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Verpaux, R.N. (2018) University of Amsterdam

The influence of basic personality traits on deep acting: investigating the

mediating role of customer orientation

Employees can engage in different acting styles when interacting with customers in the hospitality industry. Prior research suggests that deep actors reach higher levels of CO. This research builds forth on these findings and investigates whether CO mediates the relationship between basic personality traits and deep acting. I hypothesize that the personality traits agreeableness and extraversion are positively related to deep acting. Next to that, I hypothesize that the personality traits agreeableness and extraversion have a positive impact on CO.

Furthermore I propose the CO is positively related to deep acting. I finally hypothesize that the relationship between agreeableness and extraversion and deep acting is mediated by CO. Using a sample of 136 service workers in the hospitality industry, I found that the relationship between agreeableness and extraversion and CO was partially supported. The results show a strong relation between extraversion and CO. The other hypotheses were not supported, which shows that CO does not mediate the relationship between agreeableness and extraversion and deep acting.

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Statement of Originality

This document is written by Student Roman Verpaux who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would first like to thank my thesis advisor D.M. Dekker. She helped me to get started and provided me of advice when I needed it.

In addition, I would like to thank the second reader of my thesis. I’m looking forward to his comments.

Special thanks goes out to my dear friend and supporter Iblis. All the way from France, he came by to see my family and me. During his short, but really pleasant stay he read a major part of my thesis. Furthermore he helped me improving my language and brought my thesis to a next level, which I honestly appreciate.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my lovely parents, grandparents, brother and other family for supporting me throughout my study at the University of Amsterdam.

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1. Introduction

A waitress walks through a restaurant; she is approaching a couple and smiles friendly. She says: ‘Hi, how can I help you?’, and while she is patiently waiting and smiling the guests are stating their needs. She reacts friendly, captures everything in her mind and makes sure they will be served within an acceptable timeframe.

The former situation could be a real life situation where a customer contact employee in the hospitality industry is delivering a service to a customer while displaying the expected emotions. Services can form an opportunity for organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. Put differently, while competition is rising, organizations seek for opportunities to satisfy their customers in ways that exceed levels of their competitors to reach competitive advantage (Grönroos, 1994). To reach superior service levels many organizations are paying increased attention to their market orientation, or more specific to one of its components, customer orientation (CO) (Narver & Slater, 1990). Customers’ perceptions of service quality and customer satisfaction are highly affected by CO (Brady & Cronin, 2001). Customer contact employees have an enormous impact in this area since they are directly in contact with customers (Bitner, Booms & Tetreault ,1990; Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser & Schlesinger, 1994).

Organizations that aim to convey CO to their employees face difficulties, as some employees are more customer-oriented than others. Multiple elements such as personality and service climate explain to some extent why some individuals are more customer-oriented than others (Brown, Mowen, Donavan & Licita, 2002). Although research does explain some of the variance between individuals, little research has focused on service acting in relation to CO. Service acting plays a major role in the area of emotional labor where displaying particular emotions is desired (Ashford & Humphrey,1993). Customer perceptions of CO in the hospitality industry are affected by different styles of acting (Donnavan & Hocutt, 2001). Depending on their level of acting, customer contact employees can be perceived as superficial (surface actors) or on the other hand as sincere and honest (deep actors) (Grandey, 2003).

Research suggests that customer contact employees who act on a deep level are perceived as more customer oriented than those who act on a surface level (Donnavan & Hocutt, 2001). Thus, it

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can be assumed that organizations, especially in the hospitality industry where CO has a tremendous impact, want their employees to act on a deep level to be perceived as highly customer oriented. Although research indicates the impact of deep acting on perceived CO, it is relatively unknown if customer contact employees are aware of that. Some customer contact employees who act on a surface level might perceive themselves as highly customer oriented, while research suggests that in reality deep actors are perceived as customer oriented. According to Donnavan and Hocutt (2001) there are discrepancies between how employees perceive themselves and how customers perceive their CO. This could indicate discrepancies between research and practice, and moreover, a misleading prevailing idea of which behavior is effective and which is not. In practice, firms could reach higher levels of CO if their employees consistently engage in deep acting.

Research lacks in explaining a possible relationship between personality traits on a basic level and one’s disposition to deep act. Further it is unclear whether service workers are applying deep acting as a means of being perceived as customer oriented. In the present research the mediating effect of CO on the relationship between extraversion and agreeableness and deep acting will be

investigated.

In the next sections will be discussed a literature review that builds on previous research. This is followed by a description of how the research was conducted and which methods were used. Then the results are presented and discussed. I conclude with a discussion and conclusion.

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2. Literature review The Concept of Hospitality

Researchers have tried to define ‘hospitality’ to gain insight into its leading elements and functions. However, there is reciprocal disagreement among researchers about how the concept should be defined and used in different contexts. As a consequence, the concept of hospitality is not used unambiguously in the literature of hospitality. After analyzing different definitions, it has been

remarked that many definitions are incomplete or fail to capture the essence of hospitality (Brotherton, 1999; Hemmington, 2007).

For example, various researchers use hospitality to refer to activities that are related to the provision of food, drink and accommodation. Other researchers point out that ‘hospitality’ is used in the literature to refer to activities that relate to the area of hotel and catering (Lashley, 2001). In a work that analyses hospitality as well, it has been noted that within the reception of guests, dimensions such as creativity, generosity, friendliness and excitement and are equally important (Hemmington, 2007).

Although there is thus inconsistency between works that try to define hospitality, a couple characteristics are present in almost every work. Hepple, Kipps and Thompson (1990) reviewed the hospitality concept and identified four characteristics while taking into account different definitions. Hepple et al. (1990, p.308) state:

‘(1) hospitality is conferred on some guest (who is away from their usual home), by some host (who may or may not be in their usual home);

(2) the transmission of hospitality is interactive, (involving some coming together of a provider and a receiver);

(3) hospitality comprises a blend of both tangible and intangible factors;

(4) the host provides for the guest’s security, the guest’s psychological comfort and the guest’s physiological comfort.’

