Emotional intelligence skills: the building blocks of

Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2010

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Emotional intelligence skills: the building blocks of defence against emotional labour burnout L. Melita Prati* and Joy H. Karriker Department of Management, College of Business, East Carolina University, Bate Building, Room 3112, Greenville, NC 27858, USA Fax: (252) 328-4094 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author Abstract: We examined the moderating role of the four emotional intelligence components on the emotional labour perceptions – burnout relationship. Several hypotheses were tested to evaluate the relationship between subject emotional labour perceptions and burnout. Specifically, we hypothesised that emotional intelligence abilities alleviated burnout related to emotional labour perceptions. The results supported some of the hypothesised relationships, and we found that some emotional intelligence abilities were effective in moderating the relationship between emotional labour perceptions and burnout. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Keywords: emotional labour; perceptions; emotional intelligence; burnout; stress; emotion. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Prati, L.M. and Karriker, J.H. (2010) ‘Emotional intelligence skills: the building blocks of defence against emotional labour burnout’, Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.317–335. Biographical notes: L. Melita Prati is an Assistant Professor of Management at East Carolina University. She received her PhD in Business Administration from the Florida State University. Her research interests include leadership, emotional intelligence, emotional labour, and stress. Joy H. Karriker received her PhD Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an Assistant Professor of Management at East Carolina University. Her research interests include organisational justice, social exchange, antecedents of firm performance, and human resource strategy.

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Emotional intelligence skills as the building blocks of defence from emotional labour burnout

The seminal work by sociologist Hochschild (1983), The Managed Heart: The Commercialisation of Feeling, brought the idea of emotional labour to the attention of organisational scholars. She defined emotional labour as “the management of feeling to

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create a publicly observable facial and bodily display” (p.7). The idea of emotional labour indicated that there are organisationally established rules of emotional display that one follows in order to deliver successful performance in customer service interactions. In this work Hochschild (1983) included a warning: this process of managing one’s emotions for organisational purposes may lead to detrimental outcomes for the employee such as job stress reactions including burnout. A significant body of research has supported this claim (e.g., Hochschild, 1983; Morris and Feldman, 1997; Abraham, 2000; Totterdell and Holman, 2003; Zapf et al., 2001; Zapf, 2002). The current study builds on recent research supporting the idea that emotional intelligence may alleviate strain associated with burnout such as, depression and physical strain. Prati et al. (2009) found that emotional intelligence attenuated the positive relationship between surface acting (a form of emotional labour) and depressed mood at work and physical strain. Durán et al. (2004) indicated that emotional intelligence provides one the capacity to overcome strain associated with burnout through a deepened sense of engagement in the work situation and increased personal accomplishment and well-being. Slaski and Cartwright (2002) found that those scoring higher in emotional intelligence suffered less subjective stress. Ciarrochi et al. (2002) found a negative correlation of the emotion self-managing ability factor of EI with depression, and Saklofske et al. (2003) found a negative correlation of EI with depression-proneness. The focal question of the current investigation asks how the individual components of emotional intelligence, as outlined by the Mayer and Salovey (1997) model, might impact the emotional labour – outcomes relationship. Specifically, how the skills encompassed by the emotional intelligence construct may serve to alleviate strain (i.e., burnout) associated with perceptions of emotional labour. The four components of emotional intelligence, as delineated by Mayer and Salovey (1997), are examined in the context of the relationship between one’s perceptions of emotional labour within the organisational setting and his or her susceptibility to burnout (see Figure 1). Because of the previously mentioned findings regarding emotional intelligence and strain, it is expected that one or more of these components provide an individual the ability to elude stress related to one’s perceptions of emotional labour. Therefore, emotional perception and appraisal, emotional facilitation of thought, emotional understanding, and emotional regulation are examined to determine whether or not these factors alleviate the strain of burnout resulting from one’s perception of organisational emotional labour requirements. Figure 1

The moderating role of emotional intelligence components in the emotional labour perceptions – burnout relationship

Emotional intelligence skills: the building blocks of defence

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Emotional labour perceptions, efforts, and outcomes

Diefendorff and Richard (2003) provided evidence supporting the idea that employee perceptions of organisational rules of emotional display lead to some level of emotional effort on the part of the employee. The study indicated that perceptions of organisational rules for emotional display were related to actual rules established and consistently followed within the organisation. As well, this study and Brotheridge and Grandey’s (2002) study found that one’s attempts to follow these organisational rules did relate to his or her perceptions of organisational rules. Individuals’ perceptions of organisational rules related to emotional labour can result in two primary types of emotional effort: surface acting and deep acting. Surface acting is the enactment of perceived organisational requirements such that the individual portrays the expected emotion physically, but may not necessarily feel the expected emotion. Deep acting is the enactment of these perceived requirements by attempting to cognitively adjust previously felt emotions to be more in line with organisationally expected emotion and portraying the emotion accordingly. The emotional labour process has been related to many negative individual outcomes. As Hochschild (1983) warned, the practice of emotional labour, starting with the acceptance of perceived organisational requirements of emotional labour, may lead to negative outcomes such as decreased job satisfaction, depression, and burnout. For instance, Diefendorff and Richard (2003) presented evidence that perceptions of organisational rules to suppress negative emotions had a negative impact on job satisfaction. Abraham (2000) noted that the lack of control over one’s emotional expressions, as a result of emotional dissonance and required emotional displays, will cause one’s organisational commitment to deteriorate. Similarly, Zapf et al. (1999) indicated that emotional dissonance and emotional effort, in the form of required actions to display unfelt emotions, could lead to a resentment of the organisation. In further support of this relationship, Karasek’s (1979) model of job strain explains that perceptions of job demands, and the level of control one feels with regard to those demands, will influence the amount of stress experienced on the job. This theory is relevant to the present model in that one’s perceptions of organisational demands for emotional labour is a source of stress. According to Karasek’s model, this stress may be influenced by one’s ability to control the required performance based on his or her emotional intelligence attributes. Zapf (2002) stated that previous stress research points to one’s level of control over stressful situations, and one’s level of social support as resources that may alleviate detrimental stressor effects. These two are available resources for those with high levels of emotional intelligence. The possession of emotional intelligence skills provide resources for control over stressful situations, regardless of restrictions on or expectations of emotional display that may be dictated by the organisation. This idea is supported by Zapf et al. (1999) in their definition, “Control means having an impact on one’s conditions and on one’s activities in correspondence with some goal” (p.377). Certain individual characteristics have been suggested to influence the relationship between perceptions of emotional labour requirements and performance of emotional labour efforts. Such variables include personality dimensions such as extraversion, neuroticism, positive and negative affect, as well as individual skills like social skill (e.g., Morris and Feldman, 1996; Abraham, 1998; Diefendorff and Richard, 2003).

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Certainly, it is reasonable to assume that emotional intelligence may fall within the realm of individual skills that influence this relationship. Sosik and Magerian (1999) claimed that emotionally intelligent individuals feel more secure in their ability to control and influence life events. Therefore, those with high levels of emotional intelligence may feel a certain amount of control over employee-customer interactions and, thus, the ability to achieve the goals of their role. This control comes from the employee’s innate ability to drive the emotional exchange in the interaction using available emotional intelligence skills. Burnout. Research has indicated that one’s perception of emotional labour requirements related to the employee-customer interaction may result in psychological strains such as burnout and depressed mood at work. With regard to the detrimental outcomes of emotional labour, burnout has been a subject of concentrated focus in the literature. There have been several interpretations of burnout composed over the last 20 years. A widely used measure of burnout developed by Pines and Aronson (1988) delineates the burnout construct to include emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, and mental exhaustion. Pines and Aronson’s (1988) view of emotional exhaustion includes feelings of depression and hopelessness. Physical exhaustion is represented by feelings of being weak and tired, in addition to the inability to sleep or maintain immunity to illness. Mental exhaustion is defined as feelings of ineffectiveness and resentment. Much of the emotional labour literature indicates that burnout is an outcome of the emotional labour process. The causes of burnout with regard to this process are primarily attributed to efforts to fulfil emotional labour requirements in service interactions. A number of studies have found unequivocal evidence linking emotional exhaustion to the emotional labour process (Zapf et al., 2001; Zapf, 2002; Totterdell and Holman, 2003). Shirom (1989) noted that emotional exhaustion is an integral component in the conceptualisation of burnout. Many adverse effects have been associated with this strain, such as depression, reduced organisational commitment and job performance, as well as an increase in turnover intentions (Cropanzano et al., 2003). Demerouti et al. (2001, p.499) surmised: “Emotional exhaustion closely resembles traditional stress reactions that are studied in occupational stress research, such as fatigue, job-related depression, psychosomatic complaints, and anxiety”. Cropanzano et al. (2003) cite depression as one of the many adverse effects associated with burnout. Cropanzano et al. (2003) argued that resentment of the organisation and a reduction in organisational commitment result from emotional exhaustion, an outcome of the depletion in emotional resources. According to the literature, there have been several direct connections found with emotional intelligence having a favourable impact on measures of depression. Saklofske et al. (2003) found a negative correlation of EI with depression-proneness, and Ciarrochi et al. (2002) found a negative correlation of the emotion self-managing ability factor of EI with depression. Similar to its impact on symptomatic depression, it is reasonable to assume that emotional intelligence has a similar impact on burnout related to the emotional labour process. Emotional intelligence abilities can be useful resources in jobs where demands for emotional regulation are excessive. Perceived requirements of emotional labour matched with the ability to facilitate emotions to maintain, improve, or modify one’s emotional state provides emotionally intelligent individuals with invaluable coping mechanisms to


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defeat the adverse effects of psychological stressors such as burnout. The symptoms associated with burnout can be alleviated when one draws upon these resources. Emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion can be more successfully tempered or avoided because of the additional resources available to emotionally intelligent individuals (i.e., basic emotional intelligence skills, social support networks, perceived control over interactions).

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The moderating influence of emotional intelligence

Mayer and Salovey (1997) describe emotional intelligence as a set of cognitive abilities that enable one to mentally process and use emotional information. In their theory, the following four factors of emotional intelligence were proposed: perception and appraisal of emotion, facilitation of thought using emotion, understanding emotional knowledge, and regulating emotional thought and display towards goals. Because of these abilities, emotionally intelligent individuals are better equipped to understand and maintain responsibilities of emotional display, and avoid undesirable feedback or other undesirable outcomes such as physical and mental strain. The literature indicates that emotional intelligence abilities help to alleviate strain associated with emotional labour requirements. In a review of the literature, Abraham (2000) posited that the emotionally intelligent individual is equipped with the skills necessary to alleviate strains, because they are able to understand the causes of strain and develop tactics to reduce the impact of the aggravating stressors. Therefore, one who is emotionally intelligent is more apt to address the stressor and contrive a plan to reduce the stressor as it occurs. Under such circumstances, emotional intelligence is seen as a resource used to minimise the effects of work stressors, such as burnout. Zapf et al. (2001) referred to the idea that one’s ‘given cognitive capacities’ are resources used to alleviate stressors. Regarding the emotional labour process, Zapf et al. (1999) state that the various cognitive abilities of those with high levels of emotional intelligence provide them the resources necessary to reduce strain through the adaptation of the stressor such as emotional labour perceptions. For example, Schaubroeck and Jones (2000) reported a significant positive relationship between emotional labour requirements (in the form of emotional suppression) and physical strain. Accordingly, they found evidence that individuals without the ability to adapt emotions according to emotional labour requirements are more likely to experience physical strain. In addition, Pugliesi (1999) indicates that emotional labour outcomes are less problematic when individuals have some level of control over the management of their emotional experiences. The hypotheses formulated in this study propose that categorical emotional intelligence skills influence the relationship between perceptions of emotional labour requirements and experienced burnout. Perception and appraisal of emotion. Individuals who have the ability to accurately perceive the emotions of themselves and others are better able to facilitate accurate expression of emotions and understand others’ expressions of emotion. With regard to emotional labour, this ability to accurately perceive and express emotions facilitates the effective performance of emotional labour requirements (Lam and Kirby, 2002). According to Zapf et al. (2001), this ability is a principal aspect of emotion work.

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This ability allows one the control over certain interactions, especially those that may otherwise be considered as problematic. Individuals must be able to discern the emotions of themselves and others in order to address the cause of emotions, whether the cause is a positive or negative factor, and capitalise on that understanding to promote successful interactions (Zapf et al., 1999; Zapf, 2002). In other words, if an employee is able to discern the basis for a customer’s negative feelings, he may be able to empathise with the customers’ situation and employ the accurate expression of appropriate emotion. In this way, the customer’s emotions may be neutralised or perhaps transformed (Zapf et al., 2001; Diefendorff and Richard, 2003). Additionally, the benefit is not only to the customers and the organisational bottom line, but also to the employees. Empathetic involvement serves to reduce the difference between the employee’s actual emotion and the emotion the employee is required to display. This allows for a more genuine concern for the customer by which the employee can act with more emotive effort, resulting in more effective customer service performance (Kruml and Geddes, 2000a, 2000b). Also, any physical or psychological stress felt by employee, as a result of the perception of organisational requirements to suppress or express emotion, may be reduced when the customer interaction is addressed in this way. Hypothesis 1: The ability to perceive and appraise the emotions of one’s self and others will moderate the relationship between perceived requirements of emotional display and burnout. Emotional facilitation. This emotional intelligence skill allows the individual to guide or utilise emotional thought processes to alter emotional states (Mayer and Salovey, 1997). In the previous example, the employee, through accurate perceptions of his own and the customers’ emotions, is able to guide emotional displays according to priority of goals. The employee recognises that the most important goal in customer service interaction is to ensure the customers’ positive perception of the organisation over and above the employee’s personal needs or wishes. Abraham (1999) and George (2000) suggested that emotional intelligence facilitates this prioritisation of goals. Because of this prioritisation of goals, employees must be able to modify their perceptions of the customer service interaction in order to facilitate appropriate emotional responses (Grandey, 2000; Totterdell and Holman, 2003). Jordan et al. (2002) asserted that those with a high measure of emotional intelligence, in reference to this component, engage in ‘emotional assimilation’, whereby they are able to choose from a range of perspectives in order to facilitate satisfactory outcomes for the organisation as well as satisfying personal needs. Those without an adequate level of skill in facilitating the emotional thought processes may be unable to disengage from deleterious emotional responses to the customer interaction in order to appropriate a modified situational perception that would be more advantageous to the situation (Ciarrochi et al., 2000). Resulting strains from perceived requirements of emotional labour efforts may be reduced because of one’s ability to use emotional facilitation of thought. The level of skill in this area may serve to buffer the negative effects of the difference between actual emotions and emotions required for display, for example. Through this skill, one can guide and, thus, enjoy the perception of control over the employee-customer situations. As such, it enables employees to drive the emotional exchange in the interaction (Mann, 1997).


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As was previously explained, the literature indicates that the feeling of control over situational events produces a buffering effect between emotional labour stressors and the resulting strains (Morris and Feldman, 1996; Zapf, 2002). Also, emotionally intelligent individuals can use the various perspectives at their disposal to reduce actual felt or experienced dissonance between felt and expected emotions. From the customer perspective, the employee desires a satisfactory interaction, and decreases emotional dissonance by taking his or her own need to display actual felt emotion out of the picture so that the focus of the interaction is on the customer’s needs and expectations. In addition, this ability can facilitate an overall focus on organisational goals as a priority in the performance of perceived emotional labour requirements. Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) suggested that an orientation of emotional labour toward organisational well-being will benefit employees through reduced stress related to the organisation’s requirements for emotional display. Due to the fact that employees are dedicated to the organisation’s well-being, their acts of emotional labour should be in line with that focus. In this case, the act of emotional labour is a means by which they fulfil a purpose rather than acting against a personal orientation of purpose, such as the need to display felt emotions. Accordingly, emotional labour acts as a means of self-satisfaction rather than a stressor (Schaubroeck and Jones, 2000). In fact, Abraham (1998) suggested emotional facilitation of thinking programmed toward an organisational orientation may be a buffer to reduce job dissatisfaction, which has been shown to be an effect of work-related emotional dissonance. The emotional intelligence ability to use emotion in the facilitation of thought processes provides for the use of relevant information in prioritising attention to more important issues. For those on the job, facilitation of thought would give high emotionally intelligent individuals the motivation to prioritise organisational gain over individual need to express felt emotion (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993; Schaubroeck and Jones, 2000; Prati et al., 2003a). In this way, emotionally intelligent individuals are more able to reason that their emotions should be more in line with organisationally required emotions, thus reducing a source of strain (e.g., perception of emotional labour). Hypothesis 2: The ability to facilitate emotions of one’s self and others will moderate the relationship between perceived requirements of emotional display and burnout. Understand emotions. The third component in the framework of emotional intelligence involves understanding the origins and successful use of emotions toward certain ends. This includes skills such as analysing and understanding emotional antecedents, formulations, and outcomes (Mayer and Salovey, 1997). With regard to emotional labour, one must have some measure of this skill in order to fulfil organisational requirements. After all, in order for individuals to be able to use emotion to alter an emotional state, they must understand their present emotional state and how it evolved, and which emotion might best be employed to alter the current emotional state. Along with perception, the understanding of emotion is useful to employees in working toward organisational goals, such as engendering customer rapport. One with a well-developed understanding of emotion will be more able to extinguish the anger of an irate customer and create good will for the organisation from that exchange. Kruml and Geddes (2000a, 2000b) findings indicate that empathetic concern, which evolves from emotional understanding, will have a negative impact on the stress associated with such situations. One reason why this might be the case is that empathetic concern applies more

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to identification with the other’s feelings, and thus employees are less focused on their own feelings and more on what the customer needs. Because of this control over one’s participation in emotional exchanges, the emotionally intelligent individual will feel less stress from such interactions, and thus less stress from the related expectations in the work situation overall. The quality of emotional labour efforts such as surface and deep acting and the respective outcomes of those emotional labour methods are dependent upon individuals’ level of emotional knowledge and understanding. Prati et al. (2003a, 2003b) explained prior research indicating that one’s emotional display may positively or negatively influence others’ emotional states. As well, effective use of emotional influence can motivate individuals to act in accord with the desire of the person providing that emotional influence. Goffman (1969) referred to acts of presentational influence, similar to emotional influence, as ‘control moves’. Rafaeli and Sutton (1987) gave the example of tip earners, such as wait staff, to illustrate this influence. They indicated from previous research that the use of positive emotional display earns reward. They also asserted that the organisation can benefit from the effective use of emotional display because of the efficacy of emotional display to engage and establish relationships with customers. Therefore, one’s understanding of emotion is crucial to the control of the customer service interaction and successful fulfilment of perceived emotional labour requirements (Grandey, 2000). In addition to aiding in the effective use of emotional labour practices and their expected outcomes, research indicates that understanding emotions and how to use them may help to reduce strain associated with perceived emotional labour requirements. For instance, Abraham (1998) explained that one who is motivated to comply with organisational display rules, and has the ability to understand and use emotions, may have a resulting reduction in job dissatisfaction. Perhaps this motivation and ability also might help in the reduction of other work strains, such as burnout. Hypothesis 3: The ability to understand the emotions of one’s self and others will moderate the relationship between perceived requirements of emotional display and burnout. Emotional regulation. The final component of emotional intelligence is the skill by which one regulates or manages feeling of one’s self and others based on openness to all emotions, reflection on experienced emotions, and goal-oriented emotional behaviour (Mayer and Salovey, 1997). As stated earlier, the ability to manage one’s emotions enables one to have control over the customer service interaction (Lam and Kirby, 2002). According to Morris and Feldman (1996), fulfilling emotional labour requirements involves the cognitive management of emotion in order to fulfil organisational expectations of emotional display. These cognitive processes, including ‘effort, planning, and control’, primarily fall under the branch of emotional regulation (Grandey, 2000). With regard to emotional labour functions, this component of emotional intelligence provides the channel through which emotional labour efforts are employed. With regard to benefits of proficiency in this skill as applied to perceived emotional labour requirements, employees who are adept and flexible in their emotional reactions have been shown to suffer less from strain associated with those requirements (Prati et al., 2009; Saklofske et al., 2003; Ciarrochi et al., 2000, 2002; Slaski and Cartwright, 2002; Schaubroeck and Jones, 2000). The previously mentioned


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‘control moves’ of Goffman (1969) are used with more tactical precision in order to build and maintain relationships with customers, which helps to ensure successful fulfilment of perceived organisational and customer expectations of emotional display. For example, individuals who are able to effectively manage their emotions might suffer less from burnout, depression, and physical strains. Hypothesis 4: The ability to regulate the emotions of one’s self and others will moderate the relationship between perceived requirements of emotional display and burnout.

