Psychological Contracts and Emotional Labor in the Age of AI: A Moderated Mediation Model

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of transactional and relational psychological contracts influence emotional labor strategies in contemporary work contexts where AI technologies are increasingly present through AI anxiety, general attitudes toward AI, and generative AI acceptance. Based on Conservation of Resources Theory, Cognitive Appraisal Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior and technology acceptance frameworks (UTAUT), a conceptual model was tested using survey data from 869 employees across various sectors in Türkiye. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS 30. The results showed that transactional psychological contracts were positively correlated with surface acting, while relational psychological contracts were associated with deep acting. Serial mediation analyses indicated that relational psychological contracts were indirectly associated with higher levels of deep acting, primarily through more positive evaluations of AI, with the full sequential pathway through anxiety reduction not operating as hypothesized. Generative AI acceptance mediated the relationship between negative attitudes toward AI and surface acting. Moreover, generative AI acceptance mediated the relationship between positive attitudes toward AI and deep acting, indicating a pathway through which favorable technology evaluations translate into authentic emotional regulation. Finally, moderated mediation analyses suggest that emotional intelligence strengthens the impact of generative AI acceptance on employees’ emotional labor strategies.