These elements do not constitute a full definition of hospitality, however they can be a solid foundation to understand the main components of the hospitality industry. In the present research, hospitality is viewed from a holistic perspective, which is illustrated by the following definition

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(Cassee & Reuland 1983, p. 144): ‘a harmonious mixture of food, beverage, and/or shelter, a physical environment, and the behaviour and attitude of people.’

Emotional Labor

The characteristics discussed above have in common that they share the aspect of human behavior and human interaction. In practice, for example in the context of a restaurant, a service worker (the host) serves the customer (the receiver). Goods (tangibles) are brought to the customer as a service (the intangibles). This demonstrates the interactive character.

In general, service workers are in charge of the provision of these services. Service workers are thus in many service-related situations the link between the organization and the customer. In this context, service workers represent the organization for which they are working (Ashforth &

Humphrey, 1993). Therefore, service workers are expected to conform their behaviors to organizationally desired behaviors. This includes displaying the appropriate emotions, to meet customer expectations and preferences. The act of displaying organizationally desired emotions in interpersonal transactions is defined as emotional labor (Grandey, 2000).

It has been argued that in many service transactions individuals are expected to show

appropriate emotional reactions (Hochschild, 1979, 1983). Following these expectations, display rules have arisen that have set the norm for expressing appropriate emotions in all kinds of settings

(Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993).

The literature provides multiple views upon emotional labor. Hochschild (1983, p.7) defined emotional labor as “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display”. This definition differs from Ashforth’s and Humphrey’s (1993) as it states that one has to ‘manage feelings’, ‘to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display’. Ashforth and Humprey (1993) argue that one does not has to manage feelings to meet display rules, because one can conform display rules by displaying the desired emotions without actually feeling them, which is called surface acting.

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Display rules

Ekman (1973) introduced the concept of display rules to explain “the socially culturally variable learned rules regarding the control and management of facial expressions”. The author investigated how culture and society affect people’s facial expressions in different situations. In the context of the hospitality industry employees learn which kind of emotions are appropriate in a certain service transaction and how and when they should express them. The literature indicates that, in the context of hospitality, certain emotions or behaviors are required to conform to the norms of hospitality in general, or more specific, to satisfy guests (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). Examples of emotions that are associated with hospitality are for example friendliness, generosity, excitement and helpfulness (Hemmington, 2007).

Similarly, researchers have indicated that the expression of certain emotions is desired in other areas. Funeral directors are generally expected to express soberness and sadness (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987) whereas flight attendants are expected to behave cheerful and friendly (Hochschild, 1979, 1983). Jobs thus require employees to express appropriate emotions to conform societal and cultural norms, and moreover, to meet customer expectations.

Surface acting and deep acting

As discussed previously, employees in the service encounter are expected to display the desired emotions (Ashford & Humphrey, 1993). However, discrepancy can occur, as in particular

interpersonal transactions, service workers are expected to express emotions that they do not actually feel (Grandey, 2003). Yet, service workers can conform display rules through the use of ‘surface acting’ or ‘deep acting’ (Hochschild, 1979, 1983). In surface acting employees display an emotion that is not actually felt. In other words surface acting involves pretending emotions by adjusting facial expression to conform expectations. In contrast to surface acting, deep acting focuses on the

modification of inner feelings by an employee to conform display rules. This means that an employee tries to experience or feel the required emotions, which results in more authentic displays. Deep acting is therefore considered to enhance perceptions of certain expressed personality traits or emotions such as friendliness (Grandey, Fisk, Mattila, Jansen & Sideman, 2005).

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The way an employee feels is not always consistent with the feelings they are expected to express. This is defined as emotional dissonance. Emotional dissonance has received great attention in the literature. Researchers have investigated the effects of acting styles on employee well being in terms of stress, turnover rate, depression and burnout (Hochschild, 1983; Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002; Babakus, Yavas & Ashill, 2010). In addition, the literature provides evidence of the relationship between surface- and deep acting and perceived levels of service quality. The literature indicates that deep acting positively affects customer satisfaction (Chi, Grandey, Diamond & Krimmel, 2011). The authors reveal that when employees engage in deep acting, waiters in restaurants receive more tips, which is an indicator of higher evaluations by customers.

Service Quality

For customers it is difficult to evaluate the quality of the provided services as they are relatively intangible by nature (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). As a consequence, customers often base their evaluation of service quality on the attitudes and behavior of employees.

Researchers have developed various models to measure service quality and to identify its

determinants. Most of these models built forth on the SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1988). This 22-item scale originates from a model that proposes that customers evaluate service quality on five distinct dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. In this model both tangible and intangible aspects of a service delivery are measured. Hennig-Thurau (2004) notes that three out of five dimensions of the model address employee behavior. This is not surprising as services are characterized by high levels of interaction between customers and employees. Shostack (1977, p.79) presented the following, which illustrates the impact of human behavior in service encouters: ‘Services are often inextricably entwined with their human

representatives. In many fields, a person is perceived to be the service.’

Hennig-Thurau remarked that most models that investigate the aspects of employee behavior and its effects on service quality are from the perspective of the customer. “Therefore, a service provider gains only limited information on the managerial action that is needed to select and train their service employees” (Hennig, Thurau, 2004, p. 461). This is illustrated by the fact that quality is

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evaluated from two perspectives. That is, the perceived quality from a customers’ point of view, and the provided quality from an organizational point of view. Customers compare their expectations with their perceptions of the delivered services, which can result in satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Smith & Houston, 1982).

Customer Orientation (CO)

The literature suggests that high levels of service quality are positively related to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, which affects a firm’s success in terms of profitability for instance (Hennig-Thurau, 2004; Sureshchandar, Rajendran & Anantharaman, 2002). CO has received attention in the context of the service- and hospitality industry as several researchers indicate that it is one of the main determinants of perceived service quality (Hennig-Thurau, 2004).

In the literature, CO is both defined on organizational level as on individual level. CO on the organizational level represents one of the components of market orientation (Narver & Slater, 1990). Market orientation proposes that an organization’s culture is continuously pointed towards the creation of superior value for buyers (Narver & Slater, 1990). Organizations that have a market orientation align their strategy with the marketing concept (Kohli & Jaworski 1990). This means that

organizational culture is focused on satisfying the needs of the target market in the long term (Kotler & Keller, 2016). Nevertheless, researchers point out that a market orientation can only be effective if implemented successfully. Given the intangible and interactive nature of services, the marketing concept is implemented through employees, as they interact with the customers in the workplace during interpersonal transactions (Donavan, Brown & Mowen, 2004; Zablah, Franke, Brown & Bartholomew, 2012).

Since research suggests that CO positively influences customer satisfaction, organizations seek for customer-oriented employees. Brown, Mowen, Donavan and Licata (2002, p. 111) define CO on individual level as an “employee's tendency or predisposition to meet customer needs in an on-the-job context.” Researchers have noted that employees differ in their disposition to meet customers’ needs, which explains to some extent why some employees perform better than others (Brown et al, 2002). The present research focuses on CO from the employees’ point of view.

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CO as a Behavioral Construct and as a Surface-Level Trait

In the literature, individual-level CO is viewed from two perspectives. That is, as a behavioral concept (Saxe & Weitz, 1982), and as a surface-level personality trait (Brown, Mowen, Donavan & Licata, 2002).

The behavioral concept proposes that CO is “the degree to which salespeople practice the marketing concept by trying to help their customers make purchase decisions that will satisfy

customer needs.” (Saxe & Weitz, 1982, p. 344). As discussed earlier, exercising the marketing concept refers to focusing on satisfying customers in the long term by meeting their needs and preferences at any time (Desphande, Farley & Webster, 1993). Through behaving customer-oriented, salespeople try to satisfy customers in the long term. According to Saxe and Weitz (1982), this also involves avoiding behaviors that might cause customer dissatisfaction.

In contrast to Saxe and Weitz (1982), Brown et al. (2002) propose CO as a surface-level trait. Mowen and Spears (1999) define surface traits as the way individuals tend to act within particular situational contexts. They propose that individuals behave in specific ways as a consequence of the pressure that a particular situation exerts. For instance, in the context of the hospitality industry, the role demands of a job as a waiter in a restaurant. Thus, the characteristics of a person and a job in combination affect customer-oriented behaviors. From this perspective, it may be that training has no effect on employee CO since customer-oriented behavior may not be a natural aspect of ones

personality (Farrell and Oczkowoki, 2009).

The literature identifies different conceptualizations of the construct of CO of service employees (COSE). According to Brown et al. (2002) it is a two-dimensional construct. Hennig-Thurau (2004) opts for a three-dimensional construct, whereas Donavan, Brown and Mowen (2004) argue that COSE consists of five dimensions. In the present research the latter approach is applied.

The outcomes of CO have been investigated by many researchers. In service area researchers found a relationship between CO and several job outcomes such as employee performance and propensity to leave (Babakus, Yavas & Ashill, 2009). Also, studies indicate that CO affects job stress and job engagement (Zablah et al., 2012; Donavan et al., 2004), moreover the literature shows the

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positive relationship between CO and Job Satisfaction, and CO and Affective Organizational Commitment (Karatepe, Yavas, & Babakus, 2007).

Personality Traits as Determinants of CO

CO is considered to be one of the predictors of service quality. According to the literature, CO is determined by several factors such as the service climate of an organization (i.e. organizational culture and leadership) and “basic” personality traits. The latter is investigated in the present research. With regard to the conceptualization of CO and its use in the literature, Gazzoli, Hancer and Kim (2013) remark that constructs similar to CO, such as service orientation and guest orientation, have been identified, and researchers confuse one with the another (for service orientation see: Hogan, Hogan & Bush, 1984).

Both service performance as the previously mentioned constructs are considered to be determined to large extent by personality traits. According to Hogan, Hogan and Bush (1984) the quality of interactions between employees and customers is affected by a combination of behaviors and attitudes (i.e. kindness, helpfulness and cooperativeness). Moreover, Hurley (1998a) suggests a service worker’s performance is related to the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness of the Big Five personality scale. Brown et al. (2002) found that personality traits in combination with job characteristics predict CO of an employee. Barrick and Mount (2005) note that, with to regard to the interaction of employees with customers, agreeableness is considered to be a crucial personality trait.

Constructing the Conceptual Framework

Overview

By building forth on the findings discussed in the literature review, several hypotheses have been developed. I expect a relationship between the variables agreeableness and extraversion and deep acting, and furthermore I propose that CO operates as mediator between these variables. The

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and extraversion score higher levels of CO. I further propose that high levels of agreeableness and extraversion predict high levels of deep acting, but this is mediated via CO.

Effect of basic personality traits agreeableness and extraversion on the emotional labor strategy deep acting.

As a consequence of the intangible nature of the hospitality industry, employees are frequently interacting with customers. During these interactions employees are expected to display the desired emotions and show the desired behaviors, which is defined as emotional labor (Hochschid, 1979). With regard to the hospitality industry, Lashley and Morrison (2000, p. 15) state: ‘hospitality requires the guest to feel that the host is being hospitable through feelings of generosity, a desire to please and a genuine regard for the guest as individual.’ An employee may confer hospitality naturally as his/her personality traits are similar to the required behaviors. On the other hand, an employee’s real feelings are not always in line with the desired behaviors and emotions. Therefore, an employee can engage in surface or deep acting to yet conform display rules (Hochschild, 1983). As discussed earlier, deep acting is an emotion regulation strategy that involves the modification of inner feelings to match the expressed emotions (Hochschild, 1983; Grandey, 2000).

