The effect of emotional labor on job satisfaction

In periods of transition, individuals employed in the service sector particularly try to shape their emotions as a necessity and display their emotions accordingly. The concept of emotional labor, defined as the effort exerted by employees following the demands of organizations to exhibit emotions based on the standards determined by the organizations, becomes important for organizational management. The concept of job satisfaction is expressed as the employee's compliance with her job. At the same time job satisfaction indicates whether employees' expectations are being met in return for their efforts by the organizations. This situation creates a competitive environment for organizations to prevent employess from moving to other organizations within the sector. This study aims to determine the effect of emotional labor on job satisfaction. In this context, the behavioral patterns of employees, including surface acting, deep acting, and hidden emotions, were examined and evaluated together with the concept of job satisfaction. The research was carried out with 147 employees of a company operating in the retail sector in Kayseri in 2023. According to the research findings, emotional labor has a significant effect on job satisfaction. At the same time, the dimension of emotional labor known as surface acting effects job satisfaction significantly. However, significant results could not be obtained between the dimensions of deep acting, hidden emotions and job satisfaction.