Social model of emotional labour and client satisfaction: exploring inter- and intrapersonal characteristics of the client−provider encounter
研究测试了一个预测客户满意度的中介-调节模型，结合医疗提供者的关怀、情绪负荷、团队或单独服务、以及客户-提供者相似性等因素，发现这些因素通过情绪劳动策略影响客户满意度，且客户对情绪真实性的评价起调节作用。
As part of healthcare organisations’ efforts to improve client satisfaction, special attention is directed to care providers’ expression of authenticity through genuine emotional displays in care encounters. The study’s aim was to test a mediating–moderating model for predicting clients’ satisfaction. The model combined intrapersonal forces (the healthcare provider’s level of caring and emotional load) and interpersonal forces (meeting the client in a team of professionals or alone, and client−provider similarity), as predictors of emotional labour strategies, and subsequent client satisfaction. Clients’ evaluation of whether or not the emotional displays were authentic was intended to moderate the link between emotional labour and client satisfaction. The sample consisted of 103 healthcare providers’ encounters with clients’ family members, randomly selected from five nursing homes. Data were collected by validated questionnaires at three time points. Mixed linear model analyses generally supported the proposed model. Meeting a client’s family in teams, ethnic similarity, and providers’ caring and emotional load stimulated higher levels of deep acting. Meeting clients alone and less emotional load involved more surface acting. These findings offer empirical support for the social interaction explanation of emotional labour, pointing to the importance of social characteristics of the service encounter in shaping emotional labour strategies and maintaining client satisfaction.