Journal of Human Resource Management Future Studies
Volume 1, Issue 1 (6-2026)
Journal of human resource management future studies 2026, 1(1): 22-40 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Amrollahi biuki N, Dehghan Mongabadi M R, Shaker Ardakani M, Nazari Dehaghi A. Exploring the Impact of Emotional Work Strategies on Emotional Burnout and Customer Orientation: The Moderating Role of Cultural Intelligence. Journal of human resource management future studies 2026; 1 (1) :22-40
URL: http://jhrmfs.khu.ac.ir/article-1-156-en.html
URL: http://jhrmfs.khu.ac.ir/article-1-156-en.html
Nahid Amrollahi biuki * 
, Mohammad Reza Dehghan Mongabadi , Mohammad Shaker Ardakani , Azam Nazari Dehaghi
, Mohammad Reza Dehghan Mongabadi , Mohammad Shaker Ardakani , Azam Nazari Dehaghi
Department of Managment, Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences, Ardakan University
Abstract: (145 Views)
Emotions, expressions of those emotions, and emotional displays are crucial in the service industry. The hospitality sector, in particular, is sensitive, as customers arrive at hotels with positive expectations, hoping for an enjoyable stay. Attention to emotional labor and cultural intelligence is essential for navigating diverse cross-cultural behaviors. This research aimed to explore emotional work strategies concerning emotional burnout and customer orientation, while also examining the moderating role of cultural intelligence. A descriptive correlational design was employed, using a library-field approach, focusing on hotels in Yazd city, which has a total of 57 establishments and 855 employees. Of these, 319 hotel employees provided complete responses to the questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, employing AMOS software. The results revealed that the surface acting strategy has a positive and significant effect on emotional exhaustion, while deep acting and authentic acting strategies significantly reduce emotional exhaustion. Additionally, emotional work strategies (surface acting, deep acting, and authentic acting) positively and significantly influence customer orientation. Cultural intelligence moderates the relationship between surface acting and both emotional burnout and customer orientation.
Keywords: emotional work strategies, emotional burnout, customer orientation, cultural intelligence.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/09/29 | Accepted: 2026/05/18 | Published: 2026/06/7
Received: 2025/09/29 | Accepted: 2026/05/18 | Published: 2026/06/7
References
1. AlMazrouei, H., & Zacca, R. (2021). Cultural intelligence as a predictor of expatriate managers turnover intention and creative self-efficacy. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. 29 (1), 59–77. [DOI:10.1108/IJOA-10-2019-1904]
2. Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., Koh, C., Ng, K.Y., Templer, K.J., Tay, C., & Chandrasekar, N.A. (2007). Cultural intelligence: its measurement and effects on cultural judgment and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance. Management and Organization Review, 3 (3), 335–371. [DOI:10.1111/j.1740-8784.2007.00082]
3. Aung, N., & Tewogbola, P. (2019). The impact of emotional labor on the health in the workplace: a narrative review of literature from 2013–2018. AIMS Public Health, 6(3), 268-275. [DOI:10.3934/publichealth.2019.3.268]
4. Babakus, E., Yavas, U., & Karatepe, O. M. (2017). Work engagement and turnover intentions: Correlates and customer orientation as a moderator. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(6), 1580–1598. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-11-2015-0649]
5. Barkhordari, A., Malmir, B., & Malakoutikhah, M. (2019). An Analysis of Individual and Social Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents. Safety Health Work, 10(2), 205–212. [DOI:10.1016/j.shaw.2019.01.002]
6. Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J.W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait effects on self- and supervisor performance rating. Journal of Marketing Research, 39 (1), 110–119. [DOI:10.1509/jmkr.39.1.110.18928]
7. Chu, K.H. L., & Murrmann, S.K., (2006). Development and validation of the hospitality emotional labor scale. Tourism Management. 27 (6): 1181–1191. [DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2005.12.011]
8. Dashper, K. (2020). More-than-human emotions: Multispecies emotional labour in the tourism industry. Gender, Work & Organization, 27, 24–40. [DOI:10.1111/gwao.12344]
9. Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotion Regulation in the Workplace: A New Way to Conceptualize Emotional Labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5 (1), 95–110. https://doi.org 10.1037//1076-8998.5.1.95
10. Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A New Criterion for Assessing Discriminant Validity in Variance-based Structural Equation Modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1):115-135. [DOI:10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8]
