Emotion regulation at work: its association with personal and.work-related traits and abilities, and its influence on well being.

To study surface acting (emotion regulation) in work settings, a sample of Italian men and women (N 2.092, 20-40 year-old), working in small to large organizations in a variety of sectors, completed a survey comprising several self-report measures that, besides SA and socio-demographic aspects, assessed personal and work-related traits (e.g., emotional work-related intelligence) and general well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, health symptoms, affect). RESULTS. Most participants reported low SA and job involvement, but medium to high job satisfaction. SA was inversely related to education, income level, firm size, hierarchical level, and frequency of customer-contacts. After controlling for personal traits, SA was significantly predicted by work-related traits (e.g., self-management competence) and explained both job satisfaction and well-being (especially health, negative affect, emotional loneliness). By jointly assessing such an extensive network of SA-related variables, the study helps increase our understanding of the complexity of emotion regulation, adding data that facilitate cross-cultural comparisons too.