Open Journal Systems

The impact of emotional labor towards professional identity among psychological counsellors in China

Huixian Zhao, Mi Li, Lin Li

Article ID: 1909
Vol 9, Issue 2, 2024, Article identifier:

VIEWS - 374 (Abstract) 166 (PDF)

Abstract

Background: Professional identity is an important personal resource at work, especially for psychological counsellors who deal with various issues related to the mental health of their clients. However, up to date there are limited studies concerning emotional labor and professional identity among psychological counsellors. Therefore, the emotional labor strategies used by counsellors to preserve their mental health and attain professional identity is worthy to be examined. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional survey-based approach in which 180 respondents were asked to complete a survey. Further analyses were carried out via SPSS and Lisel version 8.7. Results: In this study it is apparent that emotional diversity has a significant relationship towards professional identity. Conclusions: This study has proved that three dimensions of emotional labour (emotional diversity, expression rules and deep acting) does have a positively significant relationship towards the total scores of professional identities.


Keywords

emotional labor; professional identity; psychological counsellors; psychology counseling graduate; mental health

Full Text:

PDF



References

1. Li X, Luo X, Cox A, et al. The mental health information needs of Chinese university students and their use of online resources: a holistic model. Journal of Documentation 2022; 79(2): 442–467. doi: 10.1108/jd-12-2021-0249

2. Leung CH, Mu Y. Spiritual and mental health of teenagers in Hong Kong and in mainland China under the impact of COVID-19. Asian Education and Development Studies 2021; 11(2): 340–355. doi: 10.1108/aeds-04-2021-0076

3. Al-Maraira OA, Shennaq SZ. Investigation of depression, anxiety and stress levels of health-care students during COVID-19 pandemic. Mental Health Review Journal 2021; 26(2): 113–127. doi: 10.1108/mhrj-10-2020-0070

4. Khalid J, Weng QD, Luqman A, et al. After-hours work-related technology use and individuals’ deviance: The role of interruption overload, psychological transition and task closure. Kybernetes 2021; 52(1): 158–181. doi: 10.1108/k-05-2020-0304

5. Hochschild A. The managed heart. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1983.

6. Fischbach A, Schneider B. Emotional labor work attributes and emotional labor climate: Toward contextualizing the study of emotional labor. In: Humphrey RH, Ashkanasy NM, Troth AC (editors). Emotions and Negativity. Emerald Publishing Limited; 2022. Volume 17. pp. 141–160.

7. Musso P, Coppola G, Pantaleo E, et al. Psychological counseling in the Italian academic context: Expected needs, activities, and target population in a large sample of students. PLoS One 2022; 17(4): e0266895. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266895

8. Gross J. The emerging field of emotion regulation: an integrative review. Review of General Psychology 1998; 2(3): 271–299. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

9. American Psychological Association. Counseling psychology. Available online: https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/counseling (accessed on 27 September 2022).

10. Gibbons S, Trette-McLean T, Crandall A, et al. Undergraduate students survey their peers on mental health: Perspectives and strategies for improving college counseling center outreach. Journal of American College Health 2019; 67(6): 580–591. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2018.1499652

11. Porru F, Robroek SJW, Bültmann U, et al. Mental health among university students: The associations of effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment with psychological distress. Journal of Affective Disorders 2021; 282: 953–961. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.183

12. Brotheridge CM, Lee RT. Testing a conservation of resources model of the dynamics of emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 2002; 7(1): 57–67. doi: 10.1037/1076-8998.7.1.57

13. Li M. Theoretical analysis of the emotional labor psychological process of service personnel. Journal of Shaanxi Institute of Education 2013; (1): 13–18.

14. Morris JA, Feidman DC. Managing emotions in the workplace. Journal of Managerial Issues 1997; 9(3): 257–274.

15. Yang L. Research on the Relationship Between Emotional Labor, Personality, Job Satisfaction and Job Burnout (Chinese) [Master’s thesis]. Soochow University; 2008.

16. Jonathon DB. The Self. People’s Posts and Telecommunications Press; 2004. pp. 72–91.

17. Quek TTC, Tam WWS, Tran BX, et al. The global prevalence of anxiety among medical students: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019; 16(15): 2735. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16152735

18. Jia XM, An Q. Group supervision practice and exploration of circular supervision theory (Chinese). Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology 2005; 13(2): 240–243.

19. Santivasi WL, Nordhues HC, Hafferty FW, et al. Reframing professional identity through navigating tensions during residency: A qualitative study. Perspectives on Medical Education 2022; 11(2): 93–100. doi: 10.1007/s40037-022-00709-9

20. Fu Z. Study on the Relationship Between Emotional Labor, Job Burnout and Professional Identity of Physical Education Teachers (Chinese) [Master’s thesis]. Liaoning Normal University; 2022.

21. Xu S. Supervisors’ perceptions are influenced by supervisees in the process of consultation and supervision. Applied Psychological Research 2003; 18: 113–144.

22. Cruikshanks DR, Burns ST. Clinical supervisors’ ethical and professional identity behaviors with postgraduate supervisees seeking independent licensure. Cogent Psychology 2017; 4(1): 1373422. doi: 10.1080/23311908.2017.1373422

23. Hellman S, Cinamon RG. Career development stages of Israeli school counsellors. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling 2004; 32(1): 39–55. doi: 10.1080/03069880310001648085

24. Curtis A, Day A. The impact of specialist training on professional identity, organisational membership, organisational commitment, and stress in correctional psychologists. The Journal of Forensic Practice 2013; 15(2): 130–140. doi: 10.1108/14636641311322313

25. Cruess RL, Cruess SR, Boudreau JD, et al. A schematic representation of the professional identity formation and socialization of medical students and residents: A guide for medical educators. Academy of Medicine of Malaysia 2015; 90(6): 718–725. doi: 10.1097/acm.0000000000000700

26. Jeffrey AK. In: Lin S, Huang X, Huang S (translators). The Road to Psychotherapist. China Light Industry Press; 2015.

27. Sternszus R, Boudreau JD, Cruess RL, et al. Clinical teachers’ perceptions of their role in professional identity formation. Academic Medicine 2020; 95(10): 1594–1599. doi: 10.1097/acm.0000000000003369

28. Chen RJ. Research on the Relationship Between Emotional Labor, Emotional Exhaustion and Mental Health of Retail Employees (Chinese) [Master’s thesis]. Henan University; 2008.

29. Wu ML. SPSS Statistics Application Practice: Questionnaire Analysis and Applied Statistics. Science Press; 2003.

30. Baron P. Overcoming obstacles in learning cybernetic psychology. Kybernetes 2014; 43(9/10): 1301–1309. doi: 10.1108/k-07-2014-0150

31. Baron P. A challenge to objective perception in hearing and seeing in counselling psychology. Kybernetes 2015; 44(8/9): 1406–1418. doi: 10.1108/k-12-2014-0294


DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v9i2.1909
(374 Abstract Views, 166 PDF Downloads)

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Huixian Zhao, Mi Li, Lin Li

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/