Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

John Schmidt

Abstract

The tourism industry in the Philippines is a significant contributor to the country’s gross domestic product. As members of the service sector, its employees use their labor and skills to yield positive experiences by understanding their target customers so that they can offer them what they need quickly while incurring minimal cost. It is common for service-sector employees to expend emotional labor by hiding their emotions to meet a company’s standards. Unfortunately, the pressure experienced by these employees leads to a higher risk of burnout. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to assess the impact of emotional labor on job burnout among the frontline employees of hotels and airlines operating in Manila and Clark City, Philippines. A total of 180 participants were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using two assessments, the Emotional Labor Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory—General Survey, based on Hochschild’s emotional labor theory and Maslach’s burnout theory, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using regression analysis with moderation. In the regression analysis, surface acting and deep acting were the independent variables while exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy as subscales of burnout were the dependent variables. Age, gender, and education level were tested as moderators. The analysis showed that only cynicism can be predicted by emotional labor as measured by surface acting and deep acting. Age was found to be a moderator variable between cynicism and surface acting. The results of this study may assist in harnessing the strength of service industry workers so that they can adapt to and overcome emotional labor situations. In return, this should promote organizations’ attainment of goals.

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