Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T14:45:18.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender and the underexpression of friendliness in the service context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Alexandra Luong
Alexandra Luong*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth MN, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The double-bind hypothesis proposes that gender-based stereotypes of emotion expression exist, which effect how males and females are evaluated. Using videotapes depicting transactions between male/female employees and customers, the current study examined whether the double-bind hypothesis occurs within a service context. Participants (N = 141) who viewed a male and female service employee expressing friendly or non-friendly emotion evaluated the employees and rated their sincerity. Results provided partial support for the double-bind hypothesis. When service employees failed to express friendly emotion, the female was more negatively evaluated. However, evaluations and ratings of sincerity were not significantly different when both genders expressed friendly emotion. These findings suggest that employees occupy both work and gender roles, and expectations of each role will influence how their emotional expressions are evaluated. Gender of participants also effected service evaluations. Consistent with prior research, females focus more on the relational aspect of service than do males.

Keywords

emotionsservicegender rolesaffectemotional labordouble-bind hypothesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 102 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appelbaum, E and Batt, R (1994) The New American Workplace: Transforming Work Systems in the United States. Ithaca NY: Cornell ILR Press.Google Scholar
Ashforth, B E and Humphrey, RH (1993) Emotional labor in service roles: The influence of identity. Academy of Management Review 18: 88–115.Google Scholar
Brody, LR (1997) Gender and emotion: Beyond stereotypes. Journal of Social Issues 53: 369–394.Google Scholar
Brown, CS and Sulzer-Azaroff, B (1994) An assessment of the relationship between customer satisfaction and service friendliness. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 14: 55–75.Google Scholar
Broverman, IK, Vogel, SR, Broverman, DM, Clarkson, FE and Rosenkrantz, PS (1972) Sex role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues 28: 59–78.Google Scholar
Cockburn, C (1988) Machinery of dominance: Women, men and technical know-how. Boston: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Diefendorff, JM and Richard, EM (2003) Antecedents and consequences of emotional display rule perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology 88: 284–294.Google Scholar
Erickson, RJ and Wharton, AS (1997) Inauthenticity and depression: Assessing the consequences of interactive service work. Work and Occupations 24: 188–213.Google Scholar
Fabes, R and Martin, C (1991) Gender and age stereotypes of emotionality. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 17: 532–540.Google Scholar
Ford, WS (1995) Evaluation of the indirect influence of courteous service on customer discretionary behavior. Human Communication Research 22: 65–89.Google Scholar
Geer, CG and Shields, SA (1996) Women and emotion: Stereotypes and the double bind. In Chrisler, JC, Golden, C and Rozee, PD (Eds) Lectures on the psychology of women. NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Grandey, AA (2000) Emotional regulation in the work place: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 5: 95–110.Google Scholar
Grossman, M and Wood, W (1993) Sex differences in intensity of emotional experience: A social role interpretation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65: 1010–1022.Google Scholar
Gutek, BA, Cherry, B and Groth, M (1999) Gender and service delivery. In Powell, GN (Ed) Handbook of gender and work (pp. 47–68). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage PublicationsGoogle Scholar
Hall, JA (1978) Gender effects in decoding nonverbal cues. Psychological Bulletin 85: 845–857.Google Scholar
Hall, EJ (1993) Smiling, deferring, and flirting: Doing gender by giving ‘good service.’ Work and Occupations 20: 452–471.Google Scholar
Hochschild, AR (1983) The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hutson-Comeaux, SL and Kelly, JR (2002) Gender stereotypes of emotional reactions: How we judge an emotion as valid. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 47: 1–10.Google Scholar
Iacobucci, D and Ostrom, A (1993) Gender differences in the impact of core and relational aspects of services on the evaluation of service encounters. Journal of Consumer Psychology 2: 257–286.Google Scholar
Johnson, JT and Schulman, GA (1988) More alike than meets the eye: Perceived gender differences in subjective experience and its display. Sex Roles 19: 67–79.Google Scholar
Kang, J and Hillery, J (1998) Older salespeople's role in retail encounters. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 18: 39–53.Google Scholar
Kelly, JR and Hutson-Comeaux, SL (1999) Genderemotion stereotypes are context specific. Sex Roles 40: 107–120.Google Scholar
Kelly, JR and Hutson-Comeaux, SL (2000) The appropriateness of emotional expression in women and men: The double-bind of emotion. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 15: 515–528.Google Scholar
Komaki, J, Blood, MR and Holder, D (1980) Fostering friendliness in a fast food franchise. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 2: 151–164.Google Scholar
Lewis, KM (2000) When leaders display emotion: How followers respond to negative emotional expression of male and female leaders. Journal of Organizational Behavior 21: 221–234.Google Scholar
Matilla, AS, Grandey, AA and Fisk, GM (2003) The interplay of gender and affective tone in service encounter satisfaction. Journal of Service Research 6: 136–143.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, D (1990) Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Morris Emotion 14: 195–214.Google Scholar
Morris, JA and Feldman, DC (1996) The dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of emotional labor. Academy of Management Review 21: 986–1010.Google Scholar
Plant, EA, Hyde, JS, Keltner, D and Devine, PG (2000) The gender stereotyping of emotions. Psychology of Women Quarterly 24: 81–93.Google Scholar
Pugh, SD (2001) Service with a smile: Emotional contagion in the service encounter. Academy of Management Journal 44: 1018–1027.Google Scholar
Rafaeli, A (1989) When clerks meet customers: A test of variables related to emotional expressions on the job. Journal of Applied Psychology 74: 385–393.Google Scholar
Rafaeli, A and Sutton, RI (1987) Expression of emotion as part of the work role. The Academy of Management Review 12: 23–37.Google Scholar
Stoppard, JM and Gunn Gruchy, CG (1993) Gender, context, and expression of positive emotion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 19: 143–150.Google Scholar
Sutton, RI (1991) Maintaining norms about expressed emotions: The case of bill collectors. Administrative Science Quarterly 36: 245–268.Google Scholar
Tsai, WC (2001) Determinants and consequences of employee displayed positive emotions. Journal of Management 27: 497–512.Google Scholar
Tsai, WC and Huang, YM (2002) Mechanisms linking employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology 87: 1001–1008.Google Scholar
Wester, SR; Vogel, DL; Pressly, PK; and Heesacker, M (2002) Sex differences in emotion: A critical review of the literature and implications for counseling psychology. Counseling Psychologist 30: 630–652.Google Scholar
Widiger, TA and Settle, SA (1987) Broverman et al. revisited: An artifactual sex bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53: 463–469.Google Scholar
Zeithaml, VA, Parasuraman, A and Berry, LL (1990) Delivering quality service: Blalancing customer perceptions and expectations. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar