Interactive service jobs are an increasingly important feature of the occupational landscape. Despite over a decade of rising employment within this segment of the economy, researchers are only beginning to specify the occupational conditions of service sector jobs and the mechanisms through which such conditions may affect mental health. Here we examine the experience of inauthenticity on the job as useful not only for understanding workers' responses to particular facets of interactive service work but also for identifying the conditions under which such work may lead to increased psychological distress. Findings show that inauthenticity mediates the relationship between interactive service work conditions and depressed mood. Additionally, having to be good at people-handling skills tends to be associated with increased feelings of inauthenticity at work whereas working more frequently with other people and having control over one's work tend to reduce the likelihood of such feelings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acker, J.
(1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4, 139-158.
2.
Albrecht, K.
, & Zemke, R. (1985). Service America! Doing business in the new economy. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
3.
Aneshensel, C.
, Frerichs, R. R., & Clark, V. A. (1981). Family roles and sex differences in depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 379-393.
4.
Aneshensel, C.
, Rutter, M., & Lachenbruch, P. A. (1991). Social structure, stress, and mental health. American Sociological Review, 56, 166-178.
5.
Ashforth, B. E.
, & Humphrey, R. H. (1993). Emotional labor in service roles: The influence of identity. Academy of Management Review, 18, 88-115.
6.
Belle, D.
(1982). The stress of caring: Women as providers of social support. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp. 496-505). New York: Free Press.
7.
Berheide, C. W.
(1988). Women in sales and service occupations. In A. H. Stromberg & S. Harkness (Eds.), Women working (pp. 241-257). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
8.
Boorstin, D.
(1987). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Atheneum.
9.
Bowen, D. E.
, & Cummings, T. G. (1990). Suppose we took service seriously. In D. G. Bowen, R. B. Chase, T. G. Cummings, & Associates (Eds.), Service management effectiveness: Balancing strategy, organization and human resources, operations, and marketing (pp. 1-14). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
10.
Braverman, H.
(1974). Labor and monopoly capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.
11.
Burke, P. J.
, & Reitzes, D. C. (1991). An identity theory approach to commitment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 239-251.
12.
Cain, P. S.
, & Treiman, D. J. (1981). The Dictionary of Occupational Titles as a source of occupational data. American Sociological Review, 46, 253-278.
13.
Cancian, F. M.
, & Gordon, S. L. (1988). Changing emotion norms in marriage: Love and anger in U.S. women's magazines since 1900. Gender and Society, 2, 308-342.
14.
Caplan, R. D.
, Cobb, S., French, J.R.P., Van Harrison, R., & Pinneau, S. R. (1980). Job demands and worker health: Main effects and occupational differences. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center.
15.
Eitzen, D. S.
, & Zinn, M. B. (1989). The reshaping of America: Social consequences of the changing economy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
16.
England, P.
(1992). Comparable worth: Theories and evidence. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
17.
England, P.
, Chassie, M., & McCormack, L. (1982). Skill demands and earnings in male and female occupations. Social Science Research, 66, 147-168.
18.
Erickson, R. J.
(1993). Reconceptualizing family work: The effect of emotion work on perceptions of marital quality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 888-900.
19.
Erickson, R. J.
(1994). Our society, our selves: Becoming authentic in an inauthentic world. Advanced Development Journal, 6, 27-39.
20.
Erickson, R. J.
(1995). The importance of authenticity for self and society. Symbolic Interaction, 18, 117-136.
21.
Erikson, K.
(1986). On work and alienation. American Sociological Review, 51, 1-8.
22.
Feldberg, R. L.
, & Glenn, E. N. (1979). Male and female: Job versus gender models in the sociology of work. Social Problems, 26, 525-535.
23.
Gecas, V.
(1986). The motivational significance of the self-concept for socialization theory. In E. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes (Vol. 3, pp. 131-156). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
24.
Gecas, V.
(1991). The self-concept as a basis for a theory of motivation. In J. A. Howard & P. L. Callero (Eds.), The self-society dynamic (pp. 171-185). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
25.
Gordon, S. L.
(1989). Institutional and impulsive orientations in selectively appropriating emotions to self. In D. D. Franks & E. D. McCarthy (Eds.), The sociology of emotions: original essays and research papers (pp. 115-136). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
26.
Gove, W. R.
, & Geerken, M. R. (1977). The effect of children and employment on the mental health of married men and women. Social Forces, 56, 66-76.
27.
Gutek, B. A.
(1995). The dynamics of service: Reflections on the changing nature of customer/provider interactions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Hall, E. J.
(1993). Smiling, deferring, and flirting. Work and Occupations, 20, 452-471.
29.
Haw, M. A.
(1982). Women, work and stress: A review and agenda for the future. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 23, 132-144.
30.
Hochschild, A.
(1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
Hochschild, A.
(1989). The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home. New York: Viking.
32.
House, J. S.
(1980). Occupational stress and the mental and physical health of factory workers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center.
33.
Howard, R.
(1986). Brave new workplace. New York: Penguin.
34.
Jackall, R.
(1988). Moral mazes: The world of corporate managers. New York: Oxford University Press.
35.
Kanter, R. M.
(1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
36.
Karasek, R. L.
(1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285-308.
37.
Karasek, R. L.
, & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work: Stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. New York: Basic Books.
38.
Kemper, T. D.
(1994). Positives and negatives in the sociology of emotions. Sociology of Emotions Newsletter, 8, 3, 7.
