Positive psychological capital and emotional labor in Korea: the job demands-resources approach

Abstract

This study examined the effect of organizational justice perception on service employees' positive psychological capital and the influence of positive psychological capital on surface and deep acting. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and the literature on positive work environment, the indirect effects of perceived distributive and procedural justice on surface and deep acting through service employees' psychological capital were hypothesized. Using data from 263 flight attendants of the largest airline company in South Korea, the results indicated that perceived distributive and procedural justice were positively related to service employees' psychological capital, which, in turn, fostered deep acting but not surface acting. Deep acting was negatively related to emotional exhaustion, while surface acting showed a positive relationship. Emotional exhaustion, in turn, increased turnover intention. This study offers contributions to our understanding of positive psychological capital and implications for emotional labor in service management. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords:

• emotional exhaustion
• emotional labor
• flight attendants
• organizational justice
• positive psychological capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

^1. a: coefficient of the relationship between the independent variable and the mediator; b: coefficient of the relationship between the mediator and the dependent variable.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government [NRF-2012S1A5A2A01015919].