When the Customer is Not Always Right: A Comparison Between Salvadorean and Taiwanese Employees in the Service Industry

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(1)When the Customer is Not Always Right: A Comparison Between Salvadorean and Taiwanese Employees in the Service Industry. by. Alejandra del Pilar Campos Alfaro. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of. MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Yi-Chun Lin, Ph.D.. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan. June, 2018.

(2) AKNOWLEDGEMENT “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. These last two years of studies at NTNU have been the most blessed years of my life, but also the most challenging ones. Thank you ICDF for granting me a scholarship that not only allowed me to get more knowledge and professional preparation, but also helped me to grow in many aspects of my life, meet new friends, and prepared myself to impact others’ lives. I want to express my sincere thanks to my university, for providing me academic formation. Thanks to all my supportive professors, for sharing your knowledge and making me improve every day. I want to say thanks to my dear advisor Yi-Chun Lin, who has been one of my biggest support in the completion of this thesis but also has been a great advisor in my life. Thanks to the lovely friends and classmates I met here in Taiwan. Definitely you made this journey more enjoyable. I learned a lot from you. The support between each other has made the thesis process easier. Also, to my ICDF project managers, who were always willing to help whenever I needed. Thanks to my parents and family for supporting me in every decision and project and helping me to fulfill the development of this thesis with excellence. The distance was never an obstacle to receive all your love, prayers, and support. And finally, and most important, thank you to my God. God has been my strength in all this process, my source of wisdom, the one who has been guiding me in all the areas of my life. Honor and glory I give to you. Definitively it has not been easy, but thank you to all my family, professors, and friends for all the love and support. God bless you all..

(3) ABSTRACT Emotions play an essential role in the customer service industry. Employees who work attending customers are expected to display certain emotions and suppress others, and this effort of managing emotions in exchange for a wage, has been defined as “emotional labor.” This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional labor and burnout, furthermore examine the role of customer mistreatment as a moderator, making a comparison between Salvadorean and Taiwanese employees in the service industry. The sample of this study were 289 employees in the service industry who have frequent interaction with customers. The sample is divided by 154 Salvadorean responses and 135 Taiwanese responses. Hierarchical regression, structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group SEM were used to test the hypotheses. The findings showed that surface acting is positively related to burnout (more emotional exhaustion, more depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) However deep acting was not associated with any of the three components of burnout. Significant differences between the main effects of surface acting or deep acting between Taiwan and El Salvador were not observed. Customer mistreatment was not found to have a moderating effect between emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) and burnout. However, the multi-group moderation test revealed that customer mistreatment towards Salvadorean service employees had a more positive moderating effect of surface acting on depersonalization compared to Taiwanese service workers. Customer mistreatment was not found to have a moderating effect between deep acting and burnout.. Keywords: emotional labor, surface acting, deep acting, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, service industry, customer mistreatment, El Salvador, Taiwan. I.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................IV LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. V CHAPTER I I NTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1 Background of the Study ........................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................... 4 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................................ 5 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................... 6 Definition of Terms.................................................................................................................... 7. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 10 Context of El Salvador’s Service Industry............................................................................... 10 Context of Taiwan’s Service Industry ..................................................................................... 11 Emotional Labor ...................................................................................................................... 12 Burnout .................................................................................................................................... 15 Emotional Labor and Burnout ................................................................................................. 17 Emotional Labor in Collectivist Countries .............................................................................. 19 Customer Mistreatment ............................................................................................................ 22 The Moderating Role of Customer Mistreatment .................................................................... 24. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY.................................................................... 27 Research Framework ............................................................................................................... 27 Research Hypotheses ............................................................................................................... 28 II.

(5) Sample...................................................................................................................................... 30 Pilot Study................................................................................................................................ 30 Data Collection Process ........................................................................................................... 30 Questionnaire Design ............................................................................................................... 31 Measurement ............................................................................................................................ 32 Control variables ...................................................................................................................... 36 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 37. CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND FINDINGS ................................................... 44 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) ...................................................................................... 44 Hierarchical Regression ........................................................................................................... 52 Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) ....................................................................................... 57. CHAPTER V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ....................................... 65 Research Limitations ............................................................................................................... 68 Implications.............................................................................................................................. 69. REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 71. III.

(6) LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Emotional Labor Scale........................................................................................... 33 Table 3.2. Customer Mistreatment Scale ................................................................................ 34 Table 3.3. Burnout Scale. ........................................................................................................ 35 Table 3.4. Descriptive Statistics.............................................................................................. 39 Table 3.5. Mean, Standard Deviations, Correlations, and Reliability for El Salvador ........... 42 Table 3.6. Mean, Standard Deviations, Correlations, and Reliability for Taiwan .................. 43 Table 4.1. Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis .............................................................. 44 Table 4.2. Results of Regression Analyses for Surface and Deep Acting and Burnout ......... 54 Table 4.3. Results for Regression Analysis for Moderating Effect of Customer Mistreatme 55 Table 4.4. Results for Regression Analysis for Moderating Effect on Burnout ..................... 56 Table 4.5. Multi-group Analysis Results for Main Effects ..................................................... 57 Table 4.6. Multi-group Analysis Results for Moderation Effect ............................................ 59 Table 4.7. Hypothesis Testing Results Summary ................................................................... 62. IV.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Sectoral Employment and GDP Shares in Taiwan. .............................................. 12 Figure 2.2. Country comparison of cultural dimensions......................................................... 22 Figure 3.1. Research Framework ............................................................................................ 27 Figure 4.1. Measurement model of emotional labor ............................................................... 46 Figure 4.2. Measurement model of burnout............................................................................ 47 Figure 4.3. Measurement model of customer mistreatment ................................................... 48 Figure 4.4. Structural one-factor model .................................................................................. 49 Figure 4.5. Structural two-factor model .................................................................................. 50 Figure 4.6. Structural three-factor model ................................................................................ 51 Figure 4.7. Multi-group analysis for El Salvador (Moderator: Nationality)........................... 60 Figure 4.8. Multi-group analysis for Taiwan (Moderator: Nationality) ................................. 60 Figure 4.9. Multi-group analysis for El Salvador (Moderator: Customer Mistreatment) ....... 61 Figure 4.10. Multi-group analysis for Taiwan (Moderator: Customer Mistreatment) ............ 61. V.

(8) CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview of the study and introduced the background of the study, problem statement, purpose of the study, research questions, the significance and research limitations of this study and the definition of key terms.. Background of the Study Due to the rapid globalization and customization, the service industry faces significant challenges to meet customer demands on the endeavor to provide unique and memorable experiences (Chathoth, Altinay, Harrington, Okumus, & Chan, 2013). As part of the service industry, employees need to interact with different types of clients, including those who take advantage of the notion "the customer is always right" by making excessive or arrogant requests towards the service provider (Berry & Seiders, 2008). Service industry employees might be confronted with stressful situations while dealing with demanding and insulting customers. Their actions can vary from using offensive words, acting violently, speaking vociferously, to cutting in lines towards employees (Harris & Reynolds, 2004). This also includes the fulfillment of displayed rules, which means behavior standards established by the company to achieve organizational purposes (Diefendorff, Richard, & Croyle, 2006). The service industry, also known as the tertiary sector, encompasses activities related to services that do not produce or transform material goods, but intangible products that are offered to satisfy the needs of the population, which coincides with its production and consumption (Morales, 2009). The service industry includes different subsectors, and may vary in each country, nevertheless, the United Nations provided the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), categorizing the service industry in subdivisions such as commerce, hospitality, transportation, storage, communications,. 1.

