The Potential Relationship Between a Cognitive Dissonance State and Musculoskeletal Injury: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this systematic review was to investigate the potential link between cognitive dissonance or its related constructs (emotional dissonance, emotional labor) and musculoskeletal disorders.

BACKGROUND

The etiology of musculoskeletal disorders is complex, as pain arises from complex interactions among physical, social, and psychological stressors. It is possible that the psychological factor of cognitive dissonance may contribute to the etiology and/or maintenance of musculoskeletal disorders.

METHOD

MEDLINE, APA PsycInfo, and CINAHL Plus databases were searched for studies investigating cognitive dissonance or its related constructs as exposure(s) of interest and outcomes related to physical health (including, but not limited to, musculoskeletal pain). Risk of bias was assessed using the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS) tool.

RESULTS

The literature search yielded 7 studies eligible for inclusion. None of the included studies investigated cognitive dissonance directly but instead investigated dissonance-related constructs of emotional dissonance and emotional labor, in which a mismatch between required and felt emotions might elicit a psychological response consistent with the cognitive dissonance state. Moderate effect sizes between dissonance-related constructs and musculoskeletal disorders were noted (OR 1.25-2.22).

CONCLUSION

There is likely a relationship between the two factors studied. However, as the included studies were cross-sectional in nature, a causal relationship between cognitive dissonance-related constructs and musculoskeletal disorders cannot be inferred. Therefore, future study proposing and validating a causal pathway between these variables is warranted.

APPLICATION

Cognitive dissonance and its related constructs may serve as risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders that have not been considered previously.

Pain, Conflicted Feelings About Work, and Sickness Absence: A Prospective Study of the Effects of Number of Pain Sites and Role Conflicts on Medically Certified Sickness Absence

We investigated associations between the number of pain sites (NPS) and role conflict with medically certified, pain-related sickness absence (SA) in employees of Norwegian enterprises (N = 5,654). Latent profile analyses identified exposure profiles based on 3 types of role conflict (work-role conflict, work-life conflict, and emotional dissonance). Multinomial logistic regressions estimated effects on absence (short-term absence of less than 56 days, long-term absence of more than 56 days) during 1 year after survey. Effects of the NPS on absence were compared across exposure profiles. Results suggested the NPS and all types of role conflict predicted absences separately. Mutually adjusted regressions revealed unique contributions of the NPS to the short-term and long-term absence (odds ratio [OR] 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18, 1.30 and OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.37, 1.66) and of work-role conflict to the short-term absence (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03, 1.35). Latent profile analyses identified 4 exposure profiles ("1 unconflicted," "2 dissonant, otherwise medium," "3 conflicted, medium dissonance," "4 conflicted and dissonant"). Profiles 3 and 4 exhibited elevated risk of SA, with the strongest baseline-adjusted effects for profile 4 (short-term absence OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.40, 2.57, long-term absence OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.15, 3.31). Effects of the NPS on short-term absence were stronger for profile 4 versus profile 1 (OR 1.38 vs 1.24, P < .001). Our findings suggest that addressing role conflicts may prevent pain-related absence, possibly also for individuals already experiencing pain. PERSPECTIVE: This article elucidates the connections between role conflicts associated with work roles, the NPS, and SA due to pain. This should help organizations prevent pain-related absences from work and improve working conditions for workers who remain occupationally active in spite of pain problems.

The moderating role of age and seniority on nurses' emotional dissonance and perceived health

This study aims to investigate the weight of surface acting (a condition in which subjects must display an emotional state that does not correspond to their real feelings) in the relationship between the emotional load of nursing work and the perception of health, and to evaluate the moderating effect of age and length of service. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted on a sample of 359 Italian nurses. The results confirmed the mediation role of surface acting and showed that both age and seniority have moderating effects so that in conditions of high emotional load, older and more experienced nurses show higher levels of surface acting, and in conditions of high surface acting, younger and less experienced nurses show lower levels of perceived health. In conclusion, surface acting seems a stressor for younger nurses, not yet used to the weight of faking emotions, while the perceived emotional load seems a stressor for older and more experienced nurses. Each result highlights the importance of providing emotional regulation skills training and support to reduce the psychological impact of emotional demands on nurses.

