Elephant in the room : a study of the impact of emotional experiences on burnout among Chinese reporters

Abstract

This dissertation is conceived to examine the emotional labor of Chinese frontline reporters and its effects on their job burnout. For both detailed descriptive and generalizable findings, the mixed-method approach combining qualitative in-depth interviews with 31 reporters and a quantitative survey with 276 reporters was employed in the study. Findings from the in-depth interview demonstrate that reporters' emotional labor engagement mainly occurs while interacting with their subjects. In response to different scenarios and the subject personalities, they leverage various emotional labor strategies, including surface acting, deep acting, and natural expression to express desirable emotions. Additionally, according to their description, reporters' daily journalistic practices, occupational attitudes, mental and physical well-being, as well as personal life might be impacted by their involvement in the complex emotional mechanism. The follow-up survey reveals the effect of the demand on emotions at work and reporters' experience of engaging in surface acting magnify their levels of job burnout. Meanwhile, the use of problem-focused coping strategies can reduce reporters' job burnout caused by emotional labor engagement. Findings in this study fill the gap in understanding the mechanism of reporters' emotional labor engagement and its impacts on their job burnout. The theoretical and empirical implications of these findings are discussed.