According to several researchers, the personality trait agreeableness is antecedent to the emotional labor strategy deep acting. Agreeable people are described as trusting and forgiving, courteous, helpful, generous and cooperative (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Diefendorff, Croyle and Gosserand (2005) suggest, that because agreeable people care about others’ well-being and strive to maintain positive relationships, they engage more easily in deep acting. In other words, employees that score high levels of agreeableness naturally change internal feelings (or naturally put more effort in managing internal feelings) to match their emotional display. Austin, Dore and O’Donovan (2008) and Diefendorff et al. (2005) found that agreeableness is positively correlated with deep acting.

In addition to agreeableness, extraversion is considered antecedent to deep acting. Similar to agreeableness, Kim (2008) found that extraversion is correlated with deep acting. Extravert people are described as talkative, sociable and active (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Also, extraversion refers to the extent to which one is seeking for arousal, positive affect, and expression. Given the character of

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service encounters where display rules have high value, it makes sense that these personality traits are antecedent to deep acting.

With regard to the mentioned findings, I propose that agreeableness and extraversion are positively related to deep acting. Therefore:

H1. The basic personality traits agreeableness and extraversion are positively related to deep acting.

Effect of basic personality traits extraversion and agreeableness on CO.

CO refers to the extent to which an employee is inclined to meet customers’ needs during interpersonal transactions (Brown et al., 2002). Several studies indicate that CO has construct equivalence with service orientation (i.e. Hennig-Thurau, 2004). Furthermore research revealed determinants of CO, and those are similar to the determinants of service orientation. Therefore I view service orientation and CO as similar constructs.

Homburg, Hoyer and Fassnacht (2002) argue that people differ in the extent to which they are service oriented, and that this is explained by certain personality traits. Hurley (1998) states that personality influences employee service performance, and more specifically, that superior service providers score high on the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness. Other research indicates that people who score high on personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability are more inclined to behave customer-oriented, e.g. in services (Brown et al., 2002) or in healthcare (Lanjanda & Patterson, 2009). Frei and McDaniel (1998) found that agreeableness was positively related to service orientation. The present research builds forth on these findings that support the positive relationship between the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness and CO, thus:

H2. Extraversion and agreeableness are positively related to CO.

Effect of CO (self-rated) on deep acting.

The provided services during interpersonal transactions are often a customer’s only impression of a firm’s service quality (Hartline, Maxham & O’McKee, 2000). In addition, the behavior and attitudes

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of employees affect the quality of transactions between customers and employees (Hogan, Hogan & Bush, 1984). Furthermore, Bitner, Booms and Tetreault (1990) show that the behavior of employees in services affect customers’ perceptions of the provided services. The previously mentioned findings show the crucial impact of employee behavior on the quality and outcomes of service transactions. For example, customer-oriented behavior in service transactions has been argued to positively influence perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Hennig-Thurau, 2004; Groth, Hennig-Thurau & Walsh, 2009).

According to the control theory, employees are more likely to follow display rules when displaying the desired or specified emotions has high value (Diefendorff & Gosserand, 2003). An employee high in CO, continuously strives for meeting customers’ needs in the best possible way. In addition, individuals high in CO are intrinsically motivated to engage with customers. Thus, showing the appropriate emotions and behaviors feels natural, or does not requires a lot of effort of those individuals. Since surface acting leads to inauthentic and insincere expressions (Grandey, 2003; Grandey et al., 2005) an employee may tend to avoid surface acting, because this behavior is not in harmony with his personal goals.

In contrast to surface acting, deep acting is associated with expressing sincere and authentic emotions. In general, positive displays are considered general job-related requirements (Diefendorff, Richard & Croyle, 2006). Grandey et al. (2002) argue that by expressing authenticity and genuine warmth employees can exceed those requirements. When deep acting, an employee puts effort in the regulation of his/her feelings to be able to show more authentic expressions. An employee who scores high in CO, may thus engage in deep acting in order to be perceived as customer-oriented.

A study by Groth, Hennig-Thurau and Walsh (2009) reveals that, indeed, deep actors are perceived as more customer-oriented than surface actors. The authors argue that customers are able to detect efforts of deep acting, and further, that the level of perceived deep acting leads to higher perceptions of CO. This is explained by the fact that deep actors are associated with sincerity and honesty, which helps exceeding customers’ perceptions of service quality. Thus, in order to satisfy customers by meeting or exceeding their expectations, I propose that high customer-oriented service

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workers are more inclined to deep act. I hypothesize that customer contact employees who score high levels of CO score higher levels of deep acting:

H3. CO is positively related to deep acting

Effect of agreeableness and extraversion on deep acting mediated via CO

Assuming that H1, H2 and H3 are true one can suggest that CO mediates the effect of extraversion and agreeableness on deep acting. Both CO and deep acting have in common that they are predicted by the same personality traits. As stated before, conforming display rules has high value in the service transactions because it affects perceptions of service quality. Findings by Groth et al. (2009) suggest that deep actors reach higher levels of perceived CO. One may thus suggest that employees use deep acting as a means to be perceived as customer-oriented.

Studies indicate that surface actors meet customers’ expectations in service encounters, but do not exceed expectations. Since surface acting does not harm service quality, and customers can be satisfied by employees that engage in surface acting, why would employees put effort in transforming their emotions? Thus, for employees low in CO, there seems no reason to deep act. Therefore I propose that employees in the service encounter engage in deep acting in order to be more customer-oriented. However, because an individual’s personality may incline towards deep acting, regardless of his CO, a full mediation effect would not be a logical finding. Therefore I hypothesize:

H4. The positive relationship between extraversion and agreeableness and deep acting is partially mediated by CO.

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The mediating effect was investigated through quantitative research which used surveys to collect the data. Multiple variables, such as Extraversion, Agreeableness, Deep Acting en self-rated CO were investigated. Figure 1 exhibits the theoretical model.

