Burnout Among Public Service Workers: The Role of Emotional Labor Requirements and Job Resources

Current literature remains inconclusive regarding the adverse impact of emotional labor requirements on burnout. To address the discrepancy, this study revisited this relationship as well as investigated the potential additive and interactive effects of job resources, namely job control, social support, and rewards. In the sample of 208 public service workers, regression results revealed that display rules that require expression of positive emotions did not account for variance in emotional exhaustion whereas display rules that require suppression of negative emotions were emotionally taxing. Job resources were uniformly associated with decreased emotional exhaustion. Moreover, coworker support significantly attenuated the harmful impact of emotional demands. Based on these findings, this study suggests, rather than emphasizing negative display rules, it is more favorable for organizations to specify appropriate expressions of job-related emotions. When workers are at risk of burnout, provision of job resources can help ease the burden and reduce job stress.