Relationship Between Emotional Labor and Perceived Health Status among Service and Sales Workers: Findings from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2009.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the relationship between emotional labor and general health status in a nationally representative sample of South Korean service and sales workers. METHODS Data were obtained from the 2007-2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 1,907 subjects were included in the analysis. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between emotional labor and perceived health status (PHS). RESULTS The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of poor PHS was 1.869 (1.464-2.391) among high emotional labor group, compared with the low emotional labor group as the reference. Perceived stress accounted for 35.57% of the variance in the relationship between high emotional labor and poor PHS. CONCLUSIONS Emotional labor was associated with increased risk of poor PHS.