The link between emotional labor and organizational culture in Korean bureaucracy: how taxing is tax work? How enforcing is law enforcement?

ABSTRACT

This study probes the relationship between emotional labor and organizational culture by contrasting two classic forms of government work: tax collection and law enforcement. First, an analysis examines the differential effects of self-focused versus other-focused emotional labor in both types of work. Then, hierarchical regression analysis is used to examine the moderating effects of organizational culture. Findings reveal a different relationship between the forms and outcomes by level in the hierarchy: self-focused emotional labor is positively related to pride in job while other-focused is positively related to emotional exhaustion, except for those in lower ranks with shorter tenures. A deeper probe reveals that work demands and cultural orientation are significant moderators. Tax officials experience more exhaustion and police officers experience more pride. Compared to role-oriented culture, which is the embodiment of bureaucracy, support-, power-, and achievement-oriented cultures affect emotional labor constructs.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional labor
• organizational culture
• emotion regulation
• public service
• emotional exhaustion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

SungWook Choi

SungWook Choi is a professor of public administration at the Chonnam National University, South Korea. His areas of expertise include conflict management, emotional labor, and organizational behavior. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Colorado Denver.

Mary E. Guy

Mary E. Guy is professor of public administration at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research focuses on the human processes involved in public service delivery, with a special emphasis on emotional labor and the difference that gender makes. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and past president of the American Society for Public Administration.