Burning bright or burning out: a qualitative investigation of leader vitality

Introduction

Leaders of organizations have incessant demands placed on them, including cultivating teams, building culture, and increasing the bottom line, in addition to caring for followers' well-being and thriving. Numerous resources are required to meet these continuous demands, and vitality is one of the most valuable.

Methods

Through interviewing 20 of the most influential and pressured leaders of Fortune 1,000 companies, this qualitative study answers three important questions: what drains vitality, what fosters it, and how do leaders most effectively utilize vitality for followers?

Results

The results shed light on psychological mechanisms that drain leaders' vitality, including emotional labor, self-control, loss of job control, the unproductive mindsets of others, and isolation created from the role. In terms of fostering vitality, several of the pathways of the PERMA+4 model of well-being were highlighted, including fostering relationships, physical health, accomplishment, mindset, meaning, environment, and engagement. Two additional themes that foster vitality included job autonomy and time away from work. Themes emerged that underscore how leaders utilize their vitality for followers, and the potentially detrimental impacts to leadership when leaders are drained.

Discussion

Overall, results highlight the importance of vitality and self-care as critical for leaders' ability to maximize their leadership performance.

To help others or not: A moderated mediation model of emotional dissonance

This article proposes a moderated mediation model of emotional dissonance. In the model, emotional leadership negatively affects emotional dissonance, which, in turn, negatively affects helping behavior. Furthermore, the negative effect of emotional dissonance is assumed to be moderated by work-family conflict. Direct effects from both emotional leadership and work-family conflict to helping other behavior are also considered. Previous studies have neglected the mechanism of emotional dissonance, but this paper fills the gap with a moderated mediation model of emotional dissonance. This article not only provides an incremental contribution to the emotional dissonance literature but also suggests means by which companies might enhance employe helping behaviors in order to achieve greater organizational efficiency.

How Do Service Employees Manage Violence? The Impact of Community Violence on Women's Emotional Demand in the Public Sector of Ethiopia

The experiences of violence against women employees can lead to long-term psychosocial problems in institutions, thereby preventing them from becoming productive citizens. Although many studies have focused on the effects of violence on women's job performance, there exist few works on the effects of community violence on women's emotional demand in the workplace. To address this gap, this research examines the impact of community violence on emotional labor and emotional dissonance in the public sector. This study involved 67 participants (20 semi-structured interviews, 32 participants in four focus group discussions, and 15 key informants), derived using a purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to explore participants' explanations about the exposure and expression of community violence on women's emotional demands. Explanations were presented in terms of exposure (the state of being exposed to community violence) and expression (the reaction of victims to exposure in the workplace). The findings showed that the exposure of community violence on emotional labor can be expressed into three classifications: Gum up, Bottle up, and Defeatists (GBD). Furthermore, the study found out that women employees tend to conceal their felt emotions mainly due to the fear of reprisal, chiding rebuttal, and lack of support. The findings of the current study have policy implications. They can inform the micro-, meso-, and macro-level intervention efforts in mitigating the impacts of community violence on women's emotional demand at work.

The Effect of Emotional Dissonance and Mental Load on Need for Recovery and Work Engagement among Italian Fixed-Term Researchers

Although many studies have been conducted to evaluate the risk and protective factors on psychological health among academic staff, little attention has been paid to fixed-term researchers, the weakest figures in the academic context. By using the Job Demands–Resources model as theoretical framework, we investigated: (1) the role of some job demands (workload, mental load, and emotional dissonance) in predicting the need for recovery; (2) the role of some job resources (independence, career opportunities, and work–life balance) in predicting work engagement; and (3) the moderating role of the contract type (more or less precarious). We focused in particular on emotional dissonance (the discrepancy between emotions that need to be displayed and what is really felt), assuming its unique role in predicting fatigue. Results of structural equation modeling analysis generally supported our hypotheses and highlighted a so far undiscovered path between mental load and work engagement. Specifically, mental load leads to fatigue only indirectly through workload and emotional dissonance, while significantly predicting the absorption and the dedication of fixed-term Italian researchers. The latter relationship was also moderated by the contract type, so that mental load predicts dedication especially among researchers in the most precarious condition.

