The moderating role of surface and deep acting on the relationship between natural emotional labor and organizational commitment

The literature on emotional labor predominantly tends to consider the forms of emotional labor as independent and alternative structures. Nonetheless, considering the emotional labor forms as complementary strategies rather than investigating each on its own may improve our understanding of the personal and organizational outcomes of the emotional labor concept. This study examined the relationship between natural emotional labor and organizational commitment and the moderating role of surface and deep acting on this relationship. For that purpose, quantitative data were collected from 332 participants by the questionnaire method. Statistical analysis revealed that natural emotional labor is positively associated with organizational commitment, and this relationship is moderated by surface acting. It was found that surface acting strengthens the relationship between natural emotional labor and organizational commitment, but the moderating role of deep acting is not significant. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature.