This study examines whether self-demand, work engagement, and job crafting predict silent emotional exhaustion, conceptualized as concealed emotional fatigue that may remain behaviorally unexpressed. A total of 200 service-sector employees in Spain completed self-report measures, including a brief exploratory index of silent emotional exhaustion adapted to capture concealment. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Self-demand was positively associated with silent emotional exhaustion, whereas work engagement was associated with lower levels of this outcome. Job crafting showed a negative but non-significant relationship. The regression model explained 25.4% of the variance (R2 = .254; adjusted R2= .242; cross-validated R2 = .17; f² = .34). These findings highlight the relevance of identifying employees who remain outwardly functional while experiencing concealed emotional strain. Implications are discussed for psychosocial prevention and monitoring practices, as well as for future longitudinal research aimed at improving detection and intervention in organizational settings.
Marqués et al. (Sun,) studied this question.