Introduction
Crying is one of the most compelling and common form of human emotional expression (Cornelius, 1982). It can happen anywhere; at home, at work, at social events and many other places. The reasons for crying can be very diverse. Other authors have suggested that people cry because of feelings of powerlessness or helplessness, often in combination with other emotions such as sadness, fear or disappointment. Nevertheless, tears can also come from overwhelming positive emotions such as feelings of joy, elation or gratitude (Vingerhoets & Bylsma, 2016). Even though crying is so common, the scientific research on crying is lacking systematic testing. Many researchers have speculated about the origin and the function of emotional tears, however these studies have not been driven by theory but were more exploratory and descriptive in nature (Vingerhoets, Cornelius, Van Heck, & Becht, 2000). The current study aims to contribute to the scientific field by closing some of these gaps through providing answers to the origin and functions of work-related crying in employees. Therefore also proving its societal relevance by offering organizations more insight into employee health and well-being. This contributes to the prevention of negative antecedents associated with work-related crying such as emotional exhaustion or depression (Keller & Koenig, 1989).
According to Soares (2003) crying at work can be an indicator of emotional overload in the workplace. This study states that in several cases, this emotional overload comes from emotional labor or emotions experienced at work. Emotional overload can be an important indicator of sufferings at work and may affect employee health. Therefore, understanding why employees cry at work may help us improve mental health at the workplace (Soares, 2003). Emotional labour is conceptualized in the current research as the emotional demands that are associated with emotional labour. Emotional demands are defined as the degree to which the employee has to deal with emotionally stressful situations at work (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001). Emotional overload is in the current research associated with emotional exhaustion. This manifests itself in employees as “a general loss of feeling and loss of concern, interest, trust and spirit” (Gaines & Jermier, 1983, p.568).
According to Costa and McCrae (1985), personality traits are relatively enduring styles of thinking, feeling and acting which characterize an individual. Unlike specific learned behaviors, personality traits are general tendencies that are reflected in many aspects of a person’s life, for example vocational preferences, career choices and job performance (Costa & McCrae, 1985). Almost all personality traits can be understood with the five-factor model (FFM) that comprises personality traits in five basic dimensions. The dimensions that are relevant to the current research are neuroticism and conscientiousness because they are expected to influence work-related crying. Costa and McCrae (1985) indicate that neurotic people tend to respond worse to stressors due to poor ability to manage psychological stress. O’Neill and Xiao (2010) further substantiate that neurotic employees appear to be more susceptible to emotional exhaustion. This implies that the effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying is larger under the condition of neuroticism. Furthermore, Carter, Guan, Maples, Williamson, and Miller (2016) state that conscientiousness can result in obsessive-compulsiveness and reduced well-being. The study of Witt, Andrews and Carlson (2004) is in line with this reduced well-being and states that conscientiousness individuals are more likely to be affected by emotional exhaustion (Witt, Andrews, & Carlson, 2004). This implies that the effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying is larger under the condition of conscientiousness. Therefore, the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness are proposed to moderate the relationship between exhaustion and work-related crying.
In summary, this research investigates the relationships between emotional demands, emotional exhaustion and, if this in turn will lead to work-related crying. Thus, emotional exhaustion is proposed to mediate the relationship between emotional demands and work-related crying. Additionally, the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness are proposed to moderate and increase the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying. Hence, the main research questions will be:
“Do emotional demands and emotional exhaustion predict work-related crying?” and “What is the role of neuroticism and conscientiousness in the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying?”
To answer the research questions, the next section will examine the literature on crying, emotional demands, emotional exhaustion and neuroticism and conscientiousness. Based on this, a conceptual model will be constructed with hypotheses which are derived from theory and previously conducted research.
Theoretical framework
Emotional exhaustion and crying
Central to this section is the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying. Patel (1993) defines crying as: “a complex secretomotor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears from the lacrimal apparatus, without any irritation of the ocular structures, and often accompanied by alterations in the muscles of facial expression, vocalizations, and in some cases, sobbing” (p. 206). This definition only includes the actual shedding of tears. In the current study crying is conceptualized more broadly. As Bekker and Vingerhoets (2001) indicate, crying can also mean that a person is moved to tears but is able to suppress the actual shedding of tears (Bekker & Vingerhoets, 2001). The current study also includes the feeling of being moved to tears as crying. Previous research utilizes different terms for crying, such as weeping or emotional tears (Vingerhoets, Van de Ven & Van der Velden, 2016). This paper utilizes crying as the generic term to summarize all other definitions (e.g. weeping, tears) and focuses specifically on work-related crying.
