SSRScientific and Social Research2661-43322981-9946Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/ssr.v7i1.9333ArticleEmotional Exhaustion as a Mediator between Emotional Labor and Work-to-Family Conflicthttps://artdesignp.com/journal/SSR/7/1/10.26689/ssr.v7i1.9333FengJuan2025712025-01-23In clinical work, nurses need to pay not only physical and mental labor but also emotional labor. This study recruited 163 nurses from 5 hospitals in China as the research object. Based on COR theory, this study aimed to explore the relationships between nurses’ emotional labor strategies, emotional exhaustion, and work-to-family conflict. Findings show that surface acting is indirectly related to work-to-family conflict via emotional exhaustion. While deep acting was unrelated to emotional exhaustion and work-to-family conflict. The results of this study enrich the literature on emotional labor and provide some suggestions to balance work-family conflict for nurses.

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