Service work as affect management [Elektronische Ressource] : the role of affect related competence / vorgelegt von M. Angelo Giardini

Sujets

• Psychologie

Informations

• Publié par: justus-liebig-universitat_giessen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 11
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Service work as affect management:
The role of affect-related competence






Inaugural-Dissertation
zur
Erlangung des Doktorgrades
der Philosophie des Fachbereiches 06
der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen






vorgelegt von

M. Angelo Giardini
aus Hornberg










2002

































Dekan/in: Prof. Dr. J. Stiensmeier-Pelster
I. Berichterstatter/in: Prof. Dr. M. Frese
II. Berichterstatter/in: Prof. Dr. C. Antoni
Tag der Disputation: 10.2.2003 Acknowledgements

My first thanks go to Susanne and to my parents for all their support throughout the years.
I thank Michael Frese for his guidance, his support, and his enthusiasm.
I have greatly benefited from innumerable discussions with Doris Fay, Anat Rafaeli, and Avi
Kluger. They have been an invaluable source of inspiration.
I would like to thank the following people for their helpful suggestions and ideas: Rick
DeShon, Christian Dormann, Winfried Hacker, Dörte Heimbeck, Daniel Illgen, Klaudia
Kamrad, Ruth Kanfer, Nina Keith, Benjamin Schneider, Lisa Trierweiler.
I am also greatly indebted to Stefanie Günter, Kerstin Halemba, and Angela Hortig for their
assistance in early stages of this work, and to my former and present colleagues at the
University of Giessen for their support.

This research would not have been possible without the financial support by the German-
Israeli Foundation (GIF). Thank you. Contents
Page
1. Introduction 1

2. Emotional intelligence and affect-related competence 4
2.1 The Mayer-Salovey model of emotional intelligence 5
2.2 Diversification of the concept and main criticisms 6
2.3 Application of emotional intelligence in Industrial and Organizational Psychology 8
2.4 Conceptualizing affect-related competence 9
2.5 Measuring affect-related competence 12
2.5.1 Measures of specific dimensions 12
2.5.2 Multidimensional measures 13

3. Affect-related competence and service work 15
3.1 The nature of service work 16
3.2 Service work and affect 17
3.2.1 The situational perspective 17
3.2.2 The task-related perspective 18
3.2.3 The dispositional perspective 18
3.3 Affect-related competence and affect management in service work 19
3.4 Research questions for the empirical studies 20

4. A two-level model of the relation between affect-related competence and 22
customer evaluations (Study 1)
4.1 Theory and hypotheses 23
4.2 Method 30
4.2.1 Sample 30
4.2.2 Materials and Procedure 30
4.2.3 Measures 30
4.3 Results 36
4.4 Discussion 42

5. Reducing the negative outcomes of emotion work: The moderating role of 47
affect-related competence (Study 2)
5.1 Theory and hypotheses 48
5.1.1 Two perspectives on emotion work 48
5.1.2 Antecedents of emotional dissonance 51 5.1.3 Consequences of emotional dissonance 52
5.1.4 Affect-related competence as a psychological resource 53
5.2 Method 55
5.2.1 Sample, materials, and procedure 55
5.5.2 Measures 56
5.3 Results 58
5.4 Discussion 62

6. The development and first validation of a situation-based interview measure to 65
assess affect-related competence (Study 3)
6.1 Self-report questionnaires and situation-based measures 65
6.2 Development of the measure 67
6.2.1 Sample, procedure, and data analysis 68
6.2.2 Empathy 69
6.2.3 Affective self-regulation 72
6.2.4 Regulating others 74
6.3 Convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity 76
6.3.1 Hypotheses 77
6.3.2 Method 80
6.3.3 Results 82
6.4 Discussion 91

7. Conclusion 96
7.1 The conceptualization of affect-related competence 97
7.2 The structure and measurement of affect-related competence 97
7.3 Affect-related competence and service performance 98
7.4 Affect-related competence and emotion work 99
7.5 Directions for future research 100

References 101

Appendix




1. Introduction



Recently, Industrial and Organizational Psychology has (re-)discovered the importance
of affect and affective processes in human thinking and behavior. The investigation of the role
of affect at work has become a very active field of research, as demonstrated by several
reviews that have been published in the last ten years (e.g., Ashforth & Humphrey, 1995;
Brief, 2001; Briner, 1999; Isen & Baron, 1991; Pekrun & Frese, 1992; Weiss & Cropanzano,
1996). Briner (1999) identified two major reasons for what he calls a major shift in attention:
the increasing demands for emotional expression in service jobs and the popularization of
concepts that describe emotion-related skills (especially “emotional intelligence”).
Service work and emotion-related skills are also the two main topics of this dissertation.
More specifically, I want to investigate if and how competencies and skills that concern the
processing, regulation, and utilization of affect can help to meet the specific demands of
service work. The importance of these competencies and skills for service work becomes
evident when one looks at the nature of service work and especially at the function of
emotional expression. First, being served with the appropriate display of emotion is simply
part of the service product. For example, when entering a plane, passengers expect that flight
attendants welcome them with a friendly smile; when discussing a financial investment,
customers expect financial consultants to show empathy and understanding for their specific
situation. Second, the use of emotional expression has a strategic function. Service employees 1. Introduction 2
have to induce a certain affective state in the customer to ensure a smooth service delivery
process. For example, the smile of a flight attendant not only signals friendliness, but also
calmness and security, which is important for anxious, and therefore potentially troublesome
passengers.
Thus, it can be said that the service employees have to create a certain affective
atmosphere, that is, they have to provide “affect management”. In doing this, service
employees’ expression of emotion is only the “tip of the iceberg”. It is the visible product of a
complex process that involves many different competencies and skills. For instance, service
employees must continuously monitor customers’ psychological states. This (mostly affect-
related) information has to be processed and translated into a behavioral strategy (of which
emotional expression is one aspect). At the same time, service employees must also take care
of their own affective state.
Research has rarely investigated in detail the competencies and skills that are required
to meet these affect-related demands of service jobs. This dissertation is supposed to fill this
gap. It deals with the competencies and skills which are necessary to be a successful “affect
manager” and I have subsumed them under the concept of “affect-related competence”.
Affect-related competence concerns the effective processing, utilization and regulation of
affect and affective information in the work context.
In this dissertation I want to demonstrate that affect-related competence is a useful
concept for the work context, and in particular for service work. Three topics have been
selected to demonstrate the concept’s value. First, I want to show that service employees’
affect-related competence is related to customers’ perceptions and evaluations (Chapter 4). A
hierarchical model will be tested which relates affect-related competence to the interactants’
affective states and subsequent customer evaluations within service encounters. Second, the
role of affect-related competence as a psychological resource will be investigated (Chapter 5).
Building upon recent theories of emotion work, I will test a two-step model which describes
the protective function of affect-related competence as a “buffer” against the negative
outcomes of work-related demands. Finally, as an alternative diagnostic tool I will develop
and validate a situation-based measure of affect-related competence for use in both research
and applied settings (Chapter 6).
Before presenting the empirical studies, however, the concept of affect-related
competence will be developed. I will begin by describing theoretical and empirical work on
emotional intelligence, because affect-related competence is based to some extent on this
concept. This will lead to the formulation of the concept of affect-related competence 1. Introduction 3
(Chapter 2). Next, I will outline the nature of service work and further discuss the role of
affect-related competence in services (Chapter 3). After presenting the three empirical studies
(Chapter 4 to 6) I will conclude with a summary of the theoretical and empirical insights and I
will provide an outlook on future research (Chapter 7).



2. Emotional inte