Testing a Conservation of Resources Model of the Dynamics of Emotional Labor

Brotheridge, Céleste M.
Lee, Raymond T.

¹Faculty of Administration, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
²Faculty of Management, I. H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

³Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Céleste M. Brotheridge, Faculty of Administration, University of Regina, Room 456, Education Building, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada. [email protected].

This research was supported in part by a research grant from the Faculty of Management, I. H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Received Date: June 5, 2000; Revised Date: June 8, 2001; Accepted Date: June 15, 2001

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 7(1):p 57-67, January 2002.

This study uses conservation of resources theory as a means of examining why emotional labor may or may not result in burnout. A model is developed that proposes that workers attempt to cope with role demands by performing surface or deep acting and that the effect of this expenditure of resources on worker burnout depends on the more immediate rewards of the service encounter and the application of internal and external resources specific to the needs at hand. This model is tested and confirmed using cross-sectional survey responses from 236 working adults. Research and practical implications are discussed.