The Effects of Emotional Labor and Tenure on Job Satisfaction among Beauty Service Workers

This study examined how emotional labor and job tenure relate to job satisfaction among beauty service workers, distinguishing the surface-acting and deep-acting dimensions of emotional labor and testing whether tenure retains explanatory power once emotional labor is controlled. It further explored differences in emotional labor and job satisfaction across gender, age, education, employment type, and tenure. Hair and beauty service workers in the Seoul metropolitan area completed an online survey, and complete responses were analyzed. The emotional-labor and job-satisfaction scales showed sound validity and reliability. Hierarchical regression examined their effects on job satisfaction, followed by a sensitivity analysis controlling age and employment type. Emotional labor retained a two-factor structure of surface and deep acting, while job satisfaction formed a single factor. Surface acting was negative, and deep acting positively, associated with job satisfaction, supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2. Longer tenure was linked to higher satisfaction, but this effect weakened once age and employment type were considered, offering only partial support for Hypothesis 3. Only genders differed significantly in surface acting, whereas job satisfaction varied across tenure, age, education, and employment type. These findings suggest that emotional labor should be managed as two distinct strategies rather than a single burden, reinforcing genuine engagement while easing surface-level compliance. The weakened tenure effect suggests tenure functions less as an independent resource than as a marker tied to career stage and employment arrangement. Because job satisfaction varied consistently across groups, differentiated human resource practices and career-stage-sensitive policies appear more effective than uniform programs, given the industry’s mix of wage earners, freelancers, and self-employed workers.