Emotional exhaustion is the core component of burnout and it is one of the more extreme varieties of work-related strain. Emotional exhaustion manifests itself in employees as “a general loss of feeling and loss of concern, interest, trust and spirit” (Gaines & Jermier, 1983, p. 568). Employees can have feelings of fatigue, irritability, frustration, and can feel used up and worn out (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). The current study proposes that this strain can be an antecedent of work-related crying. This is in accordance with the study of Vingerhoets and Bylsma (2007) who researched crying as a coping mechanism to help individuals deal with stress and strain. Coping involves the thoughts and actions in managing the resources to moderate the emotional demands. It generally takes one of two forms: emotion-focused coping or problem-focused coping (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988). Emotion-focused coping is aimed at reducing unpleasant emotions through dealing with the emotion itself, for example crying or expressing emotions to someone. Problem-focused coping aims to deal with the problem itself, for example resolving issues with a colleague or finding a solution to a problem (Chang, 2013). Emotion-focused coping is a more short-term coping method, while problem-focused coping is more directed at long-term coping. Keller and Koenig (1989) researched the management of stress and prevention of burnout in emergency physicians. Their findings indicated that those physicians who reported high levels of emotional exhaustion, often used more short-term (i.e. emotional coping) than long-term coping methods when dealing with stress. They also found a strong statistical relationship between high levels of organizational stress and short-term coping methods; namely preparing for the worst and crying. Physicians experiencing the highest levels of emotional exhaustion appeared to use several short-term coping methods such as crying, daydreaming and eating (Keller & Koenig, 1989). One could reason that due to their exhaustion, they simply do not have the energy to invest in long term coping methods and they are therefore more likely to resort to short-term emotional coping methods as crying.
In line with this reasoning, the current study proposes that work-related crying can be a way of coping with the emotional exhaustion that employees experience. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Emotional exhaustion is positively associated with work-related crying.
Emotional demands and emotional exhaustion
Job demands refer to “those physical, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical or mental effort and are therefore associated with certain physiological and psychological costs” (Demerouti et al., 2001, p. 501). These job demands are not necessarily negative but they can turn into job stressors when meeting those demands requires a continuing high effort (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Job demands can be divided into three separate concepts: workload, emotional demands and cognitive demands (Demerouti et al., 2001). The current research will focus mainly on the emotional aspect of job demands, thus on emotional demands. These emotional demands are defined as the degree to which the employee has to deal with emotionally stressful situations at work (Demerouti et al., 2001). It can consist of the frequency of interactions with customers and the job expectations to express certain emotions. Some occupations have to deal with emotional demands more than other occupations (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002). Employees with “people work” which consists mainly of interacting with clients, patients, pupils or children (e.g. nurses, teachers etc.) appear to have more emotional demands. These occupations seem to be more emotionally laden than other occupations (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002). The strain hypothesis of the JD-R model states that job demands that are too high can be experienced as negative because they consume an excessive amount of energy. This can lead to the drainage of energy resources which can have impaired health as a potential outcome (Peeters, De Jonge, & Taris, 2014). The current study assumes that this is also the case for emotional demands, since they consume an excessive amount of energy, it leads to the depletion of energy resources and causes emotional exhaustion. The study of Tuckey and Hayward (2011) relates to this view, they researched the interplay between job demands and job resources in emergency service workers. One of their hypotheses was that emotional demands of emergency service work would be associated with adverse psychological health outcomes (psychological distress and burnout in particular). They found that burnout and psychological distress were indeed highly and significantly correlated with emotional demands. Proving that the degree to which emergency service workers experience emotional demands was a significant positive predictor of poorer health outcomes, and particularly levels of exhaustion (Tuckey and Hayward, 2011).
In line with this reasoning, the current study proposes that high emotional demands may deplete employees energy resources which can cause adverse health effects and especially emotional exhaustion. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Emotional demands are positively associated with emotional exhaustion.
Emotional demands and crying mediated by emotional exhaustion
In the previous sections the relationship between emotional demands and emotional exhaustion as well as the relationship between emotional exhaustion and crying at work were discussed. In addition to the two previously stated hypotheses, this study proposes a mediating mechanism between emotional demands and crying at work by emotional exhaustion.
As the JD-R model proposes, job demands that are too high can be experienced as negative. The reason for this is because they consume too much energy and therefore have impaired health as a potential outcome (Peeters et al., 2014). This suggestion is confirmed by Tuckey and Hayward (2011) who found that burnout and psychological stress were highly correlated with emotional demands. Proving that the degree to which employees experience emotional demands is a significant indicator of poorer health outcomes such as emotional exhaustion (Tuckey & Hayward, 2011).
This exhaustion in turn can lead to employees searching for ways to cope with the emotional exhaustion. Vingerhoets and Bylsma (2007) researched crying as a coping mechanism to help individuals deal with stress and strain. This emotion-focused coping is aimed at reducing unpleasant emotions through dealing with the emotion itself, for example crying or expressing emotions to someone (Chang, 2013). As the study of Keller and Koenig (1989) showed, individuals who reported high levels of emotional exhaustion, often used more short-term instead of long-term coping methods when dealing with stress. Employees experiencing the highest level of emotional exhaustion appeared to use several short-term coping methods such as crying, daydreaming and eating (Keller & Koening, 1989).
In line with this reasoning, the current study proposes that high emotional demands may cause employees to be emotionally exhausted, which increases the likelihood of work-related crying. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: Emotional exhaustion partly mediates the overall association between emotional demands and work-related crying.
The personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness as a moderator on the effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying
In the previous sections, the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying has been examined. This section proposes the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness as moderating variables in this relationship. The focus of the current study is on the dimension of neuroticism in particular, because it is expected to influence work-related crying. Individuals who score high on neuroticism often experience low wellbeing with more feelings like anxiety, fear, depressed mood and frustration than people who score lower on neuroticism (Thompson, 2008). Additionally, they are also more likely to interpret minor frustrations as very difficult. In the same manner they tend to respond worse to stressors due to a poor ability to manage psychological stress (Costa & McCrae, 1985). Previous research by Watson, Clark and Harkness (1994) indicates that neurotic people express more negative emotions, emotional instability and stress reaction. Therefore they become more vulnerable to both burnout (including emotional exhaustion) and the majority of psychopathological disturbances. Kim, Shin and Umbreit (2007), which researched emotional exhaustion and neuroticism in hotel employees, found a significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and neuroticism. This is further confirmed by O’Neill and Xiao (2010) who substantiated that neurotic employees appear to be more susceptible to emotional exhaustion. This implies that the effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying is larger under the condition of neuroticism. Neuroticism can strengthen the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying. Therefore the current research would like to research neuroticism as a moderating variable between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying.
Conscientious individuals are usually careful, or vigilant, hard-working and achievement oriented (Thompson, 2008). This personality trait implies a desire to do a task well, and conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized with a tendency to show self-discipline and planned rather than spontaneous behavior (Costa & McCrae, 1985). When taken to an extreme, conscientious people may also be workaholics, perfectionists and compulsive in their behavior (Carter et al., 2016).
The focus of the current study is on the dimension of conscientiousness in particular because this is expected to influence work-related crying. The focus on conscientiousness in this study is supported by the research of Carter et al. (2016) which states that even though conscientiousness in individuals usually has a positive relationship with psychological wellbeing, it can also result in obsessive-compulsiveness and therefore less positive individual outcomes such as reduced well-being. The study of Witt, Andrews and Carlson (2004) also suggests that highly conscientious employees are more likely to be affected by emotional exhaustion than employees low in conscientiousness. When they are not emotionally exhausted, employees high in conscientiousness are likely to perform at higher levels than those who are low in conscientiousness. However, when work demands exceed resources (i.e. when employees are emotionally exhausted), highly conscientious employees are unlikely to be capable of maintaining their high levels of performance. They often sacrificed the quantity of their work to maintain the quality, dropping the quantity of their performance below the quantity of employees low in conscientiousness (Witt, Andrews, & Carlson, 2004). This implies that the effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying is larger under the condition of conscientiousness. Conscientiousness can strengthen the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying. Therefore the current research would like to research conscientiousness as a moderating variable between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying.
In summary, the current study proposes that personality traits might influence the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work-related crying. Neuroticism and conscientiousness may strengthen positive effect of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 4a: Neuroticism strengthens the positive association of emotional exhaustion on work-related crying.