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Does Servant Leadership Affect Employees’ Emotional Labor? A Social Information-Processing Perspective

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  • Junting Lu

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Zhe Zhang

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Ming Jia

    (Northwestern Polytechnical University)

Abstract

Emotion management in the workplace is drawing increasing attention from researchers. However, they still know little about how positive leadership affects employees’ emotional labor. Building on social information-processing theory, we examine whether and how a servant leadership style influences employees’ emotional labor. Using a sample of 305 employees in 81 work units of 25 subcorporations at a food company in China, we find that servant leadership relates negatively to surface acting (i.e., regulating facial expressions) but relates positively to deep acting (i.e., regulating inner feelings) at work. We also find that the indirect effect of servant leadership on surface/deep acting via affective trust is stronger than the indirect effect via cognitive trust. Our research reveals that servant leadership influences employees’ emotional labor more through affective trust than cognitive trust. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Junting Lu & Zhe Zhang & Ming Jia, 2019. "Does Servant Leadership Affect Employees’ Emotional Labor? A Social Information-Processing Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 507-518, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:159:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3816-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3816-3
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    2. Mengru Yuan & Wenjing Cai & Xiaopei Gao & Jingtao Fu, 2020. "How Servant Leadership Leads to Employees’ Customer-Oriented Behavior in the Service Industry? A Dual-Mechanism Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Yong Yang & Fan Yang & Jingzhu Cao & Bo Feng, 2020. "The Multilevel Mechanism of Multifoci Service Orientation on Emotional Labor: Based on the Chinese Hospitality Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Kalpina Kumari & Jawad Abbas & Jinsoo Hwang & Lucian Ionel Cioca, 2022. "Does Servant Leadership Promote Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Employees? A Structural Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Pengfei Cheng & Zhuangzi Liu & Linfei Zhou, 2023. "Transformational Leadership and Emotional Labor: The Mediation Effects of Psychological Empowerment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Jehanzeb Khan Gurmani & Noor Ullah Khan & Muhammad Khalique & Muhammad Yasir & Asfia Obaid & Nur Ain Ayunni Sabri, 2021. "Do Environmental Transformational Leadership Predicts Organizational Citizenship Behavior towards Environment in Hospitality Industry: Using Structural Equation Modelling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, May.
    7. Xiaoye Qian & Meijuan Zhang & Qiang Jiang, 2020. "Leader Humility, and Subordinates’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Withdrawal Behavior: Exploring the Mediating Mechanisms of Subordinates’ Psychological Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Di Wu & Zhongming Wang, 2020. "Be Careful How You Do It: The Distinct Effects of Observational Monitoring and Interactional Monitoring on Employee Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-10, July.
    9. Ge Yan & Liang Meng & Bo Li & Jiamin Li, 2023. "How Can Managers Promote Employee Sustainability? A Study on the Impact of Servant Leadership on Emotional Labor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    10. Jialing Miao & Hao Hu & Fang Wang & Baoguo Xie, 2023. "Positive Affectivity as a Motivator: How Does It Influence Employees’ Sustainable Careers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Pengfei Cheng & Jingxuan Jiang & Zhuangzi Liu, 2022. "The Influence of Perceived External Prestige on Emotional Labor of Frontline Employees: The Mediating Roles of Organizational Identification and Impression Management Motive," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, August.

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