Combined exposure of emotional labor and job insecurity on depressive symptoms among female call-center workers

Cho, Seong Sik; Kim, Hyunjoo; Lee, JinWoo; Lim, Sinye; Jeong, Woo Chul

doi:10.1097/md.0000000000014894

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Most research on emotional demands and mental health has been conducted within specific occupations such as healthcare workers [ 13 , 14 , 15 ] and call center workers [ 16 , 17 ]. Even studies using national databases have typically been limited to subjects within the occupation categories of sales and service [ 9 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Emotional Demands at Work and Poor Mental Health in Client-Facing Workers

Suh

Punnett

2022

IJERPH

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This study investigated the association between emotional demands and depression or anxiety in a wide range of jobs. We used data from the third Korean Working Conditions Survey (n = 50,032) for all occupational classifications, with no limitations placed on job title or employment type. Among the full set of regular paid workers in addition to self-employed, unpaid family workers, and informal employees such as independent contractors, 23,989 respondents worked with “customers, passengers, students, or patients” (i.e., clients). Emotional demands were evaluated using two questions: handling angry clients and needing to hide feelings for work performance. Any depression or anxiety over the last 12 months was taken to indicate poor mental health. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was performed to calculate adjusted ORs with 95% confidence intervals for the influence of emotional demands on mental health, adjusting for demographic factors (age, gender, education, income), occupational psychological demands, decision latitude, social support, weekly work hours and job insecurity. The prevalence of emotional demands was higher in self-employed and informal employees than in regular paid employees. The more frequent the exposure to the two emotional demands combined was, the higher the risk of depression or anxiety. High psychological demands, low social support, and low job security each further increased the risk of poor mental health. Emotional demands turned out to be widespread in the entire economy, were not limited to service or sales occupations, and were more evident in precarious work. The contribution of emotional demands and other preventable job stressors to the burden of depression or anxiety in society may be substantial.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Emotional Demands at Work and Poor Mental Health in Client-Facing Workers

Suh

Punnett

2022

IJERPH

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“…Change-oriented OCB is future-oriented behavior with which an employee purports to improve one’s work methods or environment [13,14]. Of the three categories of outcomes, job insecurity’s negative relationships with employee health and well-being and attitudinal outcomes have been well established [7,15,16,17]. However, research has yielded conflicting findings on the link between job insecurity and performance and behavioral outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Motivational Perspective on Job Insecurity: Relationships Between Job Insecurity, Intrinsic Motivation, and Performance and Behavioral Outcomes

Shin

Hur

Moon

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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As a result of the global economic recession over the past decade, employees have been exposed to constant threats of job insecurity. Despite having conducted extensive research on job insecurity, scholars have paid little attention to the motivational processes underlying employees’ reactions to job insecurity. The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between job insecurity, intrinsic motivation, and performance and behavioral outcomes. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), we propose a mediated relationship in which job insecurity decreases intrinsic motivation, which, in turn, undermines job performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and change-oriented OCB. To test our propositions, we collected survey-based data from 152 R&D professionals employed in a South Korean manufacturing company. As predicted, job insecurity was negatively related to intrinsic motivation, which, in turn, had a positive relationship with all three outcomes. Furthermore, job insecurity exerted significant indirect effects on job performance, OCB, and change-oriented OCB through intrinsic motivation. These findings affirm SDT, which posits that motivation, as a key intermediary process, affects employees’ reactions to job stressors.

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“…Previous research has found that the job strain of front-line employees in the electronic manufacturing industry is significantly higher than the average level of all industries in China (Zhang et al 2016 ) and research has highlighted that working conditions such as strenuous job demands and perceived job insecurity are associated with unhealthy mental states (Burgard et al 2009 ; Meltzer et al 2010 ; Kim and von Dem Knesebeck 2016 ; Cho et al 2019 ) with conditions exacerbated within the electronic industry (Shigemi et al 2000 ; Chen et al 2011 ; Lee et al 2015 ). In China, factory workers are vulnerable to symptoms of poor mental health and are often exposed to unfavorable psychosocial work environments, including perceived job insecurity, low levels of job control, and high levels of job demands (Sznajder et al 2014 ; Ji et al 2016 ; Huang et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with symptoms of poor mental health among women factory workers in China’s supply chain

Sznajder

Harlow

Wang

et al. 2022

Int Arch Occup Environ Health

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Objective Foreign direct investment (FDI) to China has motivated increased labor migration to export processing zones (EPZs). Work environments with high occupational stress, such as production line jobs typical in EPZs, have been associated with adverse mental health symptoms. Methods A cross-sectional survey that examined occupational stress and symptoms of poor mental health was implemented among Chinese women factory workers in three electronic factories in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area. Symptoms of mental health measured in the survey were hopelessness, depression, not feeling useful or needed, and trouble concentrating. Crude and adjusted prevalence odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated with logistic regression. Results Responses were collected from 696 women factory workers. Participants were aged 18–56 years (mean 28 ± 5.8), 66% of whom were married and 25% of whom were migrants. Nearly 50% of participants reported at least one symptom of poor mental health. After adjusting for covariates associated with each outcome in the bivariate analysis, high job strain was associated with hopelessness (OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.58, 4.56), not feeling useful (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.22, 3.43), and feeling depressed (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.16, 2.72). Conclusion This study expands on the international body of research on the well-being of women working in the global supply chain and provides evidence on the associations between occupational stressors, migration, and social support on symptoms of poor mental health among women workers. Future research to better understand and improve psychological health and to prevent suicide among workers in China’s factories is critical to improve the health of China’s labor force.

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Combined exposure of emotional labor and job insecurity on depressive symptoms among female call-center workers

Abstract: Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

Cited by 14 publications

References 33 publications

High Emotional Demands at Work and Poor Mental Health in Client-Facing Workers

High Emotional Demands at Work and Poor Mental Health in Client-Facing Workers

A Motivational Perspective on Job Insecurity: Relationships Between Job Insecurity, Intrinsic Motivation, and Performance and Behavioral Outcomes

Factors associated with symptoms of poor mental health among women factory workers in China’s supply chain

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