The Impact of Emotional Labor on Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Moderating Roles of Mindfulness and Perceived Organizational Support Among Frontline Employees in Belize

Abstract

noneThe purpose of this study is to understand whether emotional labor, specifically surface acting and deep acting impacts counterproductive work behavior (CWB) both on a personal and organizational level. In addition, this research uses the conservation of resources theory (COR) to examine both personal and organizational resources that could be utilized to replenish the resources that may have been lost because of emotional labor. The personal resource in this study being mindfulness and the organizational resource being perceived organizational support (POS) to examine whether or not they are able to moderate the effects of emotional labor on CWB, such that as perceived organizational support or mindfulness increases, the possible effect of emotional labor on counterproductive work behavior decreases. The samples of this study include 200 frontline workers in Belize. This study adopts a quantitative research design and online-based questionnaires to collect data and test the research hypotheses. CFA is used to confirm the reliability and validity and the SPSS process is used to analyze the hypothesis results. The contributions of this research are towards the service industry in Belize by implementing the conservation of resources theory to ensure that frontline workers’ psychological well-being is addressed. The contributions towards the literature are also included in this study for academic advancement.