10.1 TheProblem of Stress 37 instead to display neutrality or calmness-the emotions that their employers have found lead to a greater likelihood that debtors will pay their bills(Sutton.1991).Deep acting con sists of managing one's feelings,incuding trying to actually change one's emotional state to match the emotions required by the job.For example.a waitress might try to imagine her. self in a difficult customer's situation to try to feel empathy for the customer and better understand the customer's point of view.Because deep acting involves modifying one's emotions and feelings,it results in expressions that are more authentic,more effective,and more associated with positive health outcomes than surface acting does(Chi.Grandey. Diamond,Krimmel,2011).This finding supports the notion that authenticity is impor. tant in the workplace.Chi and colleagues (2011)also found that surface acting can be a successful strategy for extraverts but not for introverts.They conduded by givinga tip for service providers:Only extraverts should fake their surface-level expressions,but introverts can do as well as extraverts if they regulate their deeper feelings"(p.1344). Grandey.Kern,and Frone (2007)found that workers in jobs requiring emotional labor often encounter verbal abuse from customers,which can include insults,swearing.and yell. ing.In one study.U.S.call-center employees reported an average of seven hostile calls a day (Grandey,Dickter,Sin.2004):in another study.75 percent of U.K.airline and railway employees reported that they were verbally abused at least once a month (Boyd,2002).We can speculate that some of these abusive customers come to the situation already emotion. ally primed for a confrontation,either because they are frustrated with the employee's organization (e.g.,they tried unsuccessfully to book tickets from a website)or because of unrelated stress (e.g..a romantic breakup). Stress and discomfort are likely to occur when the required emotions differ from employ. ees'actual emotions.Suppressing emotions or showing false emotions requires cognitive and physiological effort,which is likely to be stressful over the long term.Research indicates that the stress of emotional labor can lead to job dissatisfaction,burnout,and turnover intentions (Grandey,2003;Pugh,Groth,Hennig-Thurau.2011).To reduce the stress of emotional labor,I-0 psychologists recommend that employees use humor,obtain social support from co-workers,and depersonalize the encounter with customers or clients.Rupp and Spencer (2006)suggested that organizations might train employees to regulate their emotions(i.e.. engage in deep acting)when dealing with difficult customers.In addition.a study that included samples from the United States and France found that when employees believed that they had control over their jobs,emotional labor that would otherwise be exhausting was not exhausting at all (Grandey.Fisk.Steiner,2005).The results suggested that if"man. agers in the U.S.and France were to enhance employees'perceptions of job autonomy,the reduction in burnout would be notable"(p.902).Allen.Diefendorff,and Ma (2014)exam. ined differences in emotional labor in Chinese and U.S.service workers.They found that the commonly identified sequence of required display rules to surface acting to burnout was evident in the U.S.sample but not in the Chinese sample.They concluded that the findings on emotional labor that have been identified with Western samples may not apply in other cultures.Additional consideration ofemotional labor in different cultural contexts is needed. particularly as the service sector continues to grow in many countries and more employees Challenge-re山ted are required to provide "service with a smile"(Kim Yoon.2012:Pugh.2001). Recent research has begun to differentiate between challenge-related and hindrance. related stressors.Challenge-related stressors are defined as work demands or circum- stances that,although potentially stressful,offer potential gains(Boswell,Olson-Buchanan, LePine,2004).Examples of challenge-related stressors are the number of projects assigned,time spent at work,volume of work in a given time,and the amount and scope of responsibilities.Hindrance-related stressors are defined as job demands or circumstances that tend to limit or interfere with work achievement.Examples ofhindrance-related stress- ors include the degree to which politics rather than performance affects organizational decisions,administrative red tape,lack of job security.stalled career progression,and even