Emotional dissonance in organizations: antecedents, consequences, and moderators.

Abstract

Emotional dissonance, or person-role conflict originating from the conflict between expressed and experienced emotions, was examined. The study was based on a reconceptualization of the emotional labor construct, with dissonance as a facet rather than a consequence of emotional labor. The effects of emotional dissonance on organizational criteria were isolated, thereby explaining some of the conflicting results of earlier studies. Empirically, job autonomy and negative affectivity as antecedents of emotional dissonance, and emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction as consequences of emotional dissonance, were explored. Self-monitoring and social support were tested as moderators of the emotional dissonance-job satisfaction relationship. Significant relationships with job autonomy, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction were found. Social support significantly moderated the emotional dissonance-job satisfaction relationship.