Dispositional Antecedents and Consequences of Emotional Labor at Work

Abstract

We examined individual difference variables as antecedents of perceived emotional labor, as well as affective and behavioral consequences. Full time employees who had at least five years of work experience completed two separate surveys. Respondents were asked to indicate negative affectivity and political skill, and perceived emotional labor at time one. Job-induced tension and political behavior were gathered two months later. Results indicated that negative affectivity and political skill were significantly related to employee perceived emotional labor, which further influenced employees' use of political behaviors and job-induced tension. Implications of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.