Home⇛Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal⇛vol. 19 no. 4 (2024)

Emotional Labor as Predictor of Emotional State and Psychological Well-being Among Selected Cabin Crew: Basis for a Proposed Mental Health Program

Ana Katrina Isabel Bautista | Pricila Marzan

Discipline: psychology (non-specific)

 

Abstract:

In the airline industry, the role duality of the cabin crew in ensuring passenger safety and exceptional customer service, entail a high emotional demand that necessitate the use of emotional labor to maintain the expected service persona despite complex environmental pressures, which can impact the cabin crew’s overall well-being. A predictive correlational method was utilized to investigate the relationship between emotional labor, emotional state, and psychological well-being among cabin crew in order to develop a targeted mental health program. Using purposive sampling, data from 238 cabin crew of a low-cost airline in the Philippines were collected using the Dutch Questionnaire on Emotional Labor (D-QEL), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), and Ryff's Psychological Well-Being (PWB) Scales, and analyzed using Pearson correlation and regression analysis techniques. Surface Acting, wherein mandated emotions are expressed but contrast with genuine emotions, emerged as a predictor through a positive significant relationship to all emotional state domains but have a negative significant relationship to psychological well- being. Emotional Consonance, the absence of emotional labor, demonstrated a positive relationship to well-being except for Purpose in Life. With these results, there is an emphasis on the need for a specialized cabin crew mental health program to mitigate Emotional Labor’s impact that deplete the cabin crew's emotional and psychological resources. Consequently, mental health initiatives that prevent mental health risks and foster a psychologically healthy airline workforce becomes the foundation of Aviation Psychology in the Philippines that ensure safe and comfortable air travel.



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