EMOTIONAL LABOR AT WORK AND RECOVERY AFTER WORK: A MULTILEVEL DAILY STUDY OF THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF SURFACE AND DEEP ACTING ON RECOVERY EXPERIENCES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how daily experiences of self-regulation at work spilled over into after-work experiences. Specifically, this study examined whether the relationship between daily emotional labor at work and after-work experiences (recovery experiences) was mediated by perceived gratitude and/or motivation to detach from work. To investigate my hypotheses, I conducted an experience sampling study with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) with participants in the service-providing industry to better understand the process of emotional labor. This study heeds the call to understand better daily surface-acting and deep-acting relationships with variables outside of work and to explore the differential effects of different forms of emotional labor on recovery through more novel mediators. Contrary to expectations, many hypothesized relationships were not supported, suggesting that predicting recovery outcomes through emotional labor processes may be more complex than initially theorized. Nonetheless, a subset of findings indicates that surface acting and deep acting produce differential effects; specifically, surface acting appeared to more negatively impact recovery, whereas deep acting sometimes helped cultivate more recovery experiences—though these effects were inconsistent. The study further highlights that perceived customer gratitude and motivation to detach from work operate in nuanced ways, underscoring the complexity of pinpointing exact pathways to successful recovery. Taken together, the results challenge simplistic views of emotional labor as purely detrimental or beneficial and encourage more distinct theoretical and applied perspectives. These findings may prompt practitioners and organizational leaders to rethink emotional demands and how at-work experiences impact after-work experiences.