Effect of Emotional Labour on Emotional Exhaustion of Tellers in Two Sri Lankan Banks

Abstract

Area of the Study As service sector is extremely growing extremely and the employers require their front line employees to display certain types of emotions, this study concentrated on the emotional laboour (The emotional demand on service providers) and the effect of emotional labour on emotional exhaustion of tellers in two private banks in Sri Lanka. Problem of the Study To examine the effect of emotional labour on emotional exhaustion of tellers of two banks in Sri Lanka and further, finding ways of enacting emotional labour leading to different consequences. Method of the Study Forty-four tellers of two private Sri Lankan banks were tested quantitatively using a questionnaire comprised of 40 questions out of which 30 tested emotional labour (surface acting and deep acting) and 10 questions were used to test the variable of emotional exhaustion. The data collected were analyzed through correlational and regression analysis to test the hypothesis developed at the beginning. Findings of the Study The main finding was that emotional labour affects emotional exhaustion showing a negative relationship. In addition, it was revealed that both surface and deep acting were related negatively with emotional exhaustion. Most of these findings were found to be opposite to the previous scholarly evidenc.e. Conclusion of the Study Performance of emotional labour is healthy for the tellers since they are experiencing less emotional exhaustion when their performance of emotional labour is increased. When the surface acting and deep acting are considered separately then it can be concluded that performance of deep acting is more beneficial than enacting surface acting due to the reason that deep acting has a greater positive impact on emotional exhaustion than the surface acting.