Relationship Between Emotional Labor and Perceived Health Status Among Service and Sales Workers Findings From the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007 to 2009

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between emotional labor and general health status in a nationally representative sample of South Korean service and sales workers. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2007 to 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 1907 subjects were included in the analysis. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between emotional labor and perceived health status (PHS). Results: The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of poor PHS was 1.869 (1.464 to 2.391) among high emotional labor group, compared with the low emotional labor group as the reference. Perceived stress accounted for 35.57% of the variance in the relationship between high emotional labor and poor PHS. Conclusions: Emotional labor was associated with increased risk of poor PHS.

Automated summary

Emotional labor was found to be associated with an increased risk of poor perceived health status among South Korean service and sales workers. High emotional labor group had a higher adjusted odds ratio compared to the low emotional labor group. Perceived stress accounted for a significant portion of the variance in the relationship between high emotional labor and poor perceived health status.