(9) finance, insurances, service to companies, communitarian, social and personal services and so-called public services among others (United Nations, 2008). The services industry is an important generator of employment and represents a large part of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in both developed and developing economies, and its growth has been evident in practically all the world's economies (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2008a). Taking El Salvador as an example, a developing country, the service sector is an essential component of the country’s GDP (Central Reserve Bank, 2017). According to data from the Central Reserve Bank (2017) of El Salvador, the service sector reported 63% of the GDP. In El Salvador, there are about 19,000 companies in the service sector, which generates more than 430,000 jobs (PROESA, 2017). In comparison with a developed country, such as Taiwan, the service sector represents 72% of the GDP, going from a manufacturing economy to a service-oriented one (Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics [DGBAS], 2017). The different activities that fall under the service sector in Taiwan comprise the wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, information and communication, finance and insurance, real estate and ownership of dwellings, public administration and defense, and miscellaneous others (DGBAS, 2017). According to the DGBAS (2017) the finance, insurance, and real estate activities are the most dominant in Taiwan’s service industry, creating significant competitive employment opportunities in the country. Despite the economic benefits that service industry provides, there is a negative side that affects front-line employees in this industry. The service sector is characterized by the extensive interactions between customers and providers (Steinberg & Figart, 1999) In order to deal with customer demands, service industry employees may need to show or hide specific emotions to grant an exceptional service (Wharton & Erickson, 1995), typically known as emotional labor (Hochschild, 1983). Employees who provide customer service are. 2.

(10) vulnerable to incur in emotional labor, due to the constant management of situations that evoke negative emotional reactions, such as dealing with impatient or demanding customers, thus expecting workers to take part of displaying certain emotions which may not be steady with their genuine feelings (Pizam, 2004). Literature suggests the utilization of two strategies for emotional labor: surface and deep acting (Grandey, 2000; Gross, 1998; Hochschild, 1983). For example, when employees require faking an emotion keeping internal feelings intact, perform surface acting. However, if employees need to change emotions and feelings consciously from the inside (displaying more authentic emotions) requires incurring in deep acting. Previous studies found that there is a significant positive relationship between emotional labor and burnout among service workers (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Cheung, Tang, & Tang, 2011; Kim, 2008; Zapf, 2002). The constant use of emotional labor may create emotional exhaustion and disengagement with individual’s true feelings (Hochschild, 1983). Also, some feelings of diminished personal accomplishment can be exposed if the employee believes that the effort of managing emotions did not have the expected results, thus leading to burnout. Schaufeli and Enzmann (1998) defined burnout as a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by the stress of the workplace. This can be experienced by individuals who perform jobs that involve a constant encounter with people (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Employees who perform “people work” are exposed to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization of feelings and diminishment of personal accomplishment, becoming key components of burnout (Maslach, 1982). Some interactions between customer and employee can be accompanied with customer mistreatment, affecting employee’s well-being (Sliter, Jex, Wolford, & McInnerney, 2010). Customer mistreatment is referred to any action that incurred in offensive, demeaning, disrespectful or aggressive treatment from the customer to the employee (Dormann & Zapf,. 3.

(11) 2004; Grandey, Dickter, & Sin, 2004) and is commonly experienced among service industry workers (Boyd, 2002). The mistreatment received by the customer can be perceived as an aggressive mistreatment, such as when the customer shouts or insults to the employee, or also as demanding mistreatment, when the client makes exaggerated and/or arrogant requests while demanding higher levels of customer-employee transactions (Grandey, Kern, & Frone, 2007; Skarlicki, Barclay, & Pugh, 2008). Previous studies had found that customer mistreatment generates burnout (Ben-Zur & Yagil, 2005; Dormann & Zapf, 2004). However, little attention is paid to the role that customer mistreatment plays as a moderator between emotional labor and burnout. Therefore, this study tries to examine the important role that customer mistreatment plays between these two variables. On the other hand, literature suggests that culture plays an important role at emotions management, therefore, is important to make a comparison between Western and Eastern countries, such as El Salvador and Taiwan, and the emotional labor performed due to cultural differences (Shipper, Kincaid, Rotondo, & Hoffman, 2003).. Problem Statement The activities of the service sector are becoming increasingly important for all countries worldwide. The evolution of services in the last decades explains the great impact on GDP in terms of value added (OECD, 2008b). Furthermore, as the economy in most developed countries, such as Taiwan, has shifted from manufacturing to the service industry, is necessary to study the job conditions for the employees working in this industry. The rapid growth of the services sector in the economy entails emotional labor as a required job skill among service employees (Steinberg & Figart, 1999). Although there are already many studies about the relationship between emotional labor and burnout (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Cheung et al., 2011; Kim, 2008; Zapf, 2002), few studies 4.

(12) have been done on the relationship between emotional labor, burnout and customer mistreatment in developing countries. Most of the previous studies have been done in Western developed countries (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Cheung, et al., 2011; Grandey et al., 2007; Kim, 2008; Zapf, 2002). For example, Grandey et al. (2007) developed a research measuring verbal abuse from customers, burnout and the role of emotional labor among U.S employees who have customer contact, finding that employees who have high interaction with customers are susceptible to receive verbal abuse from customers, with higher level of emotional labor demands. Also, they found that the customer mistreatment is a predictor of burnout. This study seeks to make a comparison between El Salvador and Taiwan, and how its characteristics concerning culture and economy affect the relationship between emotional labor, burnout and customer mistreatment. Thus, this research will explore the behavior among developed and developing countries, and also variations across Western and Eastern countries, regarding the management of emotions. In order to fill these gaps, this study aims to explore the relationship between emotional labor and burnout and examine the role that customer mistreatment plays in this relationship. Furthermore, a comparison will be done between Salvadorean and Taiwanese employees in the service industry.. Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to discuss the emotional labor performed by service industry employees in El Salvador and Taiwan related to burnout. It is assumed that employees who have frequent interaction with customer need to perform emotional labor using either surface or deep acting. The effort of managing emotions may lead to burnout. Therefore, the purpose of this study intended to examine the relationship between emotional labor and burnout. 5.

