Cultural Effects on Emotional Labor: A Case of South Korea

文化對情緒勞動的直接或間接影響不容忽視。集體主義的文化特點即在於維繫群體成員間的和諧並優先考慮群體目標。在韓國，高度的集體主義傾向之下，自我壓抑並順從內團體成員的現象相當普遍，而此一群體內集體主義文化，亦是公共部門的基層官僚中普遍存在的一種意識形態，也構成其行事方式。為符合公共部門的工作要求，公務員會優先考慮並忠於組織目標，並壓抑其「不和諧」的情緒或表達。本文即著眼於集體主義文化—特別是群體內集體主義—對個人工作的積極（工作滿意度）和消極（職業倦怠）結果之影響，並抉發其中深層演出的中介作用。經由針對韓國208名基層公務員的問卷調查、迴歸分析並量化結果，結果顯示，群體內集體主義是預測基層官僚深層演出和工作滿意度的重要因素。同時，在群體內集體主義與工作滿意度之間的關係中，深層演出亦起中介作用。與預期假設相反，本文未發現群體內集體主義對工作倦怠的影響。

Culture is considered to be psychological in nature and may directly or indirectly influence emotional labor. Maintaining harmony among group members and prioritizing group goals are characteristics of collectivist culture. People in South Korea are highly collectivist and tend to be self-effacing and submissive to ingroup members. In the public sector, the culture of in-group collectivism as an ideology is also widespread among street-level bureaucrats and drives them to act in this manner. In order to conform to the work demands of the public organization, public employees will suppress their“discordant”emotions or expressions in order to prioritize and remain loyal to the organization’s goals. In this study, we examine the effects of collective culture, specifically in-group collectivism, on positive (job satisfaction) and negative (burnout) outcomes for individuals, and the mediation effect of deep acting.
A questionnaire survey was conducted among 208 street-level bureaucrats in South Korea, and regression analysis was conducted to quantify the results. The results indicated that in-group collectivism is a particularly important predictor of deep acting and job satisfaction among street bureaucrats. Also, deep acting mediated the relationship between in-group collectivism and job satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, the study did not find any effect of in-group collectivism on job burnout.