Figure 1: Conceptual model of the mediating effect of CO on the relationship between Extraversion and Agreeableness and Deep Acting.

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Customer Orientation

Deep Acting

H1

H2

H3

H4

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3. Methods

3.1 Design and sample

The data was collected through an online survey that was published via social media. The

questionnaires were conducted via Uva Qualtrics. The questionnaires were pointed to employees with direct customer contact, working in the hospitality industry. Participants filled in the questionnaire online and results were collected automatically. A total of 136 questionnaires were collected.

3.1.1 Participants

Participants were employed in different sectors varying from the catering industry, tourism, theme and attraction parks and airports. The category catering industry was most represented in the sample (73,5%). Age varied from 14 (youngest participant) to 58 (oldest participant). Employee’s job

experience ranged from 1 month to 35 years, with an average job experience of 28 years (M = 27,29).

3.1.2 Reliabilities and correlations

Table 1 represents the means (M), standard deviations (SD), correlations and reliabilities of all variables. All reliabilities were satisfactory. The reliability of the deep acting scale was lowest (𝜶𝜶 = 0.614). Further, the reliabilities of the scales measuring the personality traits agreeableness and extraversion were good, with respectively (𝜶𝜶 = 0. 713) and (𝜶𝜶 = 0. 782). Reliability of the CO scale was highest (𝜶𝜶 = 0. 890).

Table 1. Description and correlations between the variables (Cronbach's Alphas on diagonal)

M SD 1 2 3 4 1. Deep Acting 2.57 0.86 (.614) 2. Agreeableness 3.33 0.51 -.097 (.713) 3. Extraversion 4. CO 3.65 3.85 0.53 0.52 .019 .083 0.048 .117 (.782) 0.420** (.890) Note. N=136. ** P<0.01

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3.2 Measurements

Dependent variable deep acting

This variable was measured through a 6-item scale that builds forth on the emotional labor (EL) from Brotheridge and Lee (2003). Researchers constructed, and validated, a Dutch version of this scale (Näring, Briët & Brouwers, 2007). The scale ranged from (1) never, to (5) always. A high score represents a high level of surface acting or deep acting. An example of an item for surface acting is: ‘Pretend to have emotions that I don’t really have.’ Or in Dutch: ‘Ik zet een masker op om voor mijn werk de juiste emoties te tonen.’

An example of an item to measure deep acting is: ‘Try to actually experience the emotions that I must show’. Or in Dutch: ‘Ik doe moeite om de emoties te voelen die ik aan anderen moet tonen’

Independent variable personality traits extraversion and agreeableness

In order to measure extraversion and agreeableness 32 items were used adapted from the HEXACO-PI-R personality scale (self report form) by Lee and Ashton (2004). The Dutch version of this questionnaire was used.

An example of an item to measure extraversion is: ‘I feel reasonably satisfied with myself overall.’ Or in Dutch: ‘Alles bij elkaar heb ik wel een tevreden gevoel over mijzelf.’

An example of an item to measure agreeableness is: ‘I rarely hold a grudge, even against people who have badly wronged me.’ Or in Dutch: ‘Ik houd zelden een wrok tegen iemand, zelfs niet als ik erg slecht behandeld ben.’

Mediating variable CO

To measure self-rated CO a four-dimensional 7-item scale designed by Donavan, Brown and Mowen (2004) was adapted. This scale consists of four different dimensions that consists of 13 items which covers the following dimensions: need to pamper dimension, need to read customers need dimension, need to deliver dimension, need for personal relationship dimension. Because the complete survey was in Dutch, this scale was translated. The backward-forward translation method was used. After I translated the items from English to Dutch, the Dutch items were sent to four different people who

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translated them back to English. The provided translations in English were compared to the original items. Except for some minor adjustments that had to be done, every item had been translated correctly. Some items were perfectly translated back to the original item. Most translations contained synonyms, which did not change the meaning of the items, except for one question. The process was repeated for this question until the right the item was correctly translated.

The scale ranged from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree, so a high score represents high CO. Examples of items are: ‘I enjoy nurturing my service customers’, and ‘I generally know what service customers want before they ask’. Translations of these items in Dutch are: ‘Ik geniet ervan om mijn gasten/ klanten te verzorgen’, and ‘Ik weet over het algemeen wat gasten/klanten willen voordat ze het vragen’

3.3 Procedure

The questionnaire was distributed online via social media. This enabled a large and inexpensive sample in short a timeframe, considering the financial - and time constraints of the research. The questionnaire was pointed towards employees in the hospitality industry with direct customer contact (i.e. a waiter in a restaurant). A holistic approach of the concept of hospitality was applied. Therefore the following definition of hospitality was adapted (Cassee & Reuland 1983, p. 144): ‘a harmonious mixture of food, beverage, and/or shelter, a physical environment, and the behaviour and attitude of people.’

Regardless of variables such as age, gender and experience, respondents could fill in the questionnaire. Before starting the survey participants were informed of the following: duration of the survey and validation of their privacy. Confidential usage of the data was assured explicitly and further it was mentioned that answers were impossible to trace back to any individual. Then

participants were asked to fill in: gender, age, the specific industry in which they are working within the hospitality industry (e.g. hotel) and years of experience.

After removing incomplete questionnaires, the final sample contained 136

respondents (69% female). One participant did not fill in his gender type. Since the participant completed the rest of the survey, this survey was not excluded from the final sample.

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Questionnaires were filled in either via Facebook or via a personal link that was sent through social media (Facebook and Whatsapp) or e-mail. Data was collected in Qualtrics and exported to Excel. Then, the data was cleaned through removing incomplete questionnaires and removing questionnaires that were filled in by respondents who did not belong to the population. The latter was done in the following way. First, the answers of question 4, "in which of the following sectors of the hospitality industry are you working at this moment?” were scanned. This question consisted of 5 closed-end answers and 1 open-end answer in order to enable participants to fill in an additional or more niche group in which they were working. The answers in the open-end section were scanned in order to detect respondents who did not belong to the target group. That is, respondents who filled in a sector or job that does not correspond to the characteristics of the hospitality industry. After the dataset was cleaned, 136 respondents remained. The dataset was exported to SPSS to do the analyses.

3.4 analytical plan

To test for mediation, 4 regressions will be conducted by using SPSS: 3 single and 1 multiple

regression. First hypothesis 1 will be tested, the relation between agreeableness, extraversion and deep acting. Agreeableness and extraversion will be the independent variable and deep acting will be the dependent variable. Second it will be tested whether extraversion and agreeableness predict CO (self-rated). Third it will be tested whether CO predicts deep acting. A fourth regression will be done to check whether extraversion and agreeableness and CO together predict deep acting better than extraversion and agreeableness alone. If necessary, a Sobel test will be done.

4. Results

Overall, most hypothesis were not supported. However, a strong, significant relationship was found between extraversion and CO.

Neither agreeableness nor extraversion were significantly correlated with deep acting, which was not expected, respectively r (136) = -.097, p = .263 and r (136) = .019, p = .824. Further,

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expected related to CO r (136) = .420, p < 0,0001. Unexpectedly CO was not related to deep acting r (136) = .083, p = .338.

Regression analysis

Four regressions were done to investigate the four hypotheses in order to check for the mediating effect of CO. In the first model agreeableness and extraversion were entered as independent variables and deep acting as dependent variable. In the second model agreeableness and extraversion were entered as independent variables and CO as dependent variable. In the third model CO was entered as independent variable and deep acting as dependent variable. In the fourth, and last model,

agreeableness, extraversion and CO were entered together as independent variables and deep acting as dependent variable in order to investigate the mediating effect of CO. Table 2 exhibits the results of all four models. It exhibits the coefficients, standard errors (SE) and betas.

Table 2: Regression results testing mediation

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Dependent variable Deep acting CO Deep Acting Deep Acting

Coefficient SE Beta Coefficient SE Beta Coefficient SE Beta Coefficient SE Beta

Constant 2,982*** 0,696 2,015*** 0,383 2,044*** 0,550 2,638*** 0,764 Agreeableness -0,167 0,147 -0,098 0,100 0,081 0,097 -0,184 0,148 -0,108 Extraversion 0,039 0,140 0,024 0,410*** 0,077 0,415 -0,031 0,154 -0,019 CO 0,136 0,142 0,08 3 0,170 0,157 0,104 𝐑𝐑𝟐𝟐 0,010 0,186 0,007 0,019 Note: N=138 *** p <.001 Model 1

Unexpectedly, the results showed that agreeableness was negatively related to deep acting, however this relationship was not significant (β = -.098, t = -1.132, p = .259). As expected, model 1 shows that extraversion was positively correlated to deep acting, but this relationship was not significant (β = .024, 𝑡𝑡 = .276, 𝑝𝑝 = .783). There is thus not enough evidence to support hypothesis 1, the positive relationship between agreeableness and extraversion and deep acting.

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Model 2

According the results, agreeableness was positively related to CO, but this relationship was not significant (β = .097, 𝑡𝑡 = 1.239, 𝑝𝑝 = .218). Further, extraversion was positively related to CO and this relationship was highly significant (β = .415, 𝑡𝑡 = 5,303, 𝑝𝑝 < 0,0001). This means that not enough evidence was found to support Hypothesis 2, the positive relationship between agreeableness and extraversion and CO. However, since the results showed that extraversion was significantly positively related to CO, Hypothesis 2 was partially supported.

Model 3

The results show that CO is positively related to deep acting, but this relationship is not significant (β = .083, 𝑡𝑡 = .963, 𝑝𝑝 = .338). This means that CO is not positively related to deep acting, which means that Hypothesis 3 is not supported.

Model 4

Both agreeableness, extraversion and CO were entered as predictor variables in order to investigate the mediating effect of CO on deep acting. Model 4 shows that agreeableness was negatively related to deep acting, but not significant (β = −.108, 𝑡𝑡 = −1.242, 𝑝𝑝 = .216 ). Extraversion was negatively related to deep acting as well, but not significant (β = −.019, 𝑡𝑡 = −.202 , 𝑝𝑝 = .841). CO was positively related to deep acting, as expected, but not significant neither (β = .104, 𝑡𝑡 = 1.083 , 𝑝𝑝 = .281 ). The results showed that there is no mediating effect, which was hypothesized. This means that hypothesis 4 is not supported; there is no mediating effect of CO on deep acting.

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Figure 2

In figure 2 the hypotheses and corresponding betas are presented. This model represents the overall effect (H1) and mediation effect (H4). Figure 2 further contains the individual betas for agreeableness (β𝐴𝐴) and extraversion (β𝐸𝐸) in H1 and H2, and significant results are indicated (***)

Figure 2. Path of agreeableness and extraversion to deep acting, mediated by self rated CO.

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Customer orientation Deep Acting

β

𝐸𝐸

= .415***

β

𝐴𝐴

= .097

β = .104

β = .083

H2

H3

H4

H1

β

𝐸𝐸

= .024

β

𝐴𝐴

= -.098

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5. Discussion Summary

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which service employees apply deep acting in the context of interpersonal transactions in the hospitality industry. I suggested that implementing the marketing concept is achieved most efficiently through deep acting as deep actors reach higher levels of perceived CO (and therefore perceived service quality) than surface actors. I proposed that within the context of the hospitality industry, CO and deep acting are important constructs that are determined by basic personality traits and by the pressure that a particular job exerts. My results did not support each of my hypotheses. The relationship between extraversion and CO was supported.

Very little research investigated emotional labor strategies in the hospitality industry, and more specifically the mediating effect of CO on deep acting. Research indicates that high levels of deep acting reach are related to higher levels of perceived CO. I expected thus a positive relationship between the extent of CO and level of deep acting. Furthermore, prior research identified determinants of CO that are similar to the determinants of deep acting. Unexpectedly, both the mediating effect of CO as the relationship between CO and deep acting were not supported. In addition, the results revealed no relationship between agreeableness and customer (service) orientation, which is

inconsistent with the work of Brown et al. (2002) and Frei and McDaniel (1998). However the results show that extraversion is positively related to CO, which is consistent with the work of (Brown et al., 2002). Considering the interactive character of the hospitality industry, it makes sense that extraverted people who are outgoing and talkative are more likely to show customer-oriented behaviors.

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Practical implications

The present study suggests that, in contrast to agreeablesness, extraversion is related to CO. Therefore, managers should identify both the surface trait CO as the deeper personality traits in the employee selection process. As a result managers will be better able to select customer-oriented personnel, which will help them to improve the service quality the organization is providing. The CO of service employees exerts a strong effect on customer satisfaction and commitment resulting in customers’ loyalty. (Hennig-Thurau, 2004).

Further, the analyses did not reveal a relationship between CO and deep acting. Studies indicate that deep actors reach higher levels of perceived CO and perceived service quality. However, the findings suggest that employees can still improve in interpersonal transactions. This study

indicates, and managers should be aware of this, that many employees do not deep act, although these employees consider themselves customer-oriented. Although surface acting does not harm service quality, deep acting exceeds customer expectations, which is likely to be the objective of every manager. Research indicates that deep acting results in higher monetary rewards (i.e. tips) (Chi, Grandey, Diamon & Krimmel, 2011)

Suggestions for future researches

The present study investigated basic personality traits, CO and deep acting in a broad area of job activities like restaurants, bars, hotels, airports and attraction parks. This study suggests that there is no relationship between CO and deep acting. However, it may be the case that employees in some

particular areas of the hospitality industry apply deep acting to a larger extent than employees in other areas.

Furthermore, this research did not control for the effect of age and experience in the

hospitality industry on deep acting. Experienced service workers that have been providing services for a long time might be better in the modification of their feelings to express sincere and honest emotions in the interaction with customers. That is similar for CO as experienced employees might show more customer-oriented behavior. For instance, Kim, McCahon and Miller (2003) propose that employees who have been in services for a longer period show higher levels of service orientation.

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This study suggests that there is no relationship between basic personality traits agreeableness and extraversion and deep acting. Future research should investigate whether this indication is reliable since other research suggests the opposite (see: ). Furthermore, since deep acting is important both in the context of employees’ well-being and in the context of employees’ performance, it is interesting to further investigate the determinants of deep acting.

Future research should also address the construct of CO and deep acting from a customers’ perspective. The literature supports this as researchers indicate discrepancies between self-rated level of CO (deep acting) and perceived levels of CO (deep acting).

Limitations

This research used self-rated evaluations of CO. Within this research design, the perceptions of the customers were not measured. This would have increased the reliability of the research.

Just as people differ in their profession, people differ in their ability or skill to deep act. This research only measured the effort of deep acting and surface acting from the service worker view. Within this research design the perceptions of the customers were not measured. This would have increased the reliability of the research. As stated previously, perceptions of deep acting (read honest, authentic expression of emotions) affect service quality. In practice, the perceptions of the guests or customers matter, therefore a two-sided research perspective should be applied. To my knowledge, only Groth et al. (2009) investigated so far both employee CO and the corresponding customer perceptions in interpersonal service transactions.

Conclusion

Human behavior is a key element in the service encounter. Delivering superior services is crucial to exceed customer expectations and satisfy them. An employee’s level of CO and disposition to deep act predict customer perceptions of service quality and customer loyalty. Therefore organizations must seek for employees high in CO and disposition to deep act. Although research indicates that deep actors reach higher levels of perceived CO, this study does not confirm that high customer-oriented employees more often engage in deep acting. However, this study indicates that extraversion is a

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determinant of CO. This finding is highly relevant information in relation to the selection process that managers are dealing with. Implementation of the marketing concept is achieved through selecting the best customer-oriented employees. Until now, no scale is developed that can be used by organizations to check for the behaviors that potential employees are most likely to show in the service encounter. However such a tool would offer large advantages to compete in the constantly growing industry of hospitality.

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Appendix

Beste deelnemer,

Allereerst willen wij u hartelijk bedanken voor uw deelname aan dit onderzoek.

Wij zijn twee derdejaars bedrijfskunde studenten aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Voor onze scriptie doen wij een onderzoek naar medewerkers in de gastvrijheidssector.

Het onderzoek zal ongeveer 5 minuten van uw tijd in beslag nemen. Deelname is volledig anoniem en de resultaten worden geheel anoniem verwerkt. De vragen zijn op geen enkele manier terug te leiden naar een individu.

Mocht u nog vragen of opmerkingen hebben over het onderzoek, neem dan contact met ons op via Roman.Verpaux@student.uva.nl of Bo.vanderWilk@student.uva.nl

Nogmaals hartelijk dank voor uw deelname aan dit onderzoek.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Roman Verpaux en Bo van der Wilk

Hexaco scale: Instructie:

Op de volgende pagina’s vindt u een aantal uitspraken over uzelf. U wordt verzocht de uitspraken te lezen en aan te geven in hoeverre u het met deze uitspraken eens dan wel oneens bent. Geef uw antwoord in de ruimte naast de vraag met behulp van de volgende antwoordcategorieën:

1. 1 = Helemaal mee oneens 2. 2 = Mee oneens

3. 3 = Neutraal (Noch mee eens, noch mee oneens) 4. 4 = Mee eens

5. 5 = Helemaal mee eens Agreeableness (verdraagzaamheid)

3, 27, 51R, 75R 9R, 33, 57, 81 15R, 39, 63R, 87R 21R, 45, 69, 93R

3. Ik houd zelden een wrok tegen iemand, zelfs niet als ik erg slecht behandeld ben.

27. Mijn houding ten aanzien van mensen die mij slecht behandeld hebben is ‘vergeven en vergeten’. 51R Als iemand mij eens bedrogen heeft, zal ik altijd achterdochtig blijven.