(13) Furthermore, explore the moderating effect of customer mistreatment on the relationship between emotional labor and burnout, while making a comparison between Salvadorean and Taiwanese employees.. Research Questions Therefore, the study developed four research questions: 1.. Does surface acting have an effect on Salvadorean employee’s burnout more than. Taiwanese employees? 2.. Does deep acting have an effect on Salvadorean employee’s burnout more than. Taiwanese employees? 3.. Does customer mistreatment have a moderating effect between emotional labor and. burnout?. Significance of the Study The present study contributes to both theoretical and practical field. For the theoretical part, customer mistreatment is an increasing discussed issue. Many researchers have proposed the relationship between emotional labor and burnout, but scarce studies examine the moderating role that customer mistreatment plays on emotional labor and burnout. Furthermore, most of the studies are performed in Western developed countries. There is no existing literature regarding emotional labor and customer mistreatment in El Salvador, and few studies have been done regarding this issue in Taiwan. Therefore, this study aims to contribute theoretically to the current literature on emotional labor, burnout, and customer mistreatment in both developed and developing countries, furthermore, the study will address the differences in emotional labor due to culture variances between Western and Eastern countries. 6.

(14) In practice, by understanding the possible reasons and actions that customer mistreatment might have, HR practitioners can take more advanced measurements to assist service industry employees in overcoming the difficulties that the interaction between employee-customer represents. Emotional labor is a very discussed due to the impact that generates on employees. Therefore, this study could help provide a better insight and recommendations to diminished the negative effects of emotional labor, burnout and customer mistreatment on employees in the service industry.. Definition of Terms Emotional Labor Employees who work attending customers are expected to display certain emotions and suppress others, and this effort of managing emotions in exchange for a wage has been defined as “emotional labor” (Hochschild, 1983).. Burnout Schaufeli and Enzmann (1998) defined job burnout as a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by the stress of the workplace. Nevertheless, the study developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981) is the one that has been used as base in many studies. Maslach and Jackson defined burnout as a syndrome that can be explained in three dimensions: (1) emotional exhaustion, (2) depersonalization and (3) personal accomplishment.. Surface Acting Grandey (2000) explained surface acting as the strategy to display required emotions with no significant effort, keeping internal feelings intact. 7.

(15) Deep Acting Deep acting is the process of changing emotions and feelings consciously from the inside, in order to truly feel the emotions required for the job (Brotheridge & Lee, 2002).. Emotional Exhaustion Emotional exhaustion represents mental and emotional tiredness that an individual exhibit due to the execution of daily work activities (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).. Depersonalization A depersonalization of the individual is understood as a general attitude of negative feelings towards others, irritability, disinterest, and cynicism in the general interpersonal treatment (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).. Personal Accomplishment Lack or shortage of personal accomplishment refers to the feeling of low self-esteem and the perception of low-achievement on tasks performed. Feelings of reduced competence, achievement and motivation in general, which causes the development of dysfunctional attitudes at work, low performance and personal effectiveness (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).. Customer Mistreatment Customer mistreatment is referred to any action that incurred in offensive, demeaning, disrespectful or aggressive treatment from the customer to the employee (Dormann & Zapf, 2004; Grandey, et al., 2004).. 8.

(16) Service Industry The service industry, also known as tertiary sector, encompasses activities related to services that does not produce or transform material goods, but generally intangible products that are offered to satisfy the needs of the population, which coincides with its production and consumption (Morales, 2009). Includes subsectors such as commerce, hospitality, transportation, storage, communications, finance, insurances, service to companies, communitarian, social and personal services (United Nations, 2008).. 9.

(17) CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter of literature reviews for developing the framework and selecting variables. First the literature review of emotional labor, burnout and customer mistreatment. Then, hypotheses are derived afterwards.. Context of El Salvador’s Service Industry The service industry was previously considered as a group of activities of minor relevance, but this has taken a great boom becoming one of the main growth promoters and job generators; it has also become a very heterogeneous sector. The implications that the service industry has had on the levels of employment, has been one of the aspects that have most attracted the attention of those interested in the topic. Only in Latin America and the Caribbean, for the decade of the 90's, around 90% of new jobs emerged in the service sector and accounted for 55% of the total employment (PROESA, 2017). The participation of the services sector has been increasing since the 90’s, mainly in the generation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) representing 63% according to information provided by the Central Reserve Bank (2017). This becomes an important issue for El Salvador development since this is related to the productivity of the service industry. Some of the activities that are included in El Salvador’s service sector are: commerce, hospitality, transportation, storage, communications, finance, insurances, service to companies, communitarian, social and personal services, etc. (United Nations, 2008). In 2007, the Ministry of Economy and the Promotion Agency of Exports and Investments of El Salvador (PROESA) designed the Law of International Services, whose purpose was to attract companies from the services sector. In this law, the figure of "parks" and "centers" that produce international services was created and they are granted extraterritorial status for tax purposes, that is, they extend the benefits of the free zone to the 10.

(18) companies that produce services with the aim of attracting companies in the area of call centers and customer service providing services to companies in the aeronautical and maritime sectors, logistics services and back office (PROESA, 2017).. Context of Taiwan’s Service Industry Before the mid of the 1980s, Taiwan had given priority to the primary sector, with activities such as agriculture and forestry. Was until the point when 1949 that Taiwan actualized a progression of import substitution and export extension enhancing the service industry (Xiong, 2003). During this period a notable increase was observed in the customer service, finance, and insurance activities. The period of 1986 and 1995 was vital for Taiwan’s service industry development with an annual average growth of 14% (Xiong, 2003). However, between 1996 and 2000, the service industry in Taiwan enter into an adjustment and transformation period, experiencing a slowdown in the growth of the sector. Consequently, Taiwan promoted a series of measures to transform and upgrade the service industry (Xiong, 2003). Taiwan evolved from a manufacturing economy to a service-oriented one. As shown in Figure 1.1, from 1980 to 2010 Taiwan’s service industry experimented an increased participation on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over 60%, and a level of employment in the sector over 35%, representing an advantage compared to the other two sectors, agriculture, and Industry. Nowadays, the service sector represents 72% of Taiwan’s GDP, going from a manufacturing economy to a service-oriented one (DGBAS, 2017). The different activities that fall under the service sector in Taiwan comprise the wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, information and communication, finance and insurance, real estate and ownership of dwellings, public administration and defense, and miscellaneous others (DGBAS, 2017). According to the DGBAS (2017) the 11.

(19) finance, insurance, and real estate activities are the most dominant in Taiwan’s service industry, creating significant competitive employment opportunities in the country.. Figure 1.1. Sectoral Employment and GDP Shares in Taiwan. Readapted from “The Service Sector in Asia: Is it an Engine of Growth?” by D. Park and K. Shin, 2012, Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/30092/economics-wp322.pdf. Copyright 2012 by Asia Development Bank.. Emotional Labor In the past decades, many researchers have been interested in the role that emotion plays in the customer service industry (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993; Hochschild, 1983; Morris & Feldman, 1996). Employees who work attending customers are expected to show certain feelings and stifle others, and this exertion of managing feelings in return for a wage has been characterized as “emotional labor” (Hochschild, 1983). However, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) had a different approach to emotional labor, giving more importance to observable behaviors rather than management of internal feelings. The difference between Hochschild (1983) and Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) approach, is that the first one is focused on the management of emotions, but the second one targets the behaviors that come from the emotions. Moreover, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) explained that behaviors could be 12.

