The Effects of Job Autonomy and Customer Service Self-Efficacy on Negative Mood Following Customer Aggression: A Trajectory Perspective

Customer aggression is a growing concern for service organizations, typically viewed as a chronic work stressor. In this study, we examine an alternative, complementary conceptualization of this stressor: customer aggression in discrete encounters, which can fluctuate from day to day and may trigger momentum in resource loss. To explore dynamic trajectory change, we investigate daily change patterns in negative mood states over 5 successive days following the occurrence of a trigger episode of customer aggression. In addition, we examine the protective effects of two resources-job autonomy (an employee's perception of freedom, independence, and discretion a job offers to him/her) and customer service self-efficacy (an employee's belief in their skills and abilities in effectively managing customer service job tasks)-while controlling for baseline negative mood states, the effect of exposure to customer aggression on the trigger day, and the effect of daily exposure to customer aggression following the trigger day. Our analyses support the role of customer service self-efficacy, but not job autonomy, in influencing the initial level of and subsequent changes in negative mood states following customer aggression on the trigger day. These findings suggest that work design may not be sufficient to mitigate the adverse effects of customer aggression; rather, intervention training programs could help by developing customer service self-efficacy and enhancing the quality of daily customer interactions.