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Method

Sample A total of 244 employees and managers from 29 stores of an 87 year-old retail chain were surveyed, and provided complete and useable data. The sample was primarily female (68.4%) and white (80.3%), with 7.4% African-American, 5.8% Hispanic, and 6.6% other. The average age was 31 years with a range of ages between 16 and 78. The average tenure with the organisation was 1.9 years, with a range of tenure between 1 month and 30 years. The education level of associates was fairly split with 46.3% having high school degrees and 52.9% having at least some college level course work. Managerial positions were held by 26.2% of the sample.

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Measures

Emotional intelligence. The Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SREIT) (Schutte et al., 1998) was used to measure the components of emotional intelligence. The scale has 33 items. A 5-point Liker-type scale was used, with items responses ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. Arguments for the scale being a useful tool in research cite the brevity of the scale as well as the reliability and validity evidence (Schutte and Malouff, 1999; Abraham, 1999, 2000). The SREIT is a 33-item self-report measure of emotional intelligence. There have been several concerns expressed regarding this measure. One concern expressed by Petrides and Furnham (2000) and others, which is particularly relevant to the current study was that the data obtained with the SREIT should undergo factor analysis to confirm the four-factor structure found in their analysis, as they are unsure of the stability of their solution. It should be noted that Ciarrochi et al. (2002) and Saklofske et al. (2003) also have reported results confirming the four-factor solution, which is similar to the four factors presented in Table 1. Because there is a question of the stability of the SREIT factor structure, a factor analysis using SPSS was conducted for this investigation. The four-factor solution was confirmed as a reasonable fit to the theoretical model of Mayer and Salovey (1997). All but four standardised factor loadings exceeded 0.40, and the factors were highly to moderately correlated. The internal consistency reliability estimate of the emotional intelligence measure for all items with factor loadings exceeding 0.40 was α = 0.89.

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L.M. Prati and J.H. Karriker Factor analysis results for SREIT emotional intelligence scale

Emotional intelligence skills: the building blocks of defence Table 1

Factor analysis results for SREIT emotional intelligence scale (continued)

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Items in each factor category revealed characteristics similar to the emotional intelligence abilities proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1997). Items categorised in factor 1 reflected one’s ability to regulate emotions for promotion of emotional and intellectual growth. The items loading on factor 2 indicated the ability to facilitate emotion. Factor 3 items addressed one’s ability to perceive and appraise emotion. Factor 4 was the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge. Sub-scales representing emotion regulation (α = 0.79), emotional facilitation (α = 0.78), emotion perception and appraisal (α = 0.85), and emotional understanding/knowledge (α = 0.70) all exceeded the α = 0.70 reliability threshold of Nunnally (1970). Perceptions of emotional labour: Perceptions of emotional labour were measured using Schaubroeck and Jones’ (2000) 10-item scale. A 5-point Likert-type scale was used, with item responses ranging from ‘never’ (1) to ‘always’ (5) indicating the level of perceived emotional labour required by the organisation. Examples of items include “I have to put on a happy face at work even if I don’t want to do so” and “I often suppress my emotions at work”. Burnout: The career burnout scale was used to measure burnout. This 21-item scale measures the three primary symptoms determined to indicate burnout, according to Pines and Aronson (1988). These symptoms are emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, and mental exhaustion. Subjects were instructed to indicate how often they experienced the items. The items for this scale include ‘Feeling disillusioned and resentful’, ‘Being physically exhausted’, and ‘Being emotionally exhausted’. The burnout scale (α = 0.94) exceeded the α = 0.70 reliability threshold of Nunnally (1970).