11. Jackson, S.E., & Maslach, C. (1981). The Measurement of Experienced Burnout. Journal of Organizational behavior, 2 (2), 99 – 113. [DOI:10.1002/job.4030020205]
12. Jeung, D.Y., Kim, C., & Chang, S.J. (2018). Emotional Labor and Burnout: A Review of the Literature. Yonsei Med J, 59(2), 187–193. [DOI:10.3349/ymj.2018.59.2.187]
13. Kariou,A., Koutsimani,P., Montgomery, A., & Lainidi, O (2021). Emotional Labor and Burnout among Teachers: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (23), 12760. [DOI:10.3390/ijerph182312760]
14. Kim, T. Y., Gilbreath, B., David, E.M. & Kim, S. P. (2019). Self-verification striving and employee outcomes: The mediating effects of emotional labor of South Korean employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31 (7), 2845–2861. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-08-2018-0620]
15. Kong, L. L., Ma, Z. Q., Ji, S. H., & Li, J. (2020). The mediating effect of empathy on the relationship between cultural intelligence and intercultural adaptation in intercultural service encounters. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(2), 169-180. [DOI:10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no2.169]
16. Lam, R., Cheung, C., & Lugosi, P. (2022). The impacts of cultural intelligence and emotional labor on the job satisfaction of luxury hotel employees, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 00(25), 25-39. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103084]
17. Lechner, A. T., & Paul, M. (2019). Is this smile for real? The role of affect and thinking style in customer perceptions of frontline employee emotion authenticity. Journal of Business Research, 94, 195–208.
19. Lee, L., & Madera, J. M. (2019). Faking it or feeling it: The emotional displays of surface and deep acting on stress and engagement. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1744–1762. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-05-2018-0405]
20. Lee, J. J., Ok, C. M., & Hwang, J. (2016). An emotional labor perspective on the relationship between customer orientation and job satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 54, 139–150. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.01.008]
21. Lee, J., Ok, C. M., Lee, S. H., & Lee, C. K. (2018). Relationship between emotional labor and customer orientation among airline service employees: Mediating role of depersonalization. Journal of Travel Research, 57(3), 324–341. [DOI:10.1177/0047287517696978]
22. Moreo, A., Woods, R., Sammons, G. & Bergman, C. (2019). Connection or competence: Emotional labor and service quality’s impact on satisfaction and loyalty. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, (31)1, 330-348. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-03-2017-0176]
23. Nart, S., Sututemiz, N., Nart, S., & Karatepe, O. M. (2019). Internal marketing practices, genuine emotions and their effects on hotel employees’ customer-oriented behaviors. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(1), 47–70. [DOI:10.1080/15332845.2019.1526509]
24. Newnham, M. P. (2017). A comparison of the enactment and consequences of emotional labor between frontline hotel workers in two contrasting societal cultures. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(2), 192–214. [DOI:10.1080/15332845.2016.1202729]
25. Paparoidamis, N. G., Tran, H. T. T., & Leonidou, C. N. (2019). Building Customer Loyalty in Intercultural Service Encounters: The Role of Service Employees’ Cultural Intelligence. Journal of International Marketing, 27(2), 56–75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26979281
26. Park, H., & Hur, W.-M. (2023). Customer showrooming behavior, customer orientation, and emotional labor: Sales control as a moderator, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 72, 103268. [DOI:10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103268]
27. Rafiq, N., Abbasi, A.S., Sair, SH.A., Mohiuddin, M., & Munir. I. (2020). Emotional labor and its association with emotional exhaustion through cultural intelligence. Transnational Corporations Review, 12(4), 392-405. [DOI:10.1080/19186444.2020.1846670]
28. Silbaugh, M.W., Barker, D.B., & Arghode, V. (2021). Emotional Labor, Emotional Intelligence, and Burnout among School Principals: Testing a Mediational Model. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 22 (1), 73-86. [DOI:10.1080/15700763.2021.1904511]
29. Takdir, S., Syah, T. Y. R., & Anindita, R. (2020). Cultural intelligence effect on job satisfaction over employee performance. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic, 4(1), 28-33. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103084]
30. Walsh, G. (2019). Service employees’ naturally felt emotions: Do they matter? European Management Journal, 37 (1), 78–85. [DOI:10.1016/j.emj.2018.06.008]
