ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
This study was conducted to identify the
association between emotional labor and
job stress in bus
drivers, as well as to propose management
strategies for
job stress.
METHODS:
The study was conducted in February 2013 and involved 182 bus
drivers working in the Gyeonggi area.
RESULTS:
emotional labor was 9.5+/-2.34 on average, and
job stress was higher than the median of the same
indicator among
Korea's
workers in the areas of physical
environment, job autonomy, and relationship conflicts. Factors that affected
job stress was lower if the subjects' Higher values for emotional labor indicated a higher level of
job stress.
CONCLUSION:
To reduce among
drivers, the following
measures are necessary increase the comfort of the driver's seat within the vehicle, provide adequate
rest between bus headways, provide comfortable in-house
rest facilities, and establish physical
training spaces to reduce musculoskeletal disorders as well as programs for reducing
back pain. In addition, relationship conflicts may be relieved by increasing job autonomy as much as possible, by granting autonomous control of working hours and bus headways, as well as by banning long
work hours. Moreover, various club activities,
exercise programs, and
counseling programs that
workers can be involved in together may be beneficial. This study is significant in that it identified the relationship of the bus
drivers' emotional labor and
job stress, which has previously been ignored as a
research topic. Through its results, this study provides baseline data for the preparation of management
strategies that can
address the
job stress of bus
drivers.