A Study Of Chinese MTI Students’ Emotional Labor

Scholars introduced the concept of "emotional labor" in a service-oriented society where individuals’ emotions become a commodity.While research on emotional labor has been mostly focused on service providers,very few studies have investigated students as the subject.However,emotional labor exists in abundance in students’ completing academic tasks.Previous studies have shown that emotional labor affects individuals’ job performance and psychological well-being.The past decades have seen psychology provide new insights into translation and interpreting research,yet few studies have examined T＆I students from a perspective of emotion.Therefore,this study seeks to do some exploratory work on MTI students’ emotional labor.The objectives of this study are as follows:to construct the concept of Chinese MTI students’ emotional labor;to investigate and analyze the characteristics of MTI students’ emotional labor through a self-developed scale;and to provide advice for students and institutions to bring out the positive effects of emotional labor and avoid the negative ones.This study comprised three phases.In Phase 1,the author first adopted a qualitative method to construct the concept of MTI students’ emotional labor in the Chinese cultural context through semi-structured interviews,then adopted a quantitative method to develop a scale based on students’emotional labor experiences obtained in the interviews.In Phase 2,a questionnaire survey was administered using the self-developed scale,and the characteristics of MTI students’emotional labor were revealed.In Phase 3,the author analyzed the characteristics of MTI students’ emotional labor through semi-structured interviews with students from two schools and provided emotional support advice for the students and institutions.Overall,this study has shown that:（1）MTI students’ emotional labor is a multidimensional concept,including four dimensions:surface acting,deep acting,genuine expression,and deliberative dissonance acting.MTI students’ emotional labor is a concept of "profile model",and the four dimensions are independent.（2）The dimensions of MTI students’ emotional labor have different natures,and not all of them are effort-consuming processes.Most students’ deep acting and genuine expression behaviors are beneficial for completing academic tasks;the effects of surface acting and deliberative dissonance acting strategies are contextual,as there are both positive and negative ones.（3）The most frequently used emotional labor strategies by MTI students are,in descending order,genuine expression,deep playing,surface playing,and deliberative dissonance acting.There is a significant difference between deep acting and genuine expression behaviors of MTI students’ emotional labor in grade level.（4）Organizational rules affect MTI students’ emotional labor in class and in interpersonal interactions,so institutions should provide targeted support.