31. Wu, X., & Shie, A. J. (2017). The relationship between customer orientation, emotional labour and job burnout. Journal of Chinese Human Resource Management, 8(2), 54–76. [DOI:10.1108/JCHRM-03-2017-0005]
32. Xu, S.T., Cao, Z.C., & Huo, Y (2020). Antecedents and outcomes of emotional labour in hospitality and tourism: A meta-analysis. Tourism Management, 79, 104099. [DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104099]
33. Xu, S., Martinez, L. R., & Lv, Q. (2017a). Explaining the link between emotional labor and turnover intentions: The role of in-depth communication. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 18(3), 288–306. [DOI:10.1080/15256480.2016.1276003]
34. AlMazrouei, H., & Zacca, R. (2021). Cultural intelligence as a predictor of expatriate managers turnover intention and creative self-efficacy. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. 29 (1), 59–77. [DOI:10.1108/IJOA-10-2019-1904]
35. Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., Koh, C., Ng, K.Y., Templer, K.J., Tay, C., & Chandrasekar, N.A. (2007). Cultural intelligence: its measurement and effects on cultural judgment and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance. Management and Organization Review, 3 (3), 335–371. [DOI:10.1111/j.1740-8784.2007.00082]
36. Aung, N., & Tewogbola, P. (2019). The impact of emotional labor on the health in the workplace: a narrative review of literature from 2013–2018. AIMS Public Health, 6(3), 268-275. [DOI:10.3934/publichealth.2019.3.268]
37. Babakus, E., Yavas, U., & Karatepe, O. M. (2017). Work engagement and turnover intentions: Correlates and customer orientation as a moderator. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(6), 1580–1598. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-11-2015-0649]
38. Barkhordari, A., Malmir, B., & Malakoutikhah, M. (2019). An Analysis of Individual and Social Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents. Safety Health Work, 10(2), 205–212. [DOI:10.1016/j.shaw.2019.01.002]
39. Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J.W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait effects on self- and supervisor performance rating. Journal of Marketing Research, 39 (1), 110–119. [DOI:10.1509/jmkr.39.1.110.18928]
40. Chu, K.H. L., & Murrmann, S.K., (2006). Development and validation of the hospitality emotional labor scale. Tourism Management. 27 (6): 1181–1191. [DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2005.12.011]
41. Dashper, K. (2020). More-than-human emotions: Multispecies emotional labour in the tourism industry. Gender, Work & Organization, 27, 24–40. [DOI:10.1111/gwao.12344]
42. Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotion Regulation in the Workplace: A New Way to Conceptualize Emotional Labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5 (1), 95–110. https://doi.org 10.1037//1076-8998.5.1.95
43. Henseler, J., Ringle, C.M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A New Criterion for Assessing Discriminant Validity in Variance-based Structural Equation Modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1):115-135. [DOI:10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8]
44. Jackson, S.E., & Maslach, C. (1981). The Measurement of Experienced Burnout. Journal of Organizational behavior, 2 (2), 99 – 113. [DOI:10.1002/job.4030020205]
45. Jeung, D.Y., Kim, C., & Chang, S.J. (2018). Emotional Labor and Burnout: A Review of the Literature. Yonsei Med J, 59(2), 187–193. [DOI:10.3349/ymj.2018.59.2.187]
46. Kariou,A., Koutsimani,P., Montgomery, A., & Lainidi, O (2021). Emotional Labor and Burnout among Teachers: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (23), 12760. [DOI:10.3390/ijerph182312760]
47. Kim, T. Y., Gilbreath, B., David, E.M. & Kim, S. P. (2019). Self-verification striving and employee outcomes: The mediating effects of emotional labor of South Korean employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31 (7), 2845–2861. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-08-2018-0620]
48. Kong, L. L., Ma, Z. Q., Ji, S. H., & Li, J. (2020). The mediating effect of empathy on the relationship between cultural intelligence and intercultural adaptation in intercultural service encounters. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(2), 169-180. [DOI:10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no2.169]
49. Lam, R., Cheung, C., & Lugosi, P. (2022). The impacts of cultural intelligence and emotional labor on the job satisfaction of luxury hotel employees, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 00(25), 25-39. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103084]
50. Lechner, A. T., & Paul, M. (2019). Is this smile for real? The role of affect and thinking style in customer perceptions of frontline employee emotion authenticity. Journal of Business Research, 94, 195–208.
