Conflicting empirical findings in studies assessing the relationship between emotional labour and negative job outcomes are partly due to the lack of clarity regarding the conceptualisation and measurement of emotional dissonance. Emotional dissonance has been variously described and measured as an antecedent or as a consequence of the performance of emotional labour, as well as an inherent component of emotional labour. Recent conceptualisations of dissonance have proposed a mediator role for emotional dissonance between emotional labour and the outcome of emotional exhaustion. Concepts from cognitive dissonance theory support this conceptualisation and were used to empirically test this proposed relationship with a sample of 181 staff from two tourism based organisations providing a range of visitor/customer services. The results demonstrated a significant partial mediation role for emotional dissonance in the relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion, supporting the use of a more theoretically and methodologically consistent measure of emotional dissonance.

This paper focuses on themes of emotionality and emotional labour derived inductively from retrospective narratives constructed by employees who experienced rapid organisational change and specifically addresses the question: ‘How do people talk about the need to “dull down” their emotions during situations of organisational change?’ We highlight themes of loss associated with retrospective displays of emotion and argue that loss and emotion management are most typically associated with issues concerning transition from the past or resistance to the future. We show how emotional labour serves both to mute and, ironically, to heighten emotions in the talk of change and extend studies of emotional labour beyond the service encounter and into the realm of organisational change.

Although organisations often implement team-based structures to improve performance, such restructuring does not automatically ameliorate poor performance. The study in this article explores the relationship between team members' negative mood and team processes (social cohesion, workload sharing, team conflict) to determine if negative mood has a detrimental effect on team performance via team processes. Two hundred and forty one participants completed surveys and were involved in an independently rated performance task that was completed over eight weeks. Negative mood was found to influence team processes and as a consequence, team performance. The results, however, were not uniformly negative. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

This study explored the relationship between work–family conflict and employee burnout, with a sample of 203 New Zealand government workers. Two types of conflict (work–family and family–work) were significant predictors of employee burnout. This supports the bi-directional nature of work–family conflict. In addition, the moderating effects of employee coping strategies were explored. Positive thinking coping had no significant effect on either work–family or family–work conflict and burnout. Direct action coping intensified the negative relationships for both work–family and family–work conflict, with employees coping through working harder suffering intensified burnout effects. In addition, resignation coping also intensified the family–work conflict and employee burnout relationship. The implications for employers and employees are discussed.

Work–family conflict is impacting on increasingly larger numbers of employees. It is therefore important to identify ways in which the negative effects of this stressor can be ameliorated. In this paper an integrative model of perceived available support, work–family conflict and support mobilisation is developed to explore how perceptions of support availability can help employees to cope with work–family conflict. This model is an explicit reflection of the theory of stress-buffering during secondary appraisal, and extends existing theory by incorporating the principles of both the stress-matching and source of support frameworks. The theoretical model enables a more comprehensive examination of the conditions under which stress-buffering is effective in countering the demands of work–family conflict. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This epilogue reviews the highlights of the five articles in this special issue on emotions and coping with conflict. It develops 12 research areas that offer potential for future research breakthroughs. These areas link the five articles to core concepts in emotional intelligence/competencies and Affective Events Theory. Particular attention is given to empathy, the ability to recognize emotions in others, and the ability to express one's own emotions. These three variables are related to moods and job performance, leadership, emotional labor, trust, work-family conflict, and stress. These five articles, together with the 12 promising research areas, suggest practical ways to help employees and organizations cope with conflict in the workplace.