Emotional Labor Scale – Chinese Version

Description

Emotional labor (情绪劳动) was formally proposed by Hochschild (1979) based on a survey of flight attendants at Delta Airlines regarding their interactions with customers. It emphasizes expressing and regulating emotions in ways expected by an organization. Employees in service roles not only need to exert mental and physical effort but also manage and control their emotional feelings and their expressions. Hochschild defined the behavior of individuals managing their emotional feelings publicly to establish visible facial expressions or bodily movements as emotional labor, noting that it has exchange value. It differs from physical and mental labor and is regarded as a “third type of labor.” Emotional labor is no longer a personal aspect; instead, it has become a commodity with exchange value as part of the overall service process when interacting with customers. The management, through establishing emotional expression rules aligning with organizational development needs, enables employees to express suitable emotions at the workplace, contributing to organizational profit and establishing a positive corporate image and service quality. In modern service industries, employees must not only perform physical and mental labor but also adjust their emotional states according to workplace demands, which constitutes emotional labor. During customer interactions, employees must adhere to certain organizational norms to display appropriate emotions or behaviors, influencing customers’ impressions of the company and subsequently affecting their purchasing motivations and actions. The emotional states exhibited by employees in the workplace are core factors guiding work behavior, which directly impacts the company’s image and performance objectives. Emotional labor is a “double-edged sword,” having both negative and positive effects. For organizations, strict regulations managing employee emotional expressions can ensure work efficiency and service quality, enhancing ongoing business. For employees, displaying appropriate emotions as required by the organization can effectively complete tasks. However, when employees’ internal emotions do not align with the emotions they are expected to express, emotional dissonance can arise, negatively impacting their job performance, leading to emotional exhaustion and turnover. The key lies in whether employees genuinely accept and identify with the emotional expression rules established by the organization.

Authors and Contact Email

Information not available.

Purpose

This research aims to examine the impact of emotional labor on employees’ work well-being and turnover intentions.

Test Year

Information not available.

Administration Method and Scoring

The questionnaire is based on Gandey (2003) and references Diefendorff et al. (2005) and Wu Peijun (2003) for revisions tailored to the cultural context in China. Emotional labor is categorized into 浅层行为 (Surface Acting) and 深层行为 (Deep Acting), with a total of 11 items, including 7 items for 浅层行为 (Surface Acting) and 4 items for 深层行为 (Deep Acting). The questionnaire uses a Likert 5-point scale (1 indicates strongly disagree, and 5 indicates strongly agree).

Reliability and Validity

To reduce social desirability bias, the respondents are promised confidentiality regarding their answers. After collecting the questionnaires, those with over 10% missing data or over 40% missing data points in a single scale are eliminated. The remaining missing values are replaced with the average score from other items in the same scale. The effectiveness of the questionnaires was judged based on the integrity of the responses and the logic of the answers. The data collection process was completed with the support of the human resources department.

Factors and Subscales

Emotional labor is divided into three dimensions: 浅层行为 (Surface Acting), 主动深层行为 (Active Deep Acting), and 被动深层行为 (Passive Deep Acting). 浅层行为 (Surface Acting) refers to individuals altering observable external behaviors to display the emotions required by the organization while not changing their internal real emotions. 主动深层行为 (Active Deep Acting) emphasizes changing internal emotions through positive thinking and effort, while 被动深层行为 (Passive Deep Acting) occurs when an individual’s internally felt emotions align with the emotional expressions demanded by the organization.

Keywords

Emotional labor, work well-being, turnover intention, emotional dissonance, service industry.

Items in Chinese

1. 为了以恰当的方式来服务顾客，我会展现出适宜情绪，隐藏真实的情绪感受
2. 工作中，当我与他人交流时，我会表现出好心情，即便内心并非如此
3. 工作时表现出适当的情绪，对我而言就如同表演一样
4. 对于工作中所需要表现出来的情绪，我只要假装一下就好
5. 我会表现出工作中所需要的情绪，但是不会改变自己内心真实的情绪感受
6. 工作中，我面对他人所表现的情绪与我内心的真实感受是不一样的
7. 在与他人交道时，我所表现出的情绪是经过调整和修饰的
8. 我试图体验在工作中应该表现的情绪，而不只是假装而已
9. 我尽可能使自己表达给顾客的感情是发自内心，而非假装
10. 我努力去感受在工作中我所需要向顾客表达的情绪
11. 我努力培养我需要向顾客表达的情绪

Items in English

1. To serve customers appropriately, I will show suitable emotions and hide my true feelings.
2. At work, when I communicate with others, I will display a good mood, even if I do not feel that way inside.
3. Expressing appropriate emotions at work feels like performance to me.
4. For the emotions required at work, I just need to pretend a bit.
5. I will display the emotions needed at work, but will not change my true inner feelings.
6. The emotions I show others at work are different from my true feelings.
7. The emotions I display when interacting with others are adjusted and modified.
8. I try to feel the emotions I should display at work, rather than just pretending.
9. I strive to ensure that the feelings I express to customers are heartfelt and not pretended.
10. I work hard to feel the emotions I need to express to customers at work.
11. I make an effort to cultivate the emotions I need to express to customers.

References

刘沁薇. 情绪劳动对员工工作幸福感和离职意向的影响研究[D].湖南大学,2014.