Does Emotional Labor Increase Role Stress? An Analysis of Tipped Frontline Restaurant Employees

Understanding the antecedents of job satisfaction and employees’ turnover intentions in the restaurant industry is critical due to its high turnover ratio. Among various antecedents, emotional labor and role stress are critical antecedents to turnover intentions. However, prior research has mostly ignored whether a direct relationship exists between emotional labor and role stress for workers in boundary spanning positions. Hence, this study analyzed the influence of emotional labor (emotive dissonance and emotive effort) on role stress (role stress and role ambiguity). The results found that emotive dissonance significantly increased role stress, while emotive effort decreased role stress. Emotive dissonance exhibited a negative influence on job satisfaction, while emotive effort positively influenced job satisfaction. Role conflict and role ambiguity both decreased job satisfaction, which decreased turnover intentions. Theoretical and empirical implications of these findings are discussed.