A multilevel analysis of the links between daily emotional labor, daily spiritual experiences, and daily stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background and objectives: The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic both necessitate and obstruct emotional regulation and coping mechanisms. Despite growing interest in the connection between stress and spirituality, multilevel studies addressing day-level variance to understand how spiritual experiences and emotional regulation are linked with stress during this unique situation are scarce. This study aims to analyze how daily spiritual experiences (DSE) and daily emotional labor (EL) connect with the daily stress levels of employees during the pandemic. Design and method: Data collected from 132 employees for five consecutive workdays (660 d-level, 132 person-level responses) were analyzed via Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Results: Multilevel analysis provided evidence for the negative association between DSE and daily stress. The “faking emotions” and “hiding emotions” dimensions of daily EL were positively and significantly related to daily stress, while the “deep acting” dimension demonstrated no significant relationship. There was no evidence for the moderator role of DSE in the relationship between daily EL and stress. Conclusion: The form of daily EL is crucial to understanding how it associates with daily stress. Although its buffering role on the adverse effects of EL is not significant, DSE directly relates to lower stress levels.