39.
Kiecolt, K. J.
(1994). Stress and the decision to change oneself: A theoretical model. Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 49-63.
40.
Kolbourne, B. S.
, England, P., Farkas, G., Beron, K., & Weir, D. (1994). Returns to skill, compensating differentials, and gender bias: Effects of occupational characteristics on the wages of white women and men. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 689-719.
41.
Kohn, M. L.
, & Schooler, C. (1983). Work and personality. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
42.
Leidner, R.
(1993). Fast food, fast talk. Berkeley: University of California Press.
43.
Lennon, M. C.
(1987). Sex differences in distress: The impact of gender and work roles. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 28, 290-305.
44.
Lennon, M. C.
, & Rosenfield, S. (1992). Women and mental health: The interaction of job and family conditions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33, 316-327.
45.
Lipman, R. S.
, Rickles, K., Covi, L., Derogatis, L., & Uhlenhuth, E. H. (1969). Factors of symptom distress. Archives of General Psychiatry, 21, 328-338.
46.
Loscocco, K. A.
, & Spitze, G. (1990). Working conditions, social support, and the well-being of female and male factory workers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 31, 313-327.
47.
Marks, S. R.
(1994). Intimacy in the public realm: The case of co-workers. Social Forces, 72, 843-858.
48.
Marx, K.
(1978). Karl Marx: Selected writings (D. McLellan, Ed. and Trans.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1927)
49.
Maslach, C.
(1976). Burned-out. Human Relations, 5, 16-22.
50.
Maslach, C.
(1978). The client role in staff burnout. Journal of Social Issues, 34, 111-124.
51.
Maslach, C.
, & Jackson, S. E. (1985). The role of sex and family variables in burnout. Sex Roles, 12, 837-851.
52.
Mattingly, M. A.
(1977). Sources of stress and burn-out in professional child-care work. Child Care Quarterly, 6, 127-137.
53.
Mills, C. W.
(1951). White collar. New York: Oxford University Press.
54.
Mirowsky, J.
, & Ross, C. E. (1992). Age and depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33, 187-205.
55.
Paules, G. F.
(1991). Dishing it out. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
56.
Pines A.
, & Maslach, C. (1980). Combatting staff burn-out in a day care center: A case study. Child Care Quarterly, 9, 5-16.
57.
Rafaeli, A.
(1989). When clerks meet customers: A test of variables related to emotional expressions on the job. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 385-393.
58.
Rafaeli, A.
, & Sutton, R. I. (1987). Expression of emotion as part of the work role. Academy of Management Review, 12, 23-37.
59.
Rafaeli, A.
, & Sutton, R. I. (1990). The expression of emotion in organizational life. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Work in organizations (pp. 151-192). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
60.
Romm, D.
(1989). “Restauration” theater: Giving direction to service. Cornell Quarterly, 29, 31-39.
61.
Rosenberg, M.
(1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
62.
Ross, C. E.
, & Mirowski, J. (1992). Households, employment, and the sense of control. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 217-235.
63.
Sauter, S. L.
, Hurrell, J. J., & Cooper, C. L. (1989). Job control and worker health. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
64.
Schwalbe, M. L.
(1986). The psychosocial consequences of natural and alienated labor. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
65.
Seeman, M.
(1959). On the meaning of alienation. American Sociological Review, 24, 783-791.
66.
Stearns, C. Z.
, & Stearns, P. N. (1986). Anger: The struggle for emotional control in America's history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
67.
Stryker, S.
, & Serpe, R. T. (1994). Identity salience and psychological centrality: Equivalent, overlapping, or complementary concepts?Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 16-35.
68.
Sullivan, T. A.
(1989). Women and minority workers in the new economy: Optimistic, pessimistic, and mixed scenarios. Work and Occupations, 16, 393-415.
69.
Sutton, R. I.
(1991). Maintaining norms about expressed emotions: The case of bill collectors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 245-268.
70.
Szafran, R. F.
(1996). The effect of occupational growth on labor force task characteristics. Work and Occupations, 23, 54-86.
71.
Trilling, L.
(1972). Sincerity and authenticity. New York: Harcourt Brace.
72.
Turner, R. H.
(1968). The self-conception in social interaction. In C. Gordon & K. J. Gergen (Eds.), The self in social interaction (pp. 93-106). New York: John Wiley.
73.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. (1982). 1980 census of population: Classified index of occupations and industries. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
74.
U.S. Department of Labor
. (1977). Dictionary of occupational titles (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Government Printing office.
75.
Van Maanen, J.
, & Kunda, G. (1990). “Real feelings”: Emotional expression and organizational culture. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Work in organizations (pp. 193-253). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
76.
Weigert, A. J.
(1988). To be or not: Self and authenticity, identity, and ambivalence. In D. K. Lapsley & F. C. Power (Eds.), Self, ego, and identity: Integrative approaches (pp. 263-281). New York: Springer-Verlag.
77.
Wharton, A. S.
(1993). The affective consequences of service work. Work and Occupations, 20, 205-232.
78.
Wharton, A. S.
, & Erickson, R. J. (1995). The consequences of caring: Women's work and family life. Sociological Quarterly, 36, 273-296.
79.
Zeithaml, V. A.
, Parasuraman, A., & Berry, L. L. (1990). Delivering quality service: Balancing customer perceptions and expectations. New York: Free Press.
