Workplace spirituality buffers the effects of emotional labour on employee well-being

This research examines how workplace spirituality buffers the detrimental relationship between emotional labour and subjective well-being among two samples of service workers in the United States and southern China. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we found that the negative relationship between surface acting and subjective well-being was moderated by workplace spirituality. Specifically, employees with high spirituality were buffered from the harmful effects of surface acting on subjective well-being, whereas employees with low spirituality were not. We found no evidence of a moderating effect on the relationship between deep acting and subjective well-being. These findings shed light on individual differences that influence the emotional labour process and expand our knowledge of cross-cultural similarities and differences in emotion management.