Emotional Labour and Work-Family Conflict in Voice-to-Voice and Face-to-Face Customer Relations: A Multi-Group Study in Service Workers

Professions that involve interaction with customers entail great emotional effort: workers are required to show emotions different from their true feeling and they experienced emotional dissonance and verbal aggression from customers. These job demands can generate discomfort and the effects of emotional labour can "expand" in other life domains. The study investigated the relationship among emotional dissonance, customer verbal aggression, affective discomfort at work and work-family conflict, considering differences between two groups of service workers: call centre agents (CA; N = 507, voice-to-voice relation with customers) and supermarket cashiers (SC; N = 444, face-to-face relation with customers). Results showed that emotional dissonance and customer verbal aggression had a positive relationship with work-family conflict, the mediational role of affective discomfort emerged in both groups; different effects of job demands in subsamples appeared. Suggestions for organisations and work processes emerged in order to identify practical implications useful to support employees in coping with emotional labour and to promote well-being and work-family balance.

Emotional Dissonance in the Spanish Services Sector: The Role of Support in the Workplace

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to analyze the detrimental effect that emotional dissonance may have on service workers by testing its relationship with job satisfaction, intention to leave the organization, and organizational deviance. The second was to test whether two types of social support (i.e., co-worker and organizational support) and their combination moderate these relationships from a multilevel perspective. The sample was composed of 556 employees from Spanish service sector. Using random coefficient models analyses, results showed, first, that emotional dissonance was related to lower levels of job satisfaction (PE = -.1, p < .05) and higher levels of intention to leave the organization (PE = .12, p < .05); second, that co-worker support moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and job satisfaction (PE = .10, p < .05), organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05), and intention to leave the organization (PE = -.13, p < .05); third, organizational support, conceptualized as a collective construct at organizational level, moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05); and finally, the combination of both types of support do not explained additional variance of the emotional dissonance-outcomes relation. These results underline the need to take into consideration different source of social support and their levels of analysis to better understand emotional dissonance and its outcomes.

The Influence of Mistreatment by Patients on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention among Chinese Nurses: A Three-Wave Survey

The affective event of mistreatment in the workplace has been recognized as an important factor influencing employee affect and behavior. However, few studies have logically explained and empirically clarified the link between mistreatment by patients and nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention. The current study aimed to explore the effects of mistreatment by patients on nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention through work meaningfulness and emotional dissonance, as well as the moderating role of hostile attribution bias. Using three-wave survey data collect from 657 nurses who worked in three hospitals in China, we found that mistreatment by patients had a negative effect on nurses' job satisfaction through work meaningfulness, mistreatment by patients had a positive effect on nurses' turnover intention through emotional dissonance. Furthermore, nurses' hostile attribution bias acted as an effective moderator on the relationship. These findings help uncover the mechanisms and conditions in which mistreatment by patients influences nurses' job satisfaction and turnover intention.

Caring efficacy: nurses' perceptions and relationships with work-related factors

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK

Caring nursing practice is central aspect of quality of services. It is important to assess nurses' caring experience in terms of perceived caring efficacy to make them aware of their outcomes and improve their strategies. The aims of the study was to analyze: (1) the caring efficacy level, (2) differences between the caring efficacy levels concerning  positive and negative work attitudes, (3) individual and organizational predictors of perceived caring efficacy.

METHODS

200 nurses were recruited from a University Hospital in Southern Italy. A self-reported questionnaire was administered. T-test was performed to analyze differences between caring efficacy levels concerning outcomes variables. Regression analysis was carried out to examine how some work factors were related to perceived caring efficacy.

RESULTS

Participants referred high confidence to care (CC) for 55%, and low doubts and concerns (DC) for 72.9%. Nurses who had low DC had lower emotional exhaustion than nurses with moderate DC. Nurses with low DC had higher job satisfaction than nurses with high DC. Regarding CC levels, there were no differences between mean values for both attitudes at work. The emotional dissonance significantly predicted DC and CC. The supervisor support had a negative link with emotional dissonance, which in turn was negatively related to CC.

CONCLUSIONS

Education and training should be addressed to reduce doubts and concerns to care and improve the ability to manage emotions. A work environment that value caring and give support in managing emotions can reduce emotional dissonance and improve caring self-efficacy.

Emotional dissonance and exhaustion among healthcare professionals: the role of the perceived quality of care

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this exploratory study was to analyze the association between emotional dissonance and emotional exhaustion among healthcare professionals, and the mediating role of the perceived quality of care in this relationship.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Self-report questionnaires were administered to 724 healthcare workers. The measurement model was tested and the mediation hypothesis was verified through hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Bootstrapping was used to construct confidence intervals to evaluate the mediation effects.

