Title: Comparing apples and manzanas: instrument development for cross-national analysis of emotional labour in public service jobs

Authors: Seung-Bum Yang; Mary E. Guy; Aisha Azhar; Chih-Wei Hsieh; Hyun Jung Lee; Xiaojun Lu; Sharon Mastracci

Addresses: Department of Public Administration, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea ' School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 500, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA ' Business School, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan ' Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong ' Department of Public Administration, Myongji University, Seoul, South Korea ' School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China ' Department of Political Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Abstract: This paper contributes to research on emotional labour by offering a measurement instrument that is suitable for making comparisons across nations. We confront the challenge of measurement equivalence by reporting survey items that achieve configural and partial metric invariance across seven nations on four continents. Survey items for each of three emotional labour constructs - emotive capacity, deep acting, and surface acting (more accurately called pretending) - were developed by first analysing pilot data from a sample of nations. After variables were refined, full data collection was conducted by surveying public service workers in seven countries. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis then tested for cross-national invariance. Results confirm both configural and partial metric invariance of the items, enabling comparison of emotional labour demands and its consequences across nations.

Keywords: emotional labour survey; comparative research; measurement invariance; organisational behaviour; emotive capacity; deep acting; surface acting; emotive pretending; international research; partial metric invariance; emotion work in public service.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2018.094685

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2018 Vol.9 No.3, pp.264 - 282

Received: 27 Oct 2017
Accepted: 21 May 2018
Published online: 11 Sep 2018 *

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