Monetary Dependence and Emotional Labour as a Joint Contextual Antecedents in Customer Sexual Harassment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between monetary dependency and emotional labor as a predictor of client sexual harassment among service industry personnel. Data was collected from 120 employees of Swabi and Peshawar working in different service sector organizations (hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets). The Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) (Meyer & Allen, 1991), Emotional Labour Scale (ELS) (Morris & Feldman, 1996), and Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire (SHEQ) (Kamal & Tariq, 1997) were used for obtaining data. The findings revealed that monetary dependency and emotional labor increased the probability of service industry personnel experiencing client sexual harassment. Emotional labor also mediates the relationship between monetary dependence and customer sexual harassment. These findings have implications for the implementation of policies to improve the working conditions of hospitality workers and reduce the prevalence of customer sexual harassment in the service sector industries.