RESULTS

Emotional dissonance was significantly related to emotional exhaustion, and the perceived quality of care was negatively related to emotional exhaustion. The perceived quality of care had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between emotional dissonance and emotional exhaustion. Emotional dissonance had a significant effect on emotional exhaustion, and the perceived quality of care was a mediating factor in this relationship among healthcare professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

The management of the perceived quality of care may be helpful in the prevention of burnout and distress in the workplace. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2019;32(6):841-51.

"Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda". Workers' Proactivity in the Association between Emotional Demands and Mental Health

The present study aimed to explore the mediating role of hostile customer relations in the association between emotional dissonance and workers’ mental health. Moreover, the moderating role of proactive personality as a buffer against hostile customer relations was assessed. Emotional demands become crucial within professions that involve a direct relationship with clients and, if poorly managed, can negatively affect workers’ health and performance. Accordingly, data were collected on a sample of n = 918 mass-retail employees working for one of the leading Italian supermarket companies. Most participants were women (62.7%) with a mean age = 40.38 (SD = 7.68). The results of a moderated mediation analysis revealed that emotional dissonance was related to more hostile customer relations that, in turn, were associated with higher rates of mental health symptoms. Proactive personality emerged as a protecting factor that prevented the onset of conflicts with clients, particularly among workers experiencing high levels of emotional dissonance. The identification of resources enabling management of emotional demands could suggest suitable adaptive strategies for customer-facing roles, thus preventing the occurrence of adverse mental health symptoms.

Do Emotional Laborers Help the Needy More or Less? The Mediating Role of Sympathy in the Effect of Emotional Dissonance on Prosocial Behavior

Despite the growing body of research on emotional labor, little has been known about the social consequences of emotional labor. Drawing on emotional dissonance theory, the authors investigate the relationship between the felt emotional dissonance and prosocial behavior (e.g., donation to a charity). Findings from multiple studies suggest that higher emotional dissonance serially influences perceived lack of control, emotional exhaustion, lowered sympathy for others' feeling, and subsequently lower willingness to help others. When individuals are asked to recall their past experiences of emotional dissonance, they expressed lack of control and emotional exhaustion (Study 3), lower sympathy for others' feeling (Studies 1, 3), and subsequently become less willing to help others both in their intention (Studies 2A and 3) and with actual money (Study 2B). Further, this negative relationship is moderated by the display rules (i.e., surface acting vs. deep acting, Study 3). Managerial and public policy implications are discussed.

The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy

Health- and social workers are frequently exposed to emotionally demanding work situations that require emotion regulation. Studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between emotion regulation and health complaints and sickness absence. In order to prevent health complaints and to reduce sickness absence among health- and social workers, there is need for greater attention to mechanisms explaining when and how emotionally demanding work situations are related to employee health and sickness absence. The overarching aim of this study was therefore to examine the moderating role of generalized self-efficacy on the association between emotional dissonance, employee health (mental distress and exhaustion), and registry based sickness absence. The sample consisted of 937 health- and social workers. Data on emotional dissonance, generalized self-efficacy, exhaustion, and mental distress was collected through questionnaires, whereas official registry data were used to assess sickness absence. A two-step hierarchical regression analysis showed that emotional dissonance was significantly associated with exhaustion, mental distress, and sickness absence, after adjusting for sex, age, and occupation. Interaction analyses with simple slope tests found that self-efficacy moderated the association between emotional dissonance and both exhaustion and mental distress, but not the association with sickness absence. This study shows that health- and social workers who frequently experience emotional dissonance report higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress, and have a higher risk of medically certified sickness absence. Further, health- and social workers with lower self-efficacy beliefs are apparently more sensitive to the degree of emotional dissonance and experienced higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress.

