Developing a structural equation model from Grandey's emotional regulation model to measure nurses' emotional labor, job satisfaction, and job performance.

Aims: This study constructed and tested a structural equation model on clinical nurses' emotional labor, job satisfaction, and job performance based on Grandey's emotion regulation model.

Design: We performed a correlational study to predict the relationship between the following variables: emotional labor (surface and deep acting), job satisfaction, job performance, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, display rules, job autonomy, social support, and job stress.

Methods: Our hypothetical model was based on Grandey's emotional regulation model and on a literature review of emotional labor, job satisfaction, and job performance. Structured questionnaires were distributed to participants who worked in seven general hospitals with no less than 300 beds in a province, South Korea. We analyzed 424 questionnaires and used AMOS 23 to explore the relationships between the constructs.

Results: Our model fit the data well (χ = 96.420, GFI = 0.966, CFI = 0.956, RMSEA = 0.084). Display rules, self-efficacy, job autonomy, and job stress accounted for 20.5% of variance in surface acting. Self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, job autonomy, and job stress accounted for 23.3% of variance in deep acting. Job stress, self-efficacy, job autonomy, surface acting, and deep acting accounted for 45.0% of variance in job satisfaction. Self-efficacy, job autonomy, emotional intelligence, and deep acting accounted for 43.3% of variance in job performance.

Conclusion: We confirmed that display rules, emotional intelligence, job stress, self-efficacy, and job autonomy are important factors that could decrease nurses' emotional labor and increase their job satisfaction and performance. These findings support the development and application of various interventions to decrease emotional labor and increase job satisfaction and job performance among nurses.

Implementation: This study filled the need for an integrated structural equation model of emotional labor. With this model, we found that emotional labor operates differently in nursing practice than in other service fields. As such, this model can help hospital management to adjust their customer service guidelines to improve nurses' job satisfaction and performance.