Mediating role of emotional labor in the effect of work commitment on job performance and intention to quit

The aim of this study is to find the mediating role of emotional labor in the effect of work commitment on job performance and intention to quit. For this purpose, the implementation of the work has been done in Antalya, the most prominent city of the lodging industry in Turkey. As a sample, 5 different five-star hotels have been selected, and the research has been conducted on 414 staff working in these hotels. SPSS 20 and AMOS 23 have been used in the processing and analysis of the data obtained as a result of the research. Structural equation modeling has been used to assess the research hypotheses. In the literature section of the study, the concepts of job commitment, which are determined as independent variables in the research model, job performance and intention to leave as dependent variables, and emotional labor, which are determined as mediating variables, are defined together with their sub-dimensions consecutively. In addition, earlier studies examining the relationships between variables have been reviewed and explanatory information about their results has been presented. In the research, the emotional labor tool variable has been examined in the context of sub-dimensions. Findings obtained from structural equation modeling show positive relation between job commitment and job performance and negative relation between intention to quit while it shows a positive relationship with surface acting and deep acting, which are mediating variables and sub-dimensions of emotional labor. Surface acting and deep acting, which are sub-dimensions of emotional labor, have a partial mediating role in the effect of job commitment on job performance and intention to quit. There was no meaningful relationship between surface role playing and job performance, which are sub-dimensions of emotional labor. As a result of the study, suggestions for practitioners and researchers who will conduct similar studies have been presented.