An empirical analysis of surface acting in intra‐organizational relationships

Abstract

Summary Prior research analyzing surface acting—employees' regulation of emotional expressions—has mostly focused on the interactions between front‐line employees and their customers in service industries and paid very little attention to intra‐organizational relationships. With an aim to shed light on this important yet relatively unexplored area, I developed a theoretical model analyzing the antecedents and outcomes of surface acting within organizations, by drawing on the sociometer theory and self‐presentation theory frameworks. To test the model, I conducted a cross‐level field study in a sample of 65 work groups and 478 employees in two organizations, located in a large city in Northern California. I have collected the data from two sources, including employees and their supervisors who rated their performance. Results indicated that employees were more likely to engage in surface acting when their affective traits and personal goals were less congruent with work environment. Surface acting was also positively related to perceived organizational politics and self‐monitoring. As for outcomes, surface acting was positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively to performance. I discuss limitations, implications, and future research direction. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Smiling for a Wage: What Emotional Labor Teaches Us About Emotion Regulation

“…Although both deep and surface acting achieve the goal of managing expressions with others, deep acting is expected to be more effective due to perceived authenticity of the expression (Grandey, 2003;Hochschild, 1983). Using deep acting enhances how customers, coworkers, and supervisors rate team-based or service performance, beyond the personal tendency to feel positively (Diefendorff, Erickson, Grandey, & Dahling, 2011;Grandey, 2003;H€ ulsheger et al, 2010;Ozcelik, 2013). In meta-analytic reviews, deep acting is linked to higher interpersonal performance ratings, even when controlling for affective traits and job requirements; surface acting is weakly negatively related (H€ ulsheger & Schewe, 2011;Kammeyer-Mueller et al, 2013).…”

Self‐monitoring personality trait at work: An integrative narrative review and future research directions

“…As a case in point, Semadar, Robins, and Ferris () failed to identify a significant relationship with supervisor‐rated managerial job performance. Ozcelik () showed that self‐monitoring was positively related to surface acting (modifying the expression of emotions without modifying one's actual emotions) and that surface acting had negative effects on role performance. Miller and Cardy () showed that self‐monitoring was not related to peer or supervisor ratings.…”

Exploring the activation dimension of affect in organizations: A focus on trait‐level activation, climate‐level activation, and work‐related outcomes

“…An employee's emotional detachment and depersonalized responses to others that result from activation inadequacy would be related to his or her level of surface acting in coworker relationships, which refers to modifying one's emotional expressions without changing felt emotions (Hochschild, ). Although surface acting has been mostly studied by focusing on employee–customer interactions in the service sector, there is both theoretical and empirical support to the view that employees from a wide range of occupations outside the service sector also regulate their emotional displays in work interactions (Brotheridge & Lee, ; Ozcelik, ). Within the context of coworker relationships, surface acting can be interpreted as an employee's reduced tendency to genuinely express his or her feelings and emotions to coworkers, which Kahn () has considered as a reflection of work disengagement.…”