Research on Influence of Job Characteristics of Social Workers at Welfare Institution for the Disabled on their Emotional Labor

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1 , pp Research on Influence of Job Characteristics of Social Workers at Welfare Institution for the Disabled on their Emotional Labor Jong-Pil Kim 1*, Sung-je Cho 2** 1 Department of Education at Dongbang Graduate University 1-34, Isa-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon , Korea 2 Department of Education at Dongbang Graduate University, Seoul, Korea 60, Seongbuk-ro 28gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul , Korea Abstract. The purpose of this research is to analyze influence of job characteristics of social workers at welfare institution for the disabled on their emotional labor. The study targets are the social workers at the welfare institutions for disabled in Daejeon Metropolitan City and a survey was conducted from the 5 th of January to the 29 th of February in For analysis, SPSS WIN 18.0 and Amos 21.0 programs were used to conduct t-test, one-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis at a significance level of 5%. Firstly, according to the research result, the level of emotional labor of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled varied significantly upon their gender and age group, while it is found to be independent of marital status, religions and education levels. Secondly, at a significance level of 5%, it was found that the working period, average working hours per week, conditions on working contract and annual income have no significant influence on the level of emotional labor. The implication of this study is that it serves the fundamental information for policies on enhancement of the emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled in the future. Key Words: Welfare institution for the disabled, social worker, emotional labor, job characteristics ISSN: ASTL Copyright 2016 SERSC

2 1 Introduction Recently, due to the aging society and industrial disasters, the number of disabled population has been increasing. According to the National Statistics Portal, the number of the disabled registered in 2015 are 2,494,460. The number has increased by 153.6% from 958,000 in 2011 [1]. The disabled people at the institutions experience various inconveniences in their daily life. In fact, it is especially difficult for the people with intellectual disabilities to enter a company and start economic activities than those with physical disabilities. For such reason, the disabled require care of family members or social workers at institutions [3]. Moreover, there are researched being conducted on the relevant problems and current status in the field, as well as on the social workers who serve at institutions for the disabled. Unlike the general welfare institutions, those for the disabled require a lot more professional knowledge and administrative abilities in order to provide appropriate services for the patients complicated situations and life-cycle stages [4]. Accordingly, this research aims to focus on the on importance of the emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled to investigate general influences thereon and to analyze the influence of job characteristics of social workers on their level of emotional labor. 1.1 Issues Raised Research question 1. How does the level of emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled vary upon the general characteristics? Research question 2. How does the level of emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled vary upon their job characteristics? 130 Copyright 2016 SERSC

3 2 Theoretical Background Unlike the profit organizations, social welfare institutions pursue the service-centered altruism. Specifically, the emotional labor of assistants for the disabled has statistically significant and direct influences on the exhaustion. Accordingly, in this study, the partial mediating effect of the emotional labor of assistants for the disabled on the exhaustion is verified to be having a direct and significant influence [5]. Therefore, the role of social workers, who are different from the assistants for the disabled, is extremely critical in providing services to the disabled. Thus, this research aims to study the job characteristics and emotional labor of the social workers at the welfare institution for the disabled. 3 Study Methods 3.1 Research Targets and Methods For this study, 157 social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled in Daejeon were surveyed from the 5 th of January to the 29 th of February in The sample size of the research target is deduced using G*Power 3.1 program, a statistical power analysis program, based on the Cohen s sampling formula. The minimum sample size is calculated to be 119, with a significance level of 5%, test power of 95% and effect size of 0.15 mid-exponential index. Consequently, of the total number of 200 survey sheets, unanswered or inappropriate results were eliminated and 157 sets of results were used for the analysis. Additionally, one-to-one interview with the surveyor was conducted. Copyright 2016 SERSC 131

4 3.2 Research Tools Social Demographical Characteristics The terms developed by investigation on community health [6] were revised and improved to be used as a research tool. Regarding the demographical characteristics, survey questions were designed on the personal status. The questions include information on gender, age group, marital status, religion, education level, career experience, average working hours, conditions on labor contract, annual income and possession of licenses Scale of Emotional Labor For the measurement of level of emotional labor, the survey questions used in a study of Minjoo Kim (1998) [7], which was based on the research of Morris & Feