Open AccessCross-national validation of the resources depletion-recovery model: An empirical study of Spanish and British theme park employees
Author(s) -
Cristina Quiñones,
Raquel RodríguezCarvajal,
Mark D. Griffiths,
Nicholas Clarke
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
aloma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.198
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2339-9694
pISSN - 1138-3194
DOI - 10.51698/aloma.2015.33.2.107-117
Subject(s) - burnout , conservation of resources theory , psychology , emotional exhaustion , front line , service (business) , social psychology , theme (computing) , marketing , applied psychology , public relations , business , political science , clinical psychology , computer science , law , operating system
Surface acting (SA) refers to the strategy whereby front-line employees hide their own emotions and fake those required of them within their role within customer service transactions. Although researchers have associated SA with burnout, evidence now suggests that this could be an indirect relationship. Building on the Conservation of Resources theory, it was hypothesised that the combined effect of emotional effort and lack of rewarding interactions with customers triggered by SA would explain the strong association between SA and burnout (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, building on psychological recovery literature, it was hypothesised that the effort invested in SA would be a weaker predictor of front-line employees’ burnout in cases when they reported higher levels of recovery ability as opposed to lower levels (Study 2). A cross-national and cross-sectional design was used, and participants were theme park employees from UK (Study 1, NUK =204) and Spain (Study 2, NSpain=211). The explanatory role of emotional effort and rewarding interactions was supported, and the buffering effect of recovery ability was confirmed. Strategies aimed at minimising burnout risk for employees who deal with customers on a regular basis in these countries are discussed.