Emotional Dissonance and Sickness Absence Among Employees Working With Customers and Clients: A Moderated Mediation Model via Exhaustion and Human Resource Primacy

Emotional dissonance, i.e., a discrepancy between required and felt emotions, has been established as a predictor of sickness absence in studies, but little is known about mechanisms that can explain this association. In order to prevent and reduce the impact of emotional dissonance on sickness absence, there is a need for greater attention to variables explaining when and how emotional dissonance is related to sickness absence. The overarching aim of this study was to examine whether emotional dissonance has an indirect association with sickness absence through exhaustion. In addition, we examined whether human resource primacy (HRP), which is the employer's degree of concern for human resources, moderates this indirect effect. A sample of 7758 employees, all working with customers and clients, were recruited from 96 Norwegian organizations. Emotional dissonance, exhaustion, and HRP were measured through surveys and then linked to registry data on medically certified sickness absence for the year following the survey assessment. Results showed that exhaustion is a mediator for the relationship between emotional dissonance and sickness absence. Furthermore, higher levels of HRP were found to reduce the positive association between emotional dissonance and exhaustion, and the indirect effect of emotional dissonance on sickness absence through exhaustion is found to be weaker when HRP is high. By testing this moderated mediation model, the current study contributes to the literature on emotion work by clarifying mechanisms that are crucial for the development of targeted interventions that aim to reduce and prevent sickness absence in client-driven work environments.

Is Job Control a Double-Edged Sword? A Cross-Lagged Panel Study on the Interplay of Quantitative Workload, Emotional Dissonance, and Job Control on Emotional Exhaustion

Previous meta-analytic findings have provided ambiguous evidence on job control as a buffering moderator of the adverse impact of job demands on psychological well-being. To disentangle these mixed findings, we examine the moderating effect of job control on the adverse effects of quantitative workload and emotional dissonance as distinct work-related demands on emotional exhaustion over time. Drawing on the job demands-control model, the limited strength model of self-control, and the matching principle we propose that job control can facilitate coping with work-related demands but at the same time may also require employees' self-control. Consequently, we argue that job control buffers the adverse effects of quantitative workload while it reinforces the adverse effects of emotional dissonance, which also necessitates self-control. We examine the proposed relations among employees from an energy supplying company (N = 139) in a cross-lagged panel study with a six-month time lag. Our results demonstrate a mix of causal and reciprocal effects of job characteristics on emotional exhaustion over time. Furthermore, as suggested, our data provides evidence for contrasting moderating effects of job control. That is, job control buffers the adverse effects of quantitative workload while it reinforces the adverse effects of emotional dissonance on emotional exhaustion.

Lower back pain in nurses working in home care: linked to work-family conflict, emotional dissonance, and appreciation?

In industrial countries home care services for elderly people living in the community are growing rapidly. Home care nursing is intensive and the nurses often suffer from musculoskeletal pain. Time pressure and job control are job-related factors linked to the risk of experiencing lower back pain (LBP) and LBP-related work impairment. This survey investigated whether work-family conflict (WFC), emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work have incremental predictive value. Responses were obtained from 125 home care nurses (63% response rate). Multiple linear regression showed that emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work predicted LBP intensity and LBP-related disability independently of time pressure and job control. WFC was not a predictor of LBP-related disability in multiple regression analyses despite a zero-order correlation with it. Redesigning the working pattern of home care nurses to reduce the emotional demands and improve appreciation of their work might reduce the incidence of LBP in this group.

Emotional Dissonance and Burnout: The Moderating Role of Team Reflexivity and Re-Evaluation

The aim of the present study was to better understand the relationship between emotional dissonance and burnout by exploring the buffering effects of re-evaluation and team reflexivity. The study was conducted with a sample of 445 nurses and healthcare assistants from a general hospital. Team reflexivity was evaluated with the validation of the French version of the team reflexivity scale (Facchin, Tschan, Gurtner, Cohen, & Dupuis, 2006). Burnout was measured with the MBI General Survey (Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach, & Jackson, 1996). Emotional dissonance and re-evaluation were measured with the scale developed by Andela, Truchot, & Borteyrou (2015). With reference to Rimé's theoretical model (2009), we suggested that both dimensions of team reflexivity (task and social reflexivity) respond to both psychological necessities induced by dissonance (cognitive clarification and socio-affective necessities). Firstly, results indicated that emotional dissonance was related to burnout. Secondly, regression analysis confirmed the buffering role of re-evaluation and social reflexivity on the emotional exhaustion of emotional dissonance. Overall, results contribute to the literature by highlighting the moderating effect of re-evaluation and team reflexivity in analysing the relationship between emotional dissonance and burnout. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New Technologies Smart, or Harm Work-Family Boundaries Management? Gender Differences in Conflict and Enrichment Using the JD-R Theory

Background: The relationship between technology-assisted supplemental work and well-being outcomes is a recent issue in scientific literature. Whether the use of technology for work purpose in off-work time may have a positive or negative impact on work-family balance remains an open question and the role of gender in this relationship is poorly understood.

