How Does Emotional Labor Impact Employees’ Perceptions of Well-Being? Examining the Mediating Role of Emotional Disorder

Abstract

Since bank employees are prone to high psychological pressure, it is key to explore the influencing mechanism of their emotional labor so as to relieve their pressure, as well as improve organizational performance and service quality. This study aimed to investigate the effects of emotional labor on bank employees’ well-being and to determine the mediating role of emotional disorder in this relationship. Employees responded to a survey regarding their use of emotional labor as well as perceptions of their well-being and emotional disorder. The results showed that employees’ use of emotional labor was related to their perceptions of well-being and confirmed the mediating role of emotional disorder in this relationship. The results indicated that surface acting has a significant negative impact on employee well-being, while deep acting has a significant positive impact. Moreover, emotional disorder played a role in mediating emotional labor and employee well-being, and emotional disorder was positively correlated with surface acting and negatively correlated with deep acting. The results revealed that developing deep-acting skills is important for increasing front-line bank staff’s well-being in China, who are accustomed to repressing their emotions, and emotional disorder might occur more often than has been previously believed, which worsens their well-being.