(20) observed after complying organizational rules and these can be commanded with no management of emotions. Another definition of emotional labor was proposed by Morris and Feldman (1996) suggesting that emotional labor grasp both, the exertion and the scope required to express feelings, defining it as “the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotion during interpersonal transactions” (p. 987). Morris and Feldman (1996) proposed four dimensions of emotional labor: (1) frequency of displayed emotions; (2) duration and intensity of displayed emotions; (3) Variety of emotions required to be expressed; and (4) emotional dissonance. First, the frequency of displayed emotions refers to the constant requirements of the organization to regulate emotions to fit social demands, rather than the frequency of interaction between employee and customer (Morris & Feldman, 1996). Second, the duration and intensity of displayed emotions. Morris and Feldman (1996) described that higher levels of attentiveness entail greater psychological and physical effort from the employee. This is additionally identified with the force with which a feeling is experienced or communicated. Third, employees might need to engage with a variety of emotions depending on the job requirements. For example, a professor may need to display a range of emotions toward the students, such as enthusiasm, neutrality to show fairness, and professionalism to all the students, even negative ones while correcting them. Thus, the constant changes of emotions require emotional labor (Morris & Feldman, 1996). And fourth, employees may feel a contrast between the veritable feelings and the feelings required to be shown. This conflict between emotions is called emotional dissonance (Middleton, 1989). According to Morris and Feldman (1996), the conflict of emotions involves higher levels of emotional labor. For example, to a seller requires higher levels of emotional labor to sell a product that he does not believe in.. 13.

(21) Emotion regulation seems to be part of the daily job routine (Wharton & Erickson, 1995) and is relevant during customer service interactions (Bowen, Chasse, & Cummings, 1990). Front-line employees are required to have frequent communication with customers, as a result of this, becoming representatives of the company (Hochschild, 1983). Front-line employees need to incur in emotional labor to satisfy the expectations of the company for complying specific standards (Diefendorff & Richard, 2003) known as display rules (Ekman & Friesen, 1982). Many organizations communicate display rules to their employees through their selection, training, rewards and/or punishments methods, to guarantee the appropriate emotion displayed to achieve performance goals (Leidner, 1999; Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). Indeed, to provide a service that meets organizational standards, employees might use some strategies to manage their emotions while interacting with customers: Surface acting or deep acting (Grandey, 2000; Gross, 1998; Hochschild, 1983). Grandey (2000) developed a model explaining the theory about emotional regulation, based on Gross’s study (1998). In this model, Grandey (2000) explained that surface acting is the strategy to display required emotions with no significant effort, keeping internal feelings intact. For example, employees that need to regulate certain displayed emotions, just like an actor, without feeling them (Hochschild, 1983). The other method is deep acting, which involves changing emotions and feelings consciously from the inside, in order to truly feel the emotions required for the job (Brotheridge & Lee, 2002). Deep acting can be accomplished through different technics, such as attention deployment (recalling specific events to change the focus of thoughts) and cognitive change, reevaluating the situation so the emotional shock can be diminished (Grandey 2000; Gross, 1998). Näring, Briët, and Brouwers (2007) also proposed two other forms of emotional labor, besides surface and deep acting: suppression and emotional consonance. Suppression represents hiding feelings due to company’s requirements, and emotional consonance is. 14.

(22) explained as the effortless requirement of showing emotions according to the demanded situation. Näring et al. (2007) developed an instrument to measure emotional labor using four dimensions: surface acting, deep acting, suppression and emotional consonance. This instrument is characterized by the use of suppression as one of the dimensions of emotional labor. Näring et al. (2007) argued that suppression is important to measure because this represents a different psychological process of restraint of emotions. The use of different techniques to manage their inner emotions may be inconvenient for employees to match organization’s demands; and this dissatisfying feeling will lead to burnout and job stress (Hochschild, 1983). Zapf, Vogt, Seifert, Mertini, and Isic (1999) pointed that emotional labor was associated with feelings of personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion, which are dimensions of burnout. The constant use of emotional labor may create emotional exhaustion and disengagement with individual’s true feelings (Hochschild, 1983).. Burnout Schaufeli and Enzmann (1998) defined job burnout as a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by the stress of the workplace. Nevertheless, the study developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981) is the one that has been used as a base in many studies. Maslach (1976) proposed that burnout was a characteristic syndrome of people with chronic work stress for long-term work reasons, very closely related to the service work and treatment of people, such as the one they have the doctors and teachers. These interactions might harm them in their psychological, affective and emotional state, through mental exhaustion and low performance, and personal fulfillment in all areas of their professional and general development. Adopting all these attitudes of cynicism and sensations of depersonalization will affect both the labor organization of belonging as well as their social and family group 15.

(23) (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Maslach and Jackson (1981) stated that burnout can be explained in three dimensions: (1) emotional exhaustion, (2) depersonalization (3) personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion represents mental and emotional tiredness that an individual exhibit due to the execution of daily work activities. Discomfort accompanies it and is experienced as a failure to give more of himself or herself, due to the perception of work overload and labor demands during the workday but continues affecting him or her throughout the rest of the day (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Lack or shortage of personal accomplishment refers to the feeling of low self-esteem and the perception of low-achievement on tasks performed. Feelings of reduced competence, achievement and motivation in general, which causes the development of dysfunctional attitudes at work, low performance and personal effectiveness (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Depersonalization means negative or cynical attitudes that employee displays to the service recipients. A depersonalization of the individual is understood as a general attitude of negative feelings towards others, irritability, disinterest, and cynicism in the general interpersonal treatment. Sometimes depersonalization can be performed also towards coworkers, superiors and/or subordinates, or other people from the social and family environment (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). The process of burnout explained with the previous three dimensions allow us to observe that burnout is manifested by employees when they perceive difficulties to satisfy organizational expectations (Hobfoll & Shirom, 2000). Added to this, some researchers found certain factors that predict burnout, such as job-related stress, lack of job resources, and the stress perceived from bad attitudes and behaviors expressed by the customer against the employee (Yagil, 2008; Karatepe, Haktanir, & Yorganci, 2010). Cropanzano, Rupp, and Byrne (2003) explained that emotional exhaustion is one of the most important dimensions to. 16.

(24) describe burnout, compared to the other two dimensions -lack of personal accomplishment and depersonalization-. This can be explained and supported by other researches which works states that naturally burnout starts with emotional exhaustion, then is followed by depersonalization and this bring as a result the shortage of personal accomplishment (Bakker, Demerouti, & Verbeke, 2004; Maslach, 2001).. Emotional Labor and Burnout The constant interaction between customer and employee may generate stress (Behrman & Perreault, 1984). This happens when employees spend too many emotional resources with customer interaction and are not able to restore them (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993) Furthermore, the monotonous activities and task repetition that is performed during employee-customer interaction might increase the feeling of burnout (Taylor & Bain, 1999). During this interaction, the employee needs to satisfy display rules demanded by the company with the purpose of leaving a lasting impression on the customer about the quality of the service (Barger & Grandey, 2006). To comply with these rules, the two techniques proposed by Grandey (2000) for emotion regulation can be applied: surface or deep acting. Although both of these strategies can help the employee to have a successful interaction with the customer, surface acting implies “faking in bad faith” (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). According to Rafaeli and Sutton (1987), employees who act in bad faith, usually pretend emotions just to comply with the rules established by the company, thus creating a dissonance between what the person really feels and what the person should express. However, deep acting is referred to “acting in a good faith” (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987), since employee consciously will change the internal feeling to match with the desired emotions, through some techniques such as retrospection of past events, refocusing or physiological modification (Grandey 2000; Gross, 1998) 17.

