When regulating emotions at work pays off: A diary and an intervention study on emotion regulation and customer tips in service jobs.

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between deep acting, automatic regulation and customer tips with 2 different study designs. The first study was a daily diary study using a sample of Dutch waiters and taxi-drivers and assessed the link of employees' daily self-reported levels of deep acting and automatic regulation with the amount of tips provided by customers (N ϭ 166 measurement occasions nested in 34 persons). Whereas deep acting refers to deliberate attempts to modify felt emotions and involves conscious effort, automatic regulation refers to automated emotion regulatory processes that result in the natural experience of desired emotions and do not involve deliberate control and effort. Multilevel analyses revealed that both types of emotion regulation were positively associated with customer tips. The second study was an experimental field study using a sample of German hairdressers (N ϭ 41). Emotion regulation in terms of both deep acting and automatic regulation was manipulated using a brief self-training intervention and daily instructions to use cognitive change and attentional deployment. Results revealed that participants in the intervention group received significantly more tips than participants in the control group.

Exploring daily affective changes in university students with a mindful positive reappraisal intervention: A daily diary randomized controlled trial

“…However, there is also merit in examining the viability of lower intensity mindfulness‐reappraisal programs for inexpensive and accessible health promotion purposes for the general population. With a similar length as the current study, a 1‐week mindfulness intervention has been supported to decrease stress‐related working memory impairments in undergraduate students (Banks, Welhaf, & Srour, ), and a 1‐week reappraisal self‐training has led to better job performance in customer service employees (Hülsheger et al, ). Importantly, the effects of training can extend beyond the formal, short intervention period.…”

“…This study adds to the emerging body of empirical evidence exploring viability and generalizability of brief mindfulness and reappraisal interventions with nonclinical populations (e.g., Cavanagh et al, ; Hülsheger et al, , ; Michel et al, ). Using flexible, self‐administered daily reappraisal exercises, participants were free to decide which negative events they chose to positively reappraise.…”

“…However, it appears that brief, lowintensity interventions such as the current study may benefit from examination of more immediate or main effects when testing for incremental benefits over and above other interventions. ventions with nonclinical populations (e.g., Cavanagh et al, 2013;Hülsheger et al, 2013Hülsheger et al, , 2015Michel et al, 2014). Using flexible, selfadministered daily reappraisal exercises, participants were free to decide which negative events they chose to positively reappraise.…”

“…Additionally, a 2‐week online mindfulness program led to reductions in perceived stress in university students (Cavanagh et al, ). Similarly, a 2‐week mindfulness intervention with guided audio meditations (Hülsheger, Alberts, Feinholdt, & Lang, ) and a 6‐day reappraisal training via a daily workbook (Hülsheger, Lang, Schewe, & Zijlstra, ) led to improvements in job performance in customer service employees. These studies show potential for widespread and cost‐effective implementation of emotion regulation interventions with mindfulness and positive reappraisal techniques.…”

Emotional Labor at a Crossroads: Where Do We Go from Here?

“…Some researchers focus only on regulating expressions, omitting deep acting (Grandey et al 2005b), differentiating upregulating (i.e., amplifying) from downregulating (i.e., suppressing) emotional expressions (Côté & Morgan 2002, Côté et al 2013, or differentiating between faking, suppressing, and expressing (i.e., genuine) discrete emotions (Glomb & Tews 2004). Other researchers find that genuine emotional labor, or "naturally displaying felt emotions," is a separate emotion regulation dimension , which seems to predict customer outcomes beyond deep acting (Hülsheger et al 2015). This distinction provokes the question of what low surface and deep acting indicate if not genuine expression.…”