Description
Emotional labor research suggests that there are a multitude of benefits that follow the freedom from emotion rules at work (display rule autonomy). This study builds upon the existing literature in examining how levels of self-monitoring can alter both the experience of emotional exhaustion and emotional performance effectiveness in the absence of display rules. An archival dataset using a call-center simulation was used to examine my hypotheses. Data were collected with 194 undergraduate college students using a display rule autonomy manipulation (no display rules versus display rules), participant self-reports of self- monitoring and emotional exhaustion, and observer ratings of emotional performance during the call. Results showed that display rule autonomy was unrelated to reports of emotional exhaustion and ratings of emotional performance. Similarly, self-monitoring and emotional exhaustion were unrelated. However, self-monitoring and emotional performance were significantly and positively correlated. Moderated multiple regression analyses indicated that display rule autonomy and both emotional exhaustion and emotional performance did not differ based on levels of self-monitoring. Exploratory analyses revealed the relationship between display rules and emotional exhaustion does depend on one’s engagement in expressive suppression. Despite my original moderations yielding null results, this project contributed insights into the current display rule autonomy literature. Although the effects of display rule autonomy on exhaustion and emotion performance outcomes do not vary based on individual differences in self-monitoring, future research should further examine the role of expressive suppression in altering how display rule autonomy affects emotional exhaustion. Keywords: display rule autonomy, self-monitoring, emotional exhaustion, emotional performance
