Abstract
Some employees tend to drink more alcohol than other employees, with costs to personal and organizational well-being. Based on a self-control framework, we propose that emotional labor with customers-effortfully amplifying, faking, and suppressing emotional expressions (i.e., surface acting)-predicts alcohol consumption, and that this relationship varies depending on job expectations for self-control (i.e., autonomy) and personal self-control traits (i.e., impulsivity). We test these predictions with data drawn from a national probability sample of U.S. workers, focusing on employees with daily contact with outsiders (N = 1,592). The alcohol outcomes included heavy drinking and drinking after work. Overall, surface acting was robustly related to heavy drinking, even after controlling for demographics, job demands, and negative affectivity, consistent with an explanation of impaired self-control. Surface acting predicted drinking after work only for employees with low self-control jobs or traits; this effect was exacerbated for those with service encounters (i.e., customers and the public) and buffered for those with service relationships (i.e., patients, students, and clients). We discuss what these results mean for emotional labor and propose directions for helping the large segment of U.S. employees in public facing occupations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 482-497 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Journal of occupational health psychology |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2019 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Applied Psychology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
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When are fakers also drinkers? A self-control view of emotional labor and alcohol consumption among U.S. Service workers. / Grandey, Alicia Ann; Frone, Michael R.; Melloy, Robert C.; Sayre, Gordon M.
In: Journal of occupational health psychology, Vol. 24, No. 4, 01.08.2019, p. 482-497.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - When are fakers also drinkers? A self-control view of emotional labor and alcohol consumption among U.S. Service workers
AU - Grandey, Alicia Ann
AU - Frone, Michael R.
AU - Melloy, Robert C.
AU - Sayre, Gordon M.
PY - 2019/8/1
Y1 - 2019/8/1
N2 - Some employees tend to drink more alcohol than other employees, with costs to personal and organizational well-being. Based on a self-control framework, we propose that emotional labor with customers-effortfully amplifying, faking, and suppressing emotional expressions (i.e., surface acting)-predicts alcohol consumption, and that this relationship varies depending on job expectations for self-control (i.e., autonomy) and personal self-control traits (i.e., impulsivity). We test these predictions with data drawn from a national probability sample of U.S. workers, focusing on employees with daily contact with outsiders (N = 1,592). The alcohol outcomes included heavy drinking and drinking after work. Overall, surface acting was robustly related to heavy drinking, even after controlling for demographics, job demands, and negative affectivity, consistent with an explanation of impaired self-control. Surface acting predicted drinking after work only for employees with low self-control jobs or traits; this effect was exacerbated for those with service encounters (i.e., customers and the public) and buffered for those with service relationships (i.e., patients, students, and clients). We discuss what these results mean for emotional labor and propose directions for helping the large segment of U.S. employees in public facing occupations.
AB - Some employees tend to drink more alcohol than other employees, with costs to personal and organizational well-being. Based on a self-control framework, we propose that emotional labor with customers-effortfully amplifying, faking, and suppressing emotional expressions (i.e., surface acting)-predicts alcohol consumption, and that this relationship varies depending on job expectations for self-control (i.e., autonomy) and personal self-control traits (i.e., impulsivity). We test these predictions with data drawn from a national probability sample of U.S. workers, focusing on employees with daily contact with outsiders (N = 1,592). The alcohol outcomes included heavy drinking and drinking after work. Overall, surface acting was robustly related to heavy drinking, even after controlling for demographics, job demands, and negative affectivity, consistent with an explanation of impaired self-control. Surface acting predicted drinking after work only for employees with low self-control jobs or traits; this effect was exacerbated for those with service encounters (i.e., customers and the public) and buffered for those with service relationships (i.e., patients, students, and clients). We discuss what these results mean for emotional labor and propose directions for helping the large segment of U.S. employees in public facing occupations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062260652&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85062260652&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/ocp0000147
DO - 10.1037/ocp0000147
M3 - Article
VL - 24
SP - 482
EP - 497
JO - Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
JF - Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
SN - 1076-8998
IS - 4
ER -