(25) The constant and intense interaction with customers may generate stress and burnout to front-line employees (Behrman & Perreault, 1984; Yagil, 2008). For example, studies performed among call center companies has been found that the constant interaction with customers constitutes a stressful job (Belt, 2002; Lankshear, Cook, Mason, Coates, & Button, 2001). The monotonous activities and task repetition that is performed in a call center suggest the feeling of burnout on employees (Taylor & Bain, 1999). Part of the routine of the call center corresponds the use of guidelines or scripts to lead the interaction with customers, suppressing the display of real emotions and behaviors, leading to emotional exhaustion, thus driving burnout (Deery, Iverson, & Walsh. 2002). Many studies had confirmed the relationship between emotional labor and burnout (Kruml & Geddes, 2000; Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Zapf, 2002; Kim, 2008). Surface acting has been found to be positively related to burnout since this represents a more significant effort to hide one’s true feelings or display unauthentic emotions (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Brotheridge & Lee, 2002; Grandey, 2003). However, deep acting has been found to be negatively related to burnout. In a study made by Kim (2008) in the hospitality sector, was found that deep acting was not associated with emotional exhaustion and that employees that fake emotions (surface acting) are more exposed to burnout, rather than the ones who perform deep acting to display authentic feelings. Based on the literature, the following hypotheses have been developed: H1: Surface Acting is positively related to burnout. H1a: Surface acting is positively related to emotional exhaustion. H1b: Surface acting is positively related to depersonalization. H1c: Surface acting is positively related to personal accomplishment. H2: Deep acting is negatively related to burnout. H2a: Deep acting is negatively related to emotional exhaustion.. 18.

(26) H2b: Deep acting is negatively related to depersonalization. H2c: Deep acting is negatively related to personal accomplishment.. Emotional Labor in Collectivist Countries There has been an increased interested in the variations across Western and Eastern countries, regarding the management of emotions. Cultures can manage emotions differently based on the values they follow to solve situations and establish relationships; being differentiated by individualistic or collectivistic cultures (Hofstede, 1980). According to Triandis (1993), the individualist cultures are characterized by a stable independent self, such as in The United States. On the other hand, collectivist cultures are characterized by an interdependent self, being found in certain regions of Europe, Asia and Latin America (Triandis, 1993). Hofstede (1980) explained that the intensity of emotions experienced in individualistic cultures is perceived as strong, since this culture motivates its members to express themselves with more freedom, seen as an essential part for the individual’s development. In contrast with collectivistic cultures, individuals display controlled emotions, since members of this cultures are mainly concern on how the displayed emotions will affect others. Even though countries in Latin America are included as Western countries, Lucker (2002) stated that Latin American countries are not individualistic cultures as The United States but collectivistic similarly as in Asia. Members of collectivist cultures are characterized by having personal interdependence, very susceptible to be influenced by other people, trust in others, avoiding conflicts and showing respect to others, as well they follow the pattern of conduct seen in the family environment. This is supported by Matsumoto, Yoo and Nakagawa (2008), describing collectivist cultures with high tendency of suppressing their emotions in order to display 19.

(27) more appropriate or desirable ones. Brotheridge and Taylor (2006), argued that collectivist cultures, as Taiwan and El Salvador, perform in more emotional labor toward customers, making adjustments in their internal feelings (deep acting) in order to avoid conflicts with others, than individualistic cultures. In a study made by Hofstede (1982), was developed a scale comparing countries with diverse cultural dimensions, including the levels of individualism among 53 countries. The results showed that both, El Salvador and Taiwan, present low levels of individualism, thus making them collectivist cultures. However, El Salvador presents a higher level of individualism compared to Taiwan as seen on Figure 1.2, presenting El Salvador as a less collectivist country. All Western countries does not follow the same pattern of emotions, therefore, is better to describe the management of emotions from the individualist and collectivist culture perspective (Hofstede, 1980). The previous study made by Allen, Diefendorff and Ma (2013) found that deep acting is more strongly related to burnout in China than the United States. Eid and Diener (2011) also explained that “the moderation or suppression of emotions is generally highly valued in China” (p.883). Therefore, collectivist cultures tend to perform more in deep acting than surface acting, because the individuals are expected to act in harmony toward others (Allen et al., 2013). Even though Asian countries are considered collectivist (Hofstede, 1980), the characteristics presented in Asian countries may differ to Latin American collectivist countries (Triandis, 1990). However, based on Hofstede (1980) study, we can predict that Salvadorean people will present higher level of surface acting, and lower level of deep acting, due to the lower level of collectivism that presents, compared to Taiwan. The following hypotheses have been developed:. 20.

(28) H3: The positive relationship between surface acting and burnout is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3a: The positive relationship between surface acting and emotional exhaustion is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3b: The positive relationship between surface acting and depersonalization is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3c: The positive relationship between surface acting and personal accomplishment is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4: The negative relationship between deep acting and burnout is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4a: The negative relationship between deep acting and emotional exhaustion is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4b: The negative relationship between deep acting and depersonalization is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4c: The negative relationship between deep acting and lack of personal accomplishment is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese.. 21.

(29) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0. 94. 93. 89. 69. 66 58 40 19. Power Distance. 49. 45. 20. 17. Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance El Salvador. Long Term Orientation. Indulgence. Taiwan. Figure 2.2. Country comparison of cultural dimensions. Readapted from Hofstede, G. H. (1982). Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values.” Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/el-salvador,taiwan/ Copyright 2018 by Hofstede Insights.. Customer Mistreatment Although there is a growing interest in the predictors of employee burnout, few studies intended to identify potential moderators for the relationship between emotion labor and burnout. This study proposes customer mistreatment as a moderator. Customer mistreatment is referred to any action that incurred in offensive, demeaning, disrespectful or aggressive treatment from the customer to the employee (Dormann & Zapf, 2004; Grandey, et al., 2004) Customer mistreatment is viewed as a daily commotion that is commonly expressed in a verbal way rather than physical. Despite the low intensity that this type of mistreatment may represent a frustrating situation may affect the employee’s wellbeing (Sliter, et al., 2010). Customer mistreatment can be observed as a demeaning behavior, verbal aggression, or irrational demands (Dorman & Zapf, 2004; Skarlicki, et al., 2008). Customer mistreatment is easier to observe in the customer-employee interaction. A possible situation seen is that mistreatment to employees could be intentional or not from the 22.

