanning the breadth of employment in the service sector, Hochschild (1983) identified 48 occupational categories as high in emotional labor, including nursing, therapy, personnel administration, table serving, and teaching. A study of emotional labor is warranted from both practical and theoretical perspectives. From a practical standpoint, organizations need to be aware of the impact of emotional labor in order to maximize the effectiveness of individuals in frontline, boundary-spanning positions who act as corporate representatives to the final customer. Theoretically, it is important to place emotional labor within a contingency framework in order to assess situational influences, including the...