Role ambiguity and trust repair of flight attendants: Emotional labor of human service employees

Abstract

This study tests the hypotheses that flight attendants’ emotional labor aspects moderate the decreasing propensity of organizational trust in the changing industrial climates where the role ambiguity is likely perceived by the employees. The questionnaire surveys were administered to a total of 827 flight attendants, 414 for a European and 413 for an Asian airline. A 5-point Likert-type scale was employed to assess the aspects of role ambiguity and emotional labor. The results indicate that, first, role ambiguity perceived by the human service employees decreases trust toward the employer. Second, emotional labor aspects moderate or repair the decreasing propensity of trust, when the level of role ambiguity perceived by the employees is low. In the competitive industrial environment, emotional labor aspects practiced by the human contact employees may help the employees harmoniously work with the automated machines and IT in the competitive and stressful workplace.