(30) customer, some reasons of deliberate mistreatment are associated with the dissatisfaction of the service received or due to customer’s attitudes, such as high trait anger, high neuroticism, etc. (Bedi & Schat, 2007). Previous studies had pointed out that customer mistreatment involves interactional injustice, which is perceived when the employee is pointed with disrespectful behaviors from another party, making them feel that are being treated unfairly (Bies, 2001; Colquitt, 2001; Rupp, McCance, & Grandey, 2007). Depending on the nature of the customer mistreatment, it can be categorized in two: aggressive mistreatment and demanding mistreatment (Grandey, et al., 2007; Skarlicki, et al., 2008). Aggressive mistreatment can be observed when the customer yells to the employee over minor matters. Demanding mistreatment is related to aggressive behaviors directed towards employees while demanding higher levels of customer-employee transactions. For example, at a study made by Grandey et al. (2004) found that customer service representatives at call centers experience mistreatment from customers on an average of ten times a day. Skarlicki et al. (2008) also did a study on customer mistreatment, using the critical incident technique. The results showed that customer mistreatment to call center representatives can be reflected with verbal abuse (e.g., yelling or use of bad words), unreasonable demands and disrespectful behaviors. Other studies have been done in different subsectors in the service industry, such as, hospitality, restaurants, airline cabin crew, retail stores, among others, and have been evidenced mistreatment from the customer towards employees, such as rude behavior, physical attacks, verbal abuse, anger behavior and even sexual harassment (Ben-zur & Yagil, 2008; Bitner, Booms, & Mohr, 1994; Boyd, 2002; Grandey, et al., 2004, Folgero & Fjeldstad, 1995). When an employee receives mistreatment from the customer, is more likely that employee will perceive this situation as stressful, affecting his capability to complete his or her task successfully (Grandey, 2000; Wang, Liao, Zhan, & Shi, 2011). Baranik, Wang, Gong,. 23.

(31) and Shi (2016) stated that customers who receive constant customer mistreatment find hard to achieve well-being. Dormann and Zapf (2004) observed that employees who are exposed to customer mistreatment present more burnout symptoms. Previous research has additionally conceptualized customer abuse in respect to its full of feeling results because such maltreatment inspires negative feelings and lessens positive feelings (Rupp & Spencer, 2006).. The Moderating Role of Customer Mistreatment Many companies have adopted the philosophy “The customer is always right”, in which the employee should act in a friendly manner toward the employees and control their attitudes and behaviors, even if the customer shows verbal aggression (Yagil, 2008). Dormann and Zapf (2004) explained that customer mistreatment towards employees might lead to emotional exhaustion, due to the emotional discord experienced at the moment of communicating a feeling outwardly and holding the true feeling on the inside. Emotional exhaustion is a standout amongst the other components of burnout and is set apart by a supported condition of physical exhaustion and psychological tiredness (Cole, Bernerth, Walter, & Holt, 2010). In most of the cases, customer mistreatment toward the employee is caused by the dissatisfaction of the client when the service provided by the employee does not meet with customers’ expectations (Bitner, et al., 1994). Malhotra, Ulgado, Agarwal, Shainesh and Wu (2005) performed a study comparing the service quality among United States, Philippines and India, and was found out that developed countries, such as the United States, care more about to provide an outstanding service, compared to developing countries such as Philippines and India that only provide a “merely service”. This can be explained by the lack of resources that developing has compared with developed countries. For example, developed countries count 24.

(32) on better financial and technological resources to satisfy customer needs (Malhotra et al., 2005). In this same research was found that United States was more interested to create a continuous improvement in the service provided to customers, however Philippines and India showed more interest to provide a periodic improvement. According to Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (1991) improvement is a key aspect to provide an excellent customer service. Based on the literature, we can predict that higher levels of customer mistreatment are experienced in developing countries due to the lack of resources to satisfy customer needs and lack of interest for improvement. Furthermore, has been studied that customer mistreatment involves emotion management, and because of its unpleasant nature, devours an awesome measure of worker's physical, intellectual, mental and emotional assets (Maslach, 1978). Thus, customer mistreatment as an irritating stressor to front-line employees enhances burnout. Based on the literature, the following hypothesis has been developed: H5: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout H5a: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout. H5b: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on depersonalization. H5c: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on personal accomplishment. H6: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on burnout H6a: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on emotional exhaustion. H6b: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on depersonalization.. 25.

(33) H6c: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on personal accomplishment. H7a: Customer mistreatment towards Salvadorean service workers has a more positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout than Taiwanese service workers. H7b: Customer mistreatment towards Taiwanese service workers has a more negative moderating effect of deep acting on burnout than Salvadorean service workers.. 26.

(34) CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY In this chapter, it is divided into the research framework, research hypotheses, sample, data collection, pilot test, measurement, control variables and data analysis.. Research Framework The present study proposed emotional labor with its dimensions surface and deep acting as independent variable, while burnout dimensions as dependent variable: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Customer mistreatment and nationality played as a moderator on the relationship between emotional labor and burnout. The research framework is shown in Figure 3.1. Nationality - El Salvador - Taiwan. Emotional labor -Surface Acting -Deep Acting. -. Customer mistreatment. Figure 3.1. Research Framework. 27. Burnout Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalization Personal Accomplishment. Control Variables - Age - Organizational level - Social Desirability.

(35) Research Hypotheses Based on the literature review and the objective of this study, the following hypotheses have been proposed: H1: Surface Acting is positively related to burnout. H1a: Surface acting is positively related to emotional exhaustion. H1b: Surface acting is positively related to depersonalization. H1c: Surface acting is positively related to personal accomplishment. H2: Deep acting is negatively related to burnout. H2a: Deep acting is negatively related to emotional exhaustion. H2b: Deep acting is negatively related to depersonalization. H2c: Deep acting is negatively related to personal accomplishment. H3: The positive relationship between surface acting and burnout is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3a: The positive relationship between surface acting and emotional exhaustion is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3b: The positive relationship between surface acting and depersonalization is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H3c: The positive relationship between surface acting and personal accomplishment is stronger for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4: The negative relationship between deep acting and burnout is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4a: The negative relationship between deep acting and emotional exhaustion is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese.. 28.

(36) H4b: The negative relationship between deep acting and depersonalization is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H4c: The negative relationship between deep acting and lack of personal accomplishment is weaker for Salvadorean service workers than Taiwanese. H5: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout H5a: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout. H5b: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on depersonalization. H5c: Customer mistreatment has a positive moderating effect of surface acting on personal accomplishment. H6: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on burnout H6a: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on emotional exhaustion. H6b: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on depersonalization. H6c: Customer mistreatment has a negative moderating effect of deep acting on personal accomplishment. H7a: Customer mistreatment towards Salvadorean service workers has a more positive moderating effect of surface acting on burnout than Taiwanese service workers.. 29.

