Correlation of emotional labor and cortisol concentration in hair among female kindergarten teachers

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore whether two types of emotional labor, surface acting and deep acting, are related to hair cortisol concentration among kindergarten teachers. Methods Surface acting and deep acting over the last month were measured with the Chinese version of the emotional labor scale in 43 kindergarten teachers. Hair samples with 1 cm in length were cut from their posterior vertex region to represent cortisol excretion over one month. Cortisol concentrations were analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Results Positive association of emotion labor with hair cortisol concentration was significant for surface acting ( r = 0.34, p 0.05). Conclusions More surface acting showed to be associated stronger with stress responses or higher HPA axis activity.