52. Lee, L., & Madera, J. M. (2019). Faking it or feeling it: The emotional displays of surface and deep acting on stress and engagement. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1744–1762. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-05-2018-0405]
53. Lee, J. J., Ok, C. M., & Hwang, J. (2016). An emotional labor perspective on the relationship between customer orientation and job satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 54, 139–150. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.01.008]
54. Lee, J., Ok, C. M., Lee, S. H., & Lee, C. K. (2018). Relationship between emotional labor and customer orientation among airline service employees: Mediating role of depersonalization. Journal of Travel Research, 57(3), 324–341. [DOI:10.1177/0047287517696978]
55. Moreo, A., Woods, R., Sammons, G. & Bergman, C. (2019). Connection or competence: Emotional labor and service quality’s impact on satisfaction and loyalty. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, (31)1, 330-348. [DOI:10.1108/IJCHM-03-2017-0176]
56. Nart, S., Sututemiz, N., Nart, S., & Karatepe, O. M. (2019). Internal marketing practices, genuine emotions and their effects on hotel employees’ customer-oriented behaviors. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(1), 47–70. [DOI:10.1080/15332845.2019.1526509]
57. Newnham, M. P. (2017). A comparison of the enactment and consequences of emotional labor between frontline hotel workers in two contrasting societal cultures. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(2), 192–214. [DOI:10.1080/15332845.2016.1202729]
58. Paparoidamis, N. G., Tran, H. T. T., & Leonidou, C. N. (2019). Building Customer Loyalty in Intercultural Service Encounters: The Role of Service Employees’ Cultural Intelligence. Journal of International Marketing, 27(2), 56–75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26979281
59. Park, H., & Hur, W.-M. (2023). Customer showrooming behavior, customer orientation, and emotional labor: Sales control as a moderator, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 72, 103268. [DOI:10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103268]
60. Rafiq, N., Abbasi, A.S., Sair, SH.A., Mohiuddin, M., & Munir. I. (2020). Emotional labor and its association with emotional exhaustion through cultural intelligence. Transnational Corporations Review, 12(4), 392-405. [DOI:10.1080/19186444.2020.1846670]
61. Silbaugh, M.W., Barker, D.B., & Arghode, V. (2021). Emotional Labor, Emotional Intelligence, and Burnout among School Principals: Testing a Mediational Model. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 22 (1), 73-86. [DOI:10.1080/15700763.2021.1904511]
62. Takdir, S., Syah, T. Y. R., & Anindita, R. (2020). Cultural intelligence effect on job satisfaction over employee performance. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic, 4(1), 28-33. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103084]
63. Walsh, G. (2019). Service employees’ naturally felt emotions: Do they matter? European Management Journal, 37 (1), 78–85. [DOI:10.1016/j.emj.2018.06.008]
64. Wu, X., & Shie, A. J. (2017). The relationship between customer orientation, emotional labour and job burnout. Journal of Chinese Human Resource Management, 8(2), 54–76. [DOI:10.1108/JCHRM-03-2017-0005]
65. Xu, S.T., Cao, Z.C., & Huo, Y (2020). Antecedents and outcomes of emotional labour in hospitality and tourism: A meta-analysis. Tourism Management, 79, 104099. [DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104099]
66. Xu, S., Martinez, L. R., & Lv, Q. (2017a). Explaining the link between emotional labor and turnover intentions: The role of in-depth communication. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 18(3), 288–306. [DOI:10.1080/15256480.2016.1276003]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |