Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 February 2024
Despite the salutary effects of mask wearing broadly recognized during the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about the consequences of wearing masks in the workplace. The current research raises the question of whether and how mask wearing may impact employees' emotional well-being at work. Drawing on emotion regulation theory (e.g., Gross, 1998, 2015), we propose that mask wearing enables employees to adopt more authentic emotional displays, which in turn decreases emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, guided by the social interaction model of emotion regulation (Coté, 2005), we further posit that for employees whose work requires more frequent face-to-face interaction, the positive impact of mask wearing on emotional exhaustion becomes more significant. Across a pilot study and a three-wave field survey, we find support for this hypothesized model. Implications of these findings for future theorizing and research on mask wearing are discussed.
尽管在新冠疫情流行期间佩戴口罩的益处得到广泛认可,但我们对在工作场所中佩戴口罩的后果知之甚少。本文聚焦一个研究问题,即佩戴口罩是否影响员工在工作中的情绪体验。基于情感调节理论(Gross, 1998, 2015),我们提出佩戴口罩促进员工采取更真实的情绪表达策略,从而减少工作情绪耗竭。进一步地,根据情感调节的社交互动模型(Coté, 2005),我们认为对于需要进行更频繁面对面互动的员工,工作中佩戴口罩对情绪耗竭的缓解作用变得更为显著。通过一个预研究和一项三时点的追踪调查,我们的结果支持了所提理论模型。本文之后讨论了研究贡献以及未来关于口罩佩戴行为的研究方向。