The Effect of Emotional Labor Strategies on Hotel Employees' Mental Health: A Person-Centered Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study used the Emotional Dissonance Theory and the Conservation of Resources Theory to investigate how emotional labor affects new hotel employees' anxiety over time. 534 employees were involved in the study, participating in three rounds of data collection. A latent class growth model and a repeated-measure analysis of variance were utilized to analyze the data. Study 1 identified two distinct groups of employees; one group exhibited a low initial level of anxiety, which was subsequently followed by a significant increase. In contrast, the other group displayed low anxiety levels in three rounds of investigation. Study 2 discovered that employees adapted their emotional labor strategies in response to occupational chronic stress. Specifically, a combination of lower surface acting, higher deep acting, and natural emotional expression positively impacted the employees' psychological well-being. The findings offer valuable insights for the hospitality management, guiding how to support the mental health of their employees.