Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Mediating role of emotional labor in the association between emotional intelligence and fatigue among Chinese doctors: a cross-sectional study

Authors: Li Liu, Peiyao Xu, Kexin Zhou, Jiayu Xue, Hui Wu

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Fatigue is highly prevalent among doctors worldwide. However, no research has been done to examine the associations of emotional intelligence (EI) and emotional labor strategy with fatigue among Chinese doctors. This study aimed to examine whether or not emotional labor strategy mediates the association between EI and fatigue in this occupational group.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shenyang from March to April 2014. A set of self-administered questionnaires was distributed to 950 doctors, including Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS), Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) and a 14-item emotional labor scale. Complete responses were obtained from 740 (77.9%) participants. Hierarchical linear regression was performed to examine the associations of EI and emotional labor strategies (surface acting, SA; deep acting, DA; natural acting, NA) with fatigue. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to examine the mediating roles of emotional labor strategies.

Results

The mean score of fatigue was 8.02 (SD = 3.39). After adjusting for age, gender, marital status, job rank, monthly income, weekly working time, shift and department, EI was negatively associated with fatigue (β = − 0.270, P <  0.001). SA was positively associated with fatigue (β = 0.168, P <  0.001), whereas NA was negatively associated with fatigue (β = − 0.105, P = 0.004); however, DA was not significantly associated with fatigue (β = 0.034, P = 0.381). Thus, SA (a × b = − 0.026, BCa 95% CI: − 0.050, − 0.011) and NA (a × b = − 0.024, BCa 95% CI: − 0.046, − 0.006) significantly mediated the association between EI and fatigue, respectively.