(37) H7b: Customer mistreatment towards Taiwanese service workers has a more negative moderating effect of deep acting on burnout than Salvadorean service workers.. Sample The target sample of this study are employees working in the service industry in El Salvador and Taiwan. One of the strongest economy sectors in both countries is the service industry; therefore, this population was chosen because of the high interaction that service employees have with customers. Furthermore, these two samples represent a great interest for the researcher to compare the differences between developed and developing countries, being both collectivist countries. The sample included all employees who are currently working on the service industry and have frequent interaction with clients.. Pilot Study A pilot study was conducted before the data collection. The purpose was to identify the suitability and accuracy of the terms and the set of questions for employees in the service industry. A total of 100 responses were used for the pilot test. Responses were captured from Salvadorean employees in the service industry. With the pilot test was determined the reliability and validity of the instrument. According to Nunnally (1978), the accepted level for reliability is ≥ 0.70. For the pilot test, Cronbach’s alpha for emotional labor was 0.83, for customer mistreatment was 0.96, and burnout was 0.84.. Data Collection Process A total of 289 valid responses were collected during the period of April-May 2018. Due to the difficulty that the researcher presented in collecting data due to the location, an online 30.

(38) questionnaire was implemented to get responses for Salvadorean employees. Snowball and convenient sampling approach were used for data collection. The sample came from different subsectors included in the service industry. Participants received an e-mail with the link directing to the website containing the online survey. Also, through this e-mail was encouraged them forward the e-mail to friends who work in the service industry. For the Taiwanese sample both -online questionnaire and paper-based questionnaire- were implemented. A total of 50 responses were paper based. The questionnaire included a cover letter, in which was explained the purpose of the research, and expressing the confidentiality of the responses. Furthermore, the questionnaire included screening question to ensure that the obtained responses were just from employees in the service industry and who have frequent interaction with customers.. Questionnaire Design This questionnaire used scales developed originally in English with established reliability and validity. The questionnaire consisted of 48 items to measure the three variables, as well as 13 measuring social desirability as a control variable, and 7 demographic questions. Since participants are not native English speakers, a back-translation (Brislin, 1980) procedure was performed. The researcher asked native Spanish and Chinese speakers to translate both versions. Screening questions are also included at the beginning of the questionnaire, to identify valid participants that are working in the service industry and that have frequent interaction with customers. Also, since all the questions in the different variables will be answered for one person, the scores were rated with 5-point or 7-point Likert Scales to avoid the Common Method Variance (CMV) (Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003).. 31.

(39) Measurement The measurement in this study comprised of five parts: emotional labor, customer mistreatment, burnout, social desirability and demographic information. These measures are described below:. Emotional Labor The instrument for this variable was adopted from Grandey (2003). This instrument includes 5 items measuring Surface acting (α = .83), and 3 items measuring deep acting (α = .86). Emotional labor was measured using five-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = always). Sample items for surface acting were: “I pretend to have the emotions I need to display for my job”; and for deep acting “I work hard to feel the emotions that I need to show to others”. The total items of emotional labor were drawn on the following table (Table 3.1).. Customer Mistreatment Customer mistreatment instrument was adopted from Wang, et al. (2011) adaptation. The adaptation made by Wang et al. (2011) used items from Dorman and Zapf (2004) and Sharlicki et. al (2008). This instrument includes 18 items assessing customer-related social stressors, and customer interpersonal injustice behaviors. This instrument used five-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = all the time). Some sample items were: “Customers demanded special treatment”, “Customers refused to listen to me” and “Customers used condescending language to me”. The total items of customer mistreatment were drawn on the following table (Table 3.2).. 32.

(40) Table 3.1. Emotional Labor Scale Emotional Labor 1. I put on a show or performance when interacting with customers.. 2. I put on a “mask” in order to express the right emotions for my job.. 3. I pretend to have the emotions I need to display for my job.. 4. I put on an act in order to deal with customers in an appropriate way.. 5. I fake a good mood when interacting with customers. 6. I work hard to feel the emotions that I need to show to others.. 7. I make an effort to actually feel the emotions I need to display toward others.. 8. I try to actually experience the emotions that I must show.. Burnout Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) was used to measure burnout. The scale is seven-point Likert scale (0 = never, 6 = every day), including 22 items measuring three dimensions: emotional exhaustion (α = 0.90), depersonalization (α = 0.79), and personal accomplishment (α = 0.71). Some of the items included for emotional exhaustion is: “I feel I’m working too hard on my job”; for depersonalization: “I do not care what happens to the customers”, and for personal accomplishment: “I deal effectively with customers problems”. The total items of burnout were drawn on the following table (Table 3.3).. 33.

(41) Table 3.2. Customer Mistreatment Scale Customer Mistreatment 1. Customers demanded special treatment.. 2. Customers thought they were more important than others.. 3. Customers asked me to do things they could do by themselves.. 4. Customers vented their bad mood out on me.. 5. Customers did not understand that I had to comply with certain rules.. 6. Customers complained without reasons.. 7. Customers made exorbitant demands.. 8. Customers were impatient.. 9. Customers yelled at me.. 10. Customers spoke aggressively to me.. 11. Customers got angry at me even over minor matters.. 12. Customers argued with me the whole time.. 13. Customers refused to listen to me.. 14. Customers cut me off mid-sentence.. 15. Customers made demands that I could not deliver.. 16. Customers insisted on demands that are irrelevant to my service.. 17. Customers doubted my ability.. 18. Customers used condescending language to me.. 34.

(42) Table 3.3. Burnout Scale Burnout 1. I feel used up at the end of the workday.. 2. I feel I’m working too hard on my job.. 3. I feel emotionally drained from work.. 4. I feel frustrated by my job.. 5. I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another day on the job.. 6. I feel burn out from my work.. 7. I feel working with people is a strain for me.. 8. I feel like I am at the end of my rope.. 9. I feel working with people directly is too stressful.. 10. I feel recipients blame me for some of their problems.. 11. I feel I treat some customers like impersonal objects.. 12. I act more callously toward people since this job.. 13. I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally.. 14. I worry that this job is hardening me emotionally.. 15. I deal effectively with customers problems.. 16. I easily understand how customers feel.. 17. I can easily create a relax atmosphere with customers.. 18. I positively influence others through my work.. 19. I have accomplished many worthwhile things on my job. (continued). 35.

(43) Table 3.3. (continued) Burnout 20. I deal calmly with emotional problems at work.. 21. I feel very energetic. 22. I feel exhilarated after closing work with customers.. Control Variables Age Previous studies exhibited that age was pertinent on the selection of emotional labor strategies during the interaction between customer and service employee (Cheung & Tang, 2010; Dahling & Perez, 2010; Sliter et al., 2010; Yeung, Wong, & Lok, 2011). As individuals age, they turn out to be progressively spurred to boost experiences which deliver positive feelings and limit those related to negative emotions, which may impact the selection of emotional labor. (Charles & Carstensen, 2007; Dahling & Perez, 2010). Besides, some studies have demonstrated that older people comprehend and control their feelings better than youthful individuals (Ng & Feldman, 2009).. Social Desirability Social Desirability is one of control variables. Due to the self-report nature of the responds, social desirability was included as a control variable in order to minimize the influence of “faking” response, since the independent variable “emotional labor” has some sensitive questions and is necessary to obtain honest answers from the participants. This measure was adopted from Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability questionnaire (Reynolds, 1982). This instrument includes 13 true-false items. Cronbach Alpha for this measurement was α = .76. Examples of items included: “It is sometimes hard for me to go on with my 36.

