Effects of Emotional Labor on Burnout for Mental Health Professional: Moderating Effects of Resilience

In South Korea, recent incidents, such as the murder of a mentally ill person and a rampage involving a weapon, have highlighted the national responsibility for mental health service. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between levels of emotional labor caused by exposure to emotional labor by mental health professionals in the process of performing their work, and to verify the moderating effect of resilience in this relationship. The main findings were as follows. First, It was confirmed that higher levels of emotional labor, longer work experience, higher academic backgrounds among mental health professionals, and lower salaries are associated with increased burnout. Second, resilience moderates on the level of emotional labor and exhaustion. In groups with high resilience, there is little difference in burnout levels depending on the level of emotional labor. However, among individuals with low resilience, burnout tends to increase as the level of emotional labor increases. Based on the results of these studies, practical measures were presented to prevent emotional labor and burnout in mental health professionals.