The moderator role of personality traits on the relationship between emotional labor and work alienation: A research on hospitality businesses

Many factors have critical impacts on the success of businesses, and the way employees interact with customers is among the most important factors. The positive and negative emotions that employees reflect to customers cause customers to form an impression about the employees and the business. This will be reflected in whether customers prefer the business and its products/services and ultimately on the performance of the business. The emotions that employees have while carrying out their work are also effective in alienating them from work. On the other hand, the situation becomes more complex considering that employees' personalities can also have an impact on their emotions. In this context, this study aims to determine whether personality traits have a moderating role in the effect of emotional labor on work alienation in accommodation businesses where t intense interaction with customers exists. A relational screening model was used in the study. The research model was created as the role of personality traits (moderating variable) in the relationship between emotional labor (independent variable) and work alienation (dependent variable). In this regard, data was obtained from 309 people through face-to-face survey forms applied to employees of accommodation businesses operating in Antalya. Relationships among dependent, independent and moderating variables were tested using Structural Equation Model (SEM). As a result of the research, it was revealed that personality traits have a moderating effect on the effect of emotional labor on work alienation. It is expected that, as an outcome of the research, business managers will have a database that will help them identify personality traits that match the needs of the job so that emotional labor can be implemented without causing work alienation. By including personality traits into the model for the first time through this study, the reason for the differences in the results of previous research, examining the relationship between emotional labor and work alienation, will be better understood.