Conclusions

There was a high level of fatigue among Chinese doctors. EI could indirectly reduce fatigue partially through modifying SA and NA strategies, respectively. EI intervention, education and training in emotional labor should be carried out to cope with fatigue.
Literature
1.
2.
McClelland L, Holland J, Lomas JP, Redfern N, Plunkett E. A national survey of the effects of fatigue on trainees in anaesthesia in the UK. Anaesthesia. 2017;72(9):1069–77.CrossRefPubMed
3.
4.
Rose DM, Seidler A, Nübling M, Latza U, Brähler E, Klein EM, et al. Associations of fatigue to work-related stress, mental and physical health in an employed community sample. BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):167.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
O’Donnell EP, Humeniuk KM, West CP, Tilburt JC. The effects of fatigue and dissatisfaction on how physicians perceive their social responsibilities. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90(2):194–201.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Wada K, Arimatsu M, Yoshikawa T, Oda S, Taniguchi H, Higashi T, et al. Factors on working conditions and prolonged fatigue among physicians in Japan. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2008;82(1):59–66.
7.
Gao Y, Wang X, Li Q, Guo M, Li G. Relationship between chronic fatigue and psychological health of medical staff from 3A-hospital in Hainan Province. J Zhengzhou Univ Med Sci. 2013;48(5):674–7.
8.
Lin H, Wang X, Hu X, Zhang X, Zhai J, Cai W. Analysis on relationship of chronic fatigue and mental health of medical staff in Zhuhai City. Ind Health Occup Dis. 2017;43(2):140–4. 148
9.
Cai S, Lin H, Hu X, Cai YX, Chen K, Cai WZ. High fatigue and its associations with health and work related factors among female medical personnel at 54 hospitals in Zhuhai, China. Psychol Health Med. 2018;23(3):304–16.CrossRefPubMed
10.
11.
Lerman SE, Eskin E, Flower DJ, George EC, Gerson B, Hartenbaum N, et al. Fatigue risk management in the workplace. J Occup Environ Med. 2012;54(2):231–58.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Mehta RK, Parasuraman R. Effects of mental fatigue on the development of physical fatigue: a neuroergonomic approach. Hum Factors. 2014;56(4):645–56.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Sánchez-Álvarez N, Extremera N, Fernández-Berrocal P. The relation between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: a meta-analytic investigation. J Posit Psychol. 2016;11(3):276–85.CrossRef
14.
Salovey P, Mayer JD. Emotional intelligence. Imagin Cogn Pers. 1990;9(3):185–211.CrossRef
15.
Weng HC, Hung CM, Liu YT, Cheng YJ, Yen CY, Chang CC, et al. Associations between emotional intelligence and doctor burnout, job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. Med Educ. 2011;45(8):835–42.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Psilopanagioti A, Anagnostopoulos F, Mourtou E, Niakas D. Emotional intelligence, emotional labor, and job satisfaction among physicians in Greece. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:463.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Diefendorff JM, Croyle MH, Gosserand RH. The dimensionality and antecedents of emotional labor strategies. J Vocat Behav. 2005;66(2):339–57.CrossRef
18.
Humphrey RH, Ashforth BE, Diefendorff JM. The bright side of emotional labor. J Organ Behav. 2015;36(6):749–69.CrossRef
19.
Li W, Liu L, Lin J, Jiang Y, Zeng X. Influence of emotional intelligence on emotional labor among medical staff in primary health care institutions. Occup Health. 2016;32(1):34–7.
20.
Hu Q, Sun J, Sun HW. Relationship between emotional labor and personality traits of medical staff. Chin J Behav Med Brain Sci. 2010;19(1):75–7.
21.
Bechtoldt MN, Rohrmann S, De Pater IE, Beersma B. The primary of perceiving: emotion recognition buffers negative effects of emotional labor. J Appl Psychol. 2011;96(5):1087–94.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Grandey A, Foo SC, Groth M, Goodwin RE. Free to be you and me: a climate of authenticity alleviates burnout from emotional labor. J Occup Health Psychol. 2012;17(1):1–14.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Santos A, Mustafa MJ, Gwi TC. Trait emotional intelligence, emotional labour, and burnout among Malaysian HR professionals. Manag Res Rev. 2015;38(1):67–88.CrossRef
24.
Rathi N. Impact of emotional intelligence and emotional labor on organizational outcomes in service organizations: a conceptual model. South Asian J Manag. 2014;21(4):54–71.
25.
Hur WM, Moon TW, Han SJ. The role of chronological age and work experience on emotional labor: the mediating effect of emotional intelligence. Career Dev Int. 2014;19(7):734–54.CrossRef
26.
Liang X, Chen M, Wang H, Mao X. The correlation analysis between the employed nurse’ emotional intelligence and the strategies of emotional work. Chin J Mod Nurs. 2010;16(23):2729–31.
27.
Chalder T, Berelowitz G, Pawlikowska T, Watts L, Wessely S, Wright D, et al. Development of a fatigue scale. J Psychosom Res. 1993;37(2):147–53.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Yang T, Zhou D, Song M, Lan Y. Analysis of work-related fatigue characteristics and its influencing factors in scientific and technical personnel. Chin J Ind Hyg Occup Dis. 2015;33(2):100–3.
29.
Wong CS, Law KS. The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude. An exploratory study Leadersh Q. 2002;13(3):243–74.
30.
Zhu Y, Liu C, Guo B, Zhao L, Lou F. The impact of emotional intelligence on work engagement of registered nurses: the mediating role of organisational justice. J Clin Nurs. 2015;24(15–16):2115–24.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Yin H, Huang S, Lee JCK. Choose your strategy wisely: examining the relationships between emotional labor in teaching and teacher efficacy in Hong Kong primary schools. Teach Teach Educ. 2017;66:127–36.CrossRef
32.
Preacher KJ, Hayes AF. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav Res Meth. 2008;40(3):879–91.CrossRef
33.
Liu R, Du M, Jia X. Investigation and analysis of doctors’ fatigue in the tertiary general hospitals of Anshan City. Mod Hosp Manag. 2014;12(1):43–5.
34.
Wang T, Zhang C, Liu Y, Jiao Y. A study on the characteristic of fatigue, depression, anxiety, life event and their correlation in the patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Chin J Behav Med Sci. 2000;9(2):84–6.
35.
Ohta H, Wada K, Kawashima M, Arimatsu M, Higashi T, Yoshikawa T, et al. Work-family conflict and prolonged fatigue among Japanese married male physicians. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2011;84(8):937–42.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Zeidner M, Hadar D, Matthews G, Roberts RD. Personal factors related to compassion fatigue in health professionals. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2013;26(6):595–609.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Brown RF, Schutte NS. Direct and indirect relationships between emotional intelligence and subjective fatigue in university students. J Psychosom Res. 2006;60(6):585–93.CrossRefPubMed
38.
Brotheridge CM, Lee RT. Testing a conservation of resources model of the dynamics of emotional labor. J Occup Health Psychol. 2002;7(1):57–67.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Zapf D. Emotion work and psychological well-being: A review of the literature and some conceptual considerations. Human Res Manag Rev. 2002;12(2):237–68.
40.
Mikolajczak M, Menil C, Luminet O. Explaining the protective effect of trait emotional intelligence regarding occupational stress: exploration of emotional labour processes. J Res Pers. 2007;41(5):1107–17.CrossRef
41.
Hammerly ME, Harmon L, Schwaitzberg SD. Good to great: using 360-degree feedback to improve physician emotional intelligence. J Healthc Manag. 2014;59(5):354–65.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Shani A, Uriely N, Reichel A, Ginsburg L. Demographic and working characteristics of Demographic and working characteristics of influence of contextual factors. Int J Hosp Manag. 2014;37(2):150–8.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Mediating role of emotional labor in the association between emotional intelligence and fatigue among Chinese doctors: a cross-sectional study
Authors
Li Liu
Peiyao Xu
Kexin Zhou
Jiayu Xue
Hui Wu
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5817-7

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

BMC Public Health 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Local professionals’ perceptions of health assets in a low-SES Dutch neighbourhood: a qualitative study

Research article

Examining characteristics of recorded and unrecorded alcohol consumers in Kenya

Research article

Examining neighborhood and interpersonal norms and social support on fruit and vegetable intake in low-income communities

Research article

Prevalence and stabilizing trends in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in China, 2011-2015

Research article

How does Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) affect latrine ownership? A quantitative case study from Mozambique

Research article

Disease-specific health literacy, disease knowledge, and adherence behavior among patients with type 2 diabetes in Taiwan