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Results

Table 2 presents the variable correlations. All reliability estimates were acceptable, and variables were correlated, but not so high as to suggest construct redundancy. Table 2

Correlations Emotional Emotional labour Emotional Emotional perception Emotional perceptions regulation facilitation and appraisal understanding Burnout

Emotional labour perceptions Emotional regulation

1 –0.244*

1

Emotional facilitation

0.006

0.504*

1

Emotional perception and appraisal

–0.092

0.472*

0.397*

1

Emotional understanding

–0.094

0.558*

0.609*

0.469*

Burnout

0.485*

–0.391*

–0.080

*Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

–0.105

1 –0.231*

1


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We used moderated hierarchical regression analysis to examine the respective, moderating effects of emotional perception and appraisal, emotional facilitation, emotional understanding, and emotional regulation on the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout, while controlling for gender, age, and tenure. Hypothesis 1, that emotional perception and appraisal moderates the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout, was supported. The interaction of emotional labour perception and emotional perception and appraisal had a significant effect on burnout (R2 = 0.287, ∆R2 = 0.019, F = 15.812, p < 0.001). As Figure 2 illustrates, the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout was slightly positive for individuals with high emotional perception and appraisal, but much more so for individuals low on emotional perception and appraisal. Because the respective interactions between emotional labour perception and emotional facilitation and emotional understanding were not significantly related to burnout, Hypotheses 2 and 3, that emotional facilitation and emotional understanding each moderate the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout, was not supported. The interaction of emotional labour perception and emotional regulation, however, did have a significant effect on burnout (R2 = 0.422, ∆R2 = 0.025, F = 10.334, p < 0.002), supporting Hypothesis 4 and indicating that emotional regulation moderates the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout. The relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout was relatively flat for individuals with high emotional regulation, but quite steep for individuals with low emotional regulation (see Figure 3). Figure 2

Interactive effects of emotional perception, appraisal, and expression on the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout (see online version for colours)

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Figure 3

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Interactive effects of emotional regulation on the relationship between emotional labour perception and burnout (see online version for colours)

Discussion

The current study examined the moderating effect of emotional intelligence abilities on the relationship between emotional labour perceptions and burnout. Similar to Schaubroeck and Jones’ (2000) findings with regard to the connection of emotional labour perceptions to physical symptoms of distress, this investigation revealed that perceptions of emotional labour were found to have a positive and significant relationship with mental and emotional distress associated with burnout. In addition, it was hypothesised that each of the four emotional intelligence abilities would moderate the relationship between emotional labour perceptions and burnout. The results were not supported for moderation of two of the four abilities. The only significant moderators were emotional perception and appraisal and emotional regulation. The results clearly indicated that emotional regulation impacts the relationship of emotional labour perceptions and burnout. Thus, the more skilled one is in perception and appraisal of emotions and one’s ability to regulate the emotions of one’s self and others, the less demanding a job might appear to be in fulfilling the requirements of emotional labour. As well, emotional regulation had a negative significant relationship with burnout. Indeed, the more ability one has to regulate his or her emotions, the less psychologically taxing the requirements to do so will be. The other components of emotional intelligence did not appear to impact the relationship at issue. Emotional facilitation, the facilitation of one’s thoughts to create another emotional state, is a skill that may be applied to a singular situation. One engages in facilitation of thought on an episodic basis, whereas burnout is cumulative resulting


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from a series of these episodes. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that such skills will more than likely have a cumulative effect in the relationship. In addition, emotional understanding did not have a moderating effect in this situation. However, there was a significant negative relationship between this component and burnout. It would seem that one’s ability to understand his or her emotions and the emotions of others serves to alleviate the effects of burnout. The lack of significant findings was surprising. As was presented earlier in this paper each ability has characteristics which apply in the emotional labour process. Emotional regulation or adaptability (e.g., Schaubroeck and Jones, 2000) is a significant variable related to the issue of emotional labour and strain, but that is the only component of emotional intelligence that has been given any attention. This investigation answered the question dealing with the efficacy of the other three components in the alleviation of strain due to emotional labour perceptions. In this investigation, there was no indication that emotional labour perceptions are impacted by the other two components, but that is not to say that these other components are without merit in the evaluation of the emotional labour process. There are many other ways in which these components might prove useful in this process. For example, emotional facilitation might prove to be very useful in the area of deep acting. One who has difficulty in the facilitation of thought toward the goal of positive emotional display might also have problems with deep acting efforts. A finding of this nature would be practical in understanding how to improve one’s deep acting ability. Several limitations should be noted including the cross-sectional nature of the data, the measure of emotional intelligence being self-report, and the single-source data set. Unfortunately, the data collected were not sufficient to evaluate how the moderating influences of emotional intelligence skills influence the relationship between emotional labour perceptions and burnout. With this particular analysis, it was only possible to establish that there is an influence related to some of the skills in question. Future research should attempt to capture exactly what role emotional intelligence skills play to inhibit stress associated with emotional labour and perceptions of such tasks (e.g., network building of social resources, broadened perspective-taking ability). The effectiveness of emotional intelligence measures has been the subject of much debate. Specifically, the question has been whether self-report is as relevant and useful as performance measures. As discussed in this study, emotional intelligence is a set of skills providing individuals with the ability to engage emotional symbols toward the fulfilment of certain goals. Chapman and Hayslip (2005) considered the context regarding the appropriateness of measuring maximum ability (what one is capable of doing) vs. average ability (what one usually does). In the case of what one usually does, his or her average ability, a self-report assessment is most useful and appropriate. The main issue with a self-report measure is whether the actual construct being studied is that which is measured. We chose the SREIT measure because of its relatively well-established psychometric validity and its brevity. In addition its factor structure has been examined, showing consistently similar results of four factors (e.g., Ciarrochi et al., 2002; Saklofske et al., 2003). Even though evidence indicates that our use and treatment of the SREIT is appropriate, we suggest that the results of the study be interpreted with caution.

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Finally, if common method variance is such that it affects the results, the single-source, self-report data could be of concern. The case has not been settled regarding the actual affect of common method variance on data analysis and interpretation. In fact, there are arguments that common method variance is not necessarily enough to reject results from single-source data (Breland et al., 2007; Crampton and Wagner, 1994; Doty and Glick, 1998; Spector, 2006). We acknowledge, however, that such self-report data in total may be considered a limitation to this study. Ultimately these results, though adequate where support of the hypotheses is found, should be interpreted with caution. The fact that the data supported some of our contentions certainly promotes the need for further study. Indeed, the results of this study are useful to illustrate the importance of evaluating each component in the model created by Mayer and Salovey (1997). Emotional intelligence has been shown to have an impact on leadership, the alleviation of strains, and performance, but the construct has not been comprehensively tested, analysing each of the skills in relation to many organisational issues. The majority of emotional intelligence studies have tested the overall construct without investigation into how each component may influence certain organisational outcomes. The components delineated by Mayer and Salovey’s model deserve attention. Analysis of these components in relationships where emotional regulation or composite emotional intelligence has only been applied may provide useful and practical insight into those relationships. In the case of strain outcomes, perhaps the most relevant component would remain emotional regulation. However, the analysis of sales ability may reveal that the skills of emotional facilitation and emotional understanding are important factors in sales performance. In the study of leadership the skill of emotional appraisal and expression may be found to be an important factor in follower commitment or follower performance. Just as the evaluation of the composite construct has shown, the individual components of emotional intelligence may only serve to enrich the field of emotions and outcomes.

8

Conclusion

Emotional intelligence abilities can be useful resources in jobs where demands for the regulation of emotional display are excessive. The accurate perception of one’s emotional state and the ability to facilitate emotions to maintain, improve, or modify one’s emotional state or that of others, provides emotionally intelligent individuals with invaluable coping mechanisms to defeat the adverse effects of perceived psychological stressors. This study presents evidence that the symptoms associated with burnout can be alleviated when one draws upon these resources. The results further explain the general consensus of this body of literature that the effects of work stressors are impacted by the resources individuals have at their disposal. In this case emotional intelligence is shown to be one of those valuable resources. Further analysis would be useful to reveal how emotional intelligence could contribute to the alleviation of other work stressors and deleterious outcomes, as well as other issues within the realm of organisational behaviour.


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