›› 2017, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (5): 64-74.

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Is Emotional Fit or Emotional Dissonance Better Able to Improve Employees' Performance?——An Experimental Study Based on the Leader Emotional Labor

Yang Chen1,2,3, Li Jianbiao1,2,3   

  1. 1. Business School of Nankai University, Tianjin 300071;
    2. China Academy of Corporate Governance of Nankai University, Tianjin 300071;
    3. Collaborative Innovation Center for China Economy, Tianjin 300071
  • Received:2016-07-08 Online:2017-05-28 Published:2017-05-26

Abstract:

The inner state of emotional labor is divided into emotional fit and emotional dissonance. Using the theory of emotion as social information, the differential leadership is introduced into the study of the relationship between leader emotional labor and employee performance. Based on the public goods game, this paper designs the leader emotional labor and the type of employee 2x2 between subjects experiment, and tests the impact of leader emotional labor on employee performance. The results show that leader emotional labor and the employee performance have significant positive correlation. For high efficiency employees, affective reactions partially mediate the effects of leader emotional labor on employee performance. For low efficiency employees, performance inference partially mediates the effects of leader emotional labor on employee performance. Differential leadership and employee epistemic motivation have significant moderating effect. Finally, suggestions on leader's emotional management, emotional management, relationship management and future research are discussed.

Key words: leader emotional labor, employee performance, affective reactions, performance inferential processes, public goods experiment