Emotional display rules as work unit norms: a multilevel analysis of emotional labor among nurses

Emotional labor theory has conceptualized emotional display rules as shared norms governing the expression of emotions at work. Using a sample of registered nurses working in different units of a hospital system, we provided the first empirical evidence that display rules can be represented as share...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational health psychology 2011-04, Vol.16 (2), p.170-186
Main Authors: Diefendorff, James M, Erickson, Rebecca J, Grandey, Alicia A, Dahling, Jason J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
Burnout, Professional - psychology
Emotional Control
Emotional States
Emotions
Employee Characteristics
Female
Human
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Male
Mental Health
Nurses
Nurses - psychology
Occupational Stress
Organizational Culture
Workplace - psychology
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Summary:Emotional labor theory has conceptualized emotional display rules as shared norms governing the expression of emotions at work. Using a sample of registered nurses working in different units of a hospital system, we provided the first empirical evidence that display rules can be represented as shared, unit-level beliefs. Additionally, controlling for the influence of dispositional affectivity, individual-level display rule perceptions, and emotion regulation, we found that unit-level display rules are associated with individual-level job satisfaction. We also showed that unit-level display rules relate to burnout indirectly through individual-level display rule perceptions and emotion regulation strategies. Finally, unit-level display rules also interacted with individual-level dispositional affectivity to predict employee use of emotion regulation strategies. We discuss how future research on emotional labor and display rules, particularly in the health care setting, can build on these findings.
ISSN:1076-8998
1939-1307
DOI:10.1037/a0021725