Aim: According to the JD-R theory, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between off-work hours technology assisted job demand (off-TAJD) and both work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE). Moreover, it considered two general job demands, workload and emotional dissonance, and one job resource, supervisory coaching.

Method: The hypotheses were tested with a convenience sample of 671 workers. Data were collected with a self-report questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS 23 and through multi-group structural equation model (SEM) (Mplus 7).

Results: The estimated SEM [Chi-square (510) = 1041.29; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.06 (0.05, 0.06); SRMR = 0.05. M = 319/F = 352] showed that off-TAJD was positively related to WFC in both subsamples; off-TAJD was positively related also to WFE only in the Male group. Workload was positively related to WFC in both Male and Female subsamples. Emotional dissonance was positively related to WFC in both subsamples and was negatively related to WFE. Supervisory coaching was strongly, positively related to WFE in both groups, and only in the Male subsample presented a low negative relationship with WFC.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the literature on new challenges in work-life interface by analyzing the association between off-TAJD and WFC and Enrichment. Our findings suggest it is important to pay attention to gender differences in the study of the impact of supplemental work carried out during off-work hours using technology on the work-life interface. In fact, employee perception of Company demands of being available during off-work time, with the use of technology, may have different consequences for men and women, indicating potential differences in the centrality of the working role. Practical implications, at both cultural and organizational levels, should address the use of technology during leisure time.

Inbound Call Centers and Emotional Dissonance in the Job Demands - Resources Model

Background: Emotional labor, defined as the process of regulating feelings and expressions as part of the work role, is a major characteristic in call centers. In particular, interacting with customers, agents are required to show certain emotions that are considered acceptable by the organization, even though these emotions may be different from their true feelings. This kind of experience is defined as emotional dissonance and represents a feature of the job especially for call center inbound activities.

Aim: The present study was aimed at investigating whether emotional dissonance mediates the relationship between job demands (workload and customer verbal aggression) and job resources (supervisor support, colleague support, and job autonomy) on the one hand, and, on the other, affective discomfort, using the job demands-resources model as a framework. The study also observed differences between two different types of inbound activities: customer assistance service (CA) and information service.

Method: The study involved agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company, 352 of whom worked in the CA and 179 in the information service. The hypothesized model was tested across the two groups through multi-group structural equation modeling.

Results: Analyses showed that CA agents experience greater customer verbal aggression and emotional dissonance than information service agents. Results also showed, only for the CA group, a full mediation of emotional dissonance between workload and affective discomfort, and a partial mediation of customer verbal aggression and job autonomy, and affective discomfort.

Conclusion: This study’s findings contributed both to the emotional labor literature, investigating the mediational role of emotional dissonance in the job demands-resources model, and to call center literature, considering differences between two specific kinds of inbound activities. Suggestions for organizations and practitioners emerged in order to identify practical implications useful both to support employees in coping with emotional labor and to promote well-being in inbound call centers. In detail, results showed the need to improve training programs in order to enhance employees’ emotion regulation skills, and to introduce human resource practices aimed at clarifying emotional requirements of the job.

With a little help from my assistant: buffering the negative effects of emotional dissonance on dentist performance

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we hypothesized that dentist' interpersonal resources (good cooperation with one's assistant) together with their personal resources (optimism) buffer the negative effects of emotional dissonance (a demand that occurs when there is a difference between felt and displayed emotions) on job performance (in-role and extra-role performance) over time.

METHOD

We carried out Hierarchical Regression Modeling on a sample of 1954 Finnish dentists who participated in a two-wave 4-year longitudinal study.

RESULTS

Results showed that good cooperation with dental assistants buffered the negative effects of emotional dissonance on both in-role and extra-role performance among the dentists in the long term. However, unexpectedly, dentists' high optimism did not buffer their in-role nor extra-role performance over time under conditions of experiencing high emotional dissonance.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that interpersonal job resources such as good cooperation with one's colleagues may buffer the negative effect of emotional dissonance on dentists' job performance even in the long term, whereas the role of personal resources (e.g., optimism) may be less important for maintaining high job performance under conditions of emotional dissonance. The study novelties include the test of the negative effects of emotional dissonance on long-term performance in dentistry and the identification of the job rather than personal resources as the buffers against the negative effects of emotional dissonance on long-term performance.