75R Ik vind het moeilijk iemand volledig te vergeven die gemeen tegen mij is geweest. 9R* Mensen vertellen me soms dat ik te kritisch op anderen ben.

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34* Als ik anderen ontmoet, ben ik meestal diegene die het contact op gang brengt. 57* Ik heb de neiging andere mensen mild te beoordelen.

81* Zelfs als mensen veel fouten maken, zeg ik zelden iets negatiefs. 15R* Mensen vertellen me soms dat ik te koppig ben.

39* Ik ben gewoonlijk vrij flexibel in mijn opvattingen als mensen het met mij oneens zijn. 63R* Als mensen mij vertellen dat ik het mis heb, is mijn eerste reactie dit aan te vechten. 87R Ik vind het moeilijk compromissen te sluiten als ik denk dat ik gelijk heb

21R* Mensen vinden me een heethoofd.

45 Ik ben zelden boos, zelfs als mensen me behoorlijk slecht behandelen. 69* De meeste mensen hebben de neiging sneller boos te worden dan ik. 93R Ik vind het moeilijk niet boos te worden als mensen mij beledigen. *: vragen die onderdeel zijn van de hexaco-60

R: vragen die hercodeerd moeten worden, 5 - > 1, 4 -> 2, 3 -> 3, 2 -> 4, 1 -> 5

Extraversion (extraversie) – Deze schaal heeft Bo ook in haar vragenlijst (die voegen we dus samen).

4, 28, 52R, 76R 10R, 34, 58, 82R 16R, 40, 64, 88 22, 46, 70R, 94R 4* Alles bij elkaar heb ik wel een tevreden gevoel over mijzelf.

28 Ik denk dat de meeste mensen sommige aspecten van mijn persoonlijkheid wel mogen. 52R* Ik heb het gevoel dat ik een impopulair persoon ben.

76R* Soms heb ik het gevoel dat ik een waardeloos persoon ben. 10R* Ik geef zelden mijn mening in groepsbijeenkomsten

34* Als ik anderen ontmoet, ben ik meestal diegene die het contact op gang brengt. 58* Als ik met andere mensen samen ben, ben ik vaak de woordvoerder van de groep. 82R Ik voel mijzelf niet erg op mijn gemak als ik voor een groep mensen sta te praten. 16R Ik vermijd prietpraat.

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64* Ik heb liever een baan waarin men veel met andere mensen omgaat dan één waarin men alleen dient te werken.

88* Het eerste dat ik altijd doe als ik ergens nieuw ben, is vrienden maken. 22 Ik heb vrijwel altijd veel energie.

46* De meeste dagen voel ik me blij en optimistisch.

70R Mensen vertellen me vaak dat ik wat vrolijker zou moeten zijn.

94R* De meeste mensen zijn levenslustiger en dynamischer dan ik over het algemeen ben. *: vragen die onderdeel zijn van de hexaco-60

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Customer Orientation

5-points scale strongly disagree - strongly agree Need to Pamper orientation

I enjoy nurturing my service customers

I take pleasure in making every customer feel like he/she is the only customer Every customer’s problem is important to me

I thrive on giving individual attention to each customer Need to Read Customer’s Needs Dimensions

I naturally read the customer to identify his/her needs

I generally know what service customers want before they ask. I enjoy anticipating the needs of service customers.

I am inclined to read the service customer’s body language to determine how much interaction to give

Need to deliver dimension

I enjoy delivering the intented services on time

I find a great deal of satisfaction in completing tasks precisely for customers I enjoy having the confidence to provide good service

Need for personal relationship dimension I enjoy remembering my customers’ names I enjoy getting to know my customers personally Translation of the scale above

Noodzaak om te verwennen dimensie

Ik geniet ervan om mijn service klanten te verzorgen

Ik vind het een genoegen om elke klant het gevoel te geven dat hij / zij de enige klant is Elke klant zijn probleem is belangrijk voor mij

Ik gedij door het geven van individuele aandacht aan elke klant Noodzaak om de behoeften van de klant te lezen

Ik lees de klant makkelijk om zijn / haar behoeften te identificeren

Ik weet over het algemeen wat service klanten willen voordat ze het vragen. Ik geniet ervan om te anticiperen op de behoeften van service klanten.

Ik ben geneigd om de lichaamstaal van de serviceklant te lezen om te bepalen hoeveel interactie er moet worden gegeven

Noodzaak om dimensie te leveren

Ik geniet ervan om de geplande diensten op tijd te bezorgen

Ik haal heel veel voldoening uit het nauwkeurig voltooien van taken voor klanten Ik geniet ervan om het vertrouwen te hebben om goede services te verzorgen

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Behoefte aan persoonlijke relatiedimensie

Ik geniet ervan om de namen van mijn klanten te onthouden Ik geniet ervan om mijn klanten persoonlijk te leren kennen

Surface acting and Deep acting Surface Acting

Resist expressing my true feelings.

Pretend to have emotions that I don’t really have. Hide my true feelings about a situation.

Deep Acting

Make an effort to actually feel the emotions that I need to display to others. Try to actually experience the emotions that I must show.

Really try to feel the emotions I have to show as part of my job.

Dutch Scale

Surface acting

Ik speel toneel tijdens mijn werk

Ik zet een masker op om voor mijn werk de juiste emoties te tonen Ik doe alsof ik díe emoties heb die ik voor mijn werk moet tonen Ik speel een bepaalde rol om op gepaste wijze met patiënten om te gaan Ik doe alsof ik goede zin heb

Deep acting

Ik werk er hard aan om de emoties te voelen die ik moet laten zien
 Ik doe moeite om de emoties te voelen die ik aan anderen moet tonen

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