Title: Leaders' emotional labour strategies and followers' emotional engagement: mediating effect of perceived transformational leadership

Authors: Qasim Ali Nisar; Noraini Othman; Bidayatul Akmal Mustafa Kamil; Muhammad Sarfraz; Kamal Badar; Muhammad Saeed Meo

Addresses: School of Media and Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management, Taylor's University, Malaysia ' School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia ' School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia ' Quid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan ' College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ' The Superior College Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between leaders' emotional labour strategies (surface acting and deep acting) and followers' emotional engagement while concentrating on the mediating role of perceived transformational leadership. By using mail and personal administrated survey method, data were collected by 372 employees (33 supervisors and 339 subordinates/followers) of 87 NGOs in Malaysia. We employed the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques for the statistical analysis. The findings revealed that leaders' emotional labour strategies (surface acting and deep acting) play a significant role to influence their subordinates' emotional engagement. Specifically, leaders' surface acting negatively affects the followers' emotional engagement, and deep acting has a positive relationship with followers' emotional engagement. Moreover, perceived transformational leadership significantly mediates the relationship between leaders' emotional labour strategies (surface acting and deep acting) and followers' emotional engagement. This study gives an insightful understanding of the crucial roles of leaders' emotions and followers' emotional engagement in the workplace.

Keywords: emotional labour strategies; surface acting; deep acting; perceived transformational leadership; emotional engagement.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2023.131371

European Journal of International Management, 2023 Vol.20 No.2, pp.323 - 340

Accepted: 15 Jun 2019
Published online: 09 Jun 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article