Emotional Labour Meets Psychological Well-Being At Work In a Sample Of Nigeria Police Officers: The Role Of Resilience

Abstract

This correlational study anchored on the theoretical assumption of job demand-resources theory investigated moderating role of resilience in emotional labour and psychological well-being at work in a sample of police officers in Enugu urban, Nigeria. Three hundred and seventeen (317) police officers, comprising 197 males and 120 females between the ages of 25 and 59 years (M=39.64; SD=9.03) participated in the study. They were selected via a two-stage (cluster and purposive) sampling technique. The 6-item brief resilience scale, 15-item emotional labour scale, and 25-item index of psychological well-being at work scale were completed by the participants. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that emotion-related role requirements dimension of emotional labour positively predicted interpersonal fit at work, thriving at work, feeling of competency at work, perceived recognition at work and desire for involvement at work components of psychological well-being at work; Surface acting dimension of emotional labour positively predicted only perceived recognition at work; Deep acting dimension of emotional labour positively predicted interpersonal fit at work, thriving at work, perceived recognition at work and desire for involvement at work; Resilience positively predicted interpersonal fit at work, thriving at work, feeling of competency at work, perceived recognition at work and desire for involvement at work components of psychological well-being at work; Resilience moderated the prediction of feeling of competency at work, perceived recognition at work and desire for involvement at work by emotion-related role requirements dimension of emotional labour; Resilience moderated the prediction of interpersonal fit at work and thriving at work by surface acting dimension of emotional labour; Resilience moderated the prediction of interpersonal fit at work, thriving at work, feeling of competency at work and desire for involvement at work by deep acting dimension of emotional labour. In light of these findings, this study has recommended that policy makers in the Nigeria police force should design programmes to consider resilience and emotional labour in order to enhance psychological well-being at work among police officers for effective policing, thus curtailing heightened insecurity in Nigeria.