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Understanding the emotional labor process: a control theory perspective
Author(s) -
Diefendorff James M.,
Gosserand Robin H.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/job.230
Subject(s) - emotional labor , perspective (graphical) , psychology , context (archaeology) , emotional exhaustion , hierarchy , process (computing) , perception , social psychology , control (management) , emotional regulation , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , economics , burnout , paleontology , clinical psychology , neuroscience , market economy , biology , operating system
A dynamic, process‐oriented approach to understanding emotional labor is presented, utilizing concepts from control theory models of behavioral self‐regulation. Emotional labor is characterized as involving a discrepancy monitoring and reduction process, whereby perceptions of emotional displays and emotional display rules are continuously compared. If a discrepancy between emotional displays and display rules is detected, individuals are proposed to use emotion regulation strategies to reduce the discrepancy. The goal hierarchy aspect of control theory is used to describe emotional labor in the broader context of job performance and explain how positive and negative outcomes can result from the emotional labor process. Propositions are developed throughout the paper. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.