(44) work if I am not encouraged”; and “There have been occasions when I took advantage of someone.”. Organizational Level Four organizational levels are considered in this research: staff, first line manager, middle level manager, and high-level manager. Some studies (Beehr and Drexler, 1986; Westman, 1992), proposed that the management of emotions toward customers may depend on the organizational level that the employee belongs, and this affect more to low-level employees than managerial positions.. Data Analysis IBM SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 22.0 were used to perform data analysis. Other statistical techniques as descriptive statistics analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Hierarchical Regression, and structure equation modeling (SEM) were carried out to test the hypotheses. Also, a comparison of the results between El Salvador and Taiwan were performed using multi-group SEM.. Descriptive Analysis This type of analysis helps to have an overview of the characteristics of the participants regarding of frequency and percentages. Descriptive statistics in this study included background information such as gender, age, education level, type of company they are working, job position level, and time working at the current company. The mean and standard deviation is useful to investigate all the variables in this study, including emotional labor, burnout, customer mistreatment and control variables. The Table 3.4 showed the results for El Salvador and Taiwan. From the data collected, 60.9% (176) were female participants and 37.

(45) 39.1% (113) were male. Making a division just for female, 28.4% (82) were Salvadorean and 32.5% (94) Taiwanese. Males in El Salvador were 24.9% (72) and for Taiwan, 14.2% (41). Most of the participants were still very young with 34.9% at the age of 18-25 years old, 31.5% at the age of 26-31 years old. For El Salvador, the ages of 18-25 represent the majority of responses with 21.1%, the same as Taiwan with 13.8%. There is also a great participation with ages of more than 41 years old in Taiwan, with 13.5%. For the education level, 28.4% had high school degree, 14.5% technical degree, 46.7% Bachelor degree and 10.4% Master’s degree. For both countries, the majority of responses had a Bachelor degree, with 23.2% for El Salvador, and 23.5% for Taiwan. Most of the respondents are working in the commerce sub-sector, with a total of 76.1%. Results also show that 88% of respondents are working as a staff. Most of the employees expressed working at their current company for a short period, 22.1% have been working for less than one year in the company; 45% of employees have worked between 1-3 years, and 11.1% had been working at the current company for 4-6 years.. Correlation and Reliability Analysis To have a better understanding of the relationship between variables, the correlation analysis was conducted. Table 3.5 and Table 3.6 presented the means, standard deviations, correlations and reliabilities of gender, age, social desirability, emotional labor, customer mistreatment, and burnout for both countries. The acceptable Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is ≤ 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978). The Cronbach alpha in Taiwan for surface acting is 0.90, deep acting, 0.78, emotional exhaustion 0.94, depersonalization 0.93, personal accomplishment 0.90, and customer mistreatment 0.96. For El Salvador’s sample, surface acting has a Cronbach alpha of 0.80, deep acting, 0.88, emotional exhaustion 0.94, depersonalization 0.85, personal accomplishment 0.84, and customer mistreatment 0.97. According to Table 3.5 and Table 3.6, most of the variables have significant correlations in this study. The correlation (r) help us to 38.

(46) identify the relationship and strength between emotional labor and burnout, and the moderating effect of customer mistreatment. The correlations revealed that surface acting in Taiwan has a positive significant relationship with deep acting (r = .52, p < 0.01), emotional exhaustion (r = .30, p < .01), depersonalization (r = .24, p < .01), personal accomplishment (r = .20, p < 0.05), and customer mistreatment (r = .19, p < .01). Emotional exhaustion has a positive correlation with depersonalization (r = .74, p < .01), personal accomplishment (r = .31, p < .01), and customer mistreatment (r = .55, p < .01). And depersonalization is positive correlated with personal accomplishment (r = .27, p < .01), and customer mistreatment (r = .67, p < .01). In El Salvador, all the variable for emotional labor, burnout and customer mistreatment are positively correlated as shown in Table 3.5. Table 3.4. Descriptive Statistics (N=289) Item 1. Gender. El Salvador Frequency Percentage. Taiwan. Total. Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage. Female. 82. 28.4%. 94. 32.5%. 176. 60.9%. Male. 72. 24.9%. 41. 14.2%. 113. 39.1%. Total. 154. 53.3%. 135. 46.7%. 289. 100%. 18-25. 61. 21.1%. 40. 13.8%. 101. 34.9%. 26-31. 63. 21.8%. 28. 9.7%. 90. 31.5%. 32-41. 16. 5.5%. 28. 9.7%. 44. 15.2%. >41. 14. 4.8%. 39. 13.5%. 53. 18.3%. Total. 154. 53.3%. 135. 46.7%. 289. 100.0%. 2. Age (years). (continued) 39.

(47) Table 3.4. (continued) Item. El Salvador. Taiwan. Total. 3. Education. Freq.. Percentage. Freq.. Percentage. Freq.. Percentage. High school. 58. 20.1%. 24. 8.3%. 82. 28.4%. Technical. 25. 8.7%. 17. 5.9%. 42. 14.5%. Bachelor. 67. 23.2%. 68. 23.5%. 135. 46.7%. Master. 4. 1.4%. 26. 9.0%. 30. 10.4%. 154. 53.3%. 135. 46.7%. 289. 100.0%. 133. 46.0%. 87. 30.1%. 220. 76.1%. Communica.. 6. 2.1%. 17. 5.9%. 23. 8.0%. Community. 4. 1.4%. 19. 6.6%. 23. 8.0%. Finances. 4. 1.4%. 7. 2.4%. 11. 3.8%. Hospitality. 6. 2.1%. 3. 1.0%. 9. 3.1%. Outsource. 1. 0.3%. 0. 0.0%. 1. 0.3%. Transport. 0. 0.0%. 2. 0.7%. 2. 0.7%. 154. 53.3%. 135. 46.7%. 289. 100.0%. 136. 47.1%. 85. 29.4%. 221. 76.5%. First-line. 3. 1.0%. 22. 7.6%. 25. 8.7%. Middle-level. 11. 3.8%. 18. 6.2%. 29. 10.0%. High-level. 4. 1.4%. 10. 3.5%. 14. 4.8%. 154. 53.3%. 135. 46.7%. 289. 100.0%. Total. 4. Type of company Commerce. Total. 5. Organizational level Staff. Total. (continued). 40.

(48) Table 3.4. (continued) Item 7. Tenure. El Salvador Freq.. Less than 1. Percentage. Taiwan Freq.. 17.3% 50. Total. Percentage. Freq.. Percentage. 4.8%. 64. 22.1%. 14. year 1-3 years. 68. 23.5%. 62. 21.5%. 130. 45.0%. 4-6 years. 8. 2.8%. 24. 8.3%. 32. 11.1%. 7-9 years. 3. 1.0%. 13. 4.5%. 16. 5.5%. 10-12 years. 3. 1.0%. 9. 3.1%. 12. 4.2%. 13-15 years. 2. 0.7%. 0. 0.0%. 2. 0.7%. 4.5%. 33. 11.4%. 46.7%. 289. 100.0%. More than 15. 6.9% 20. 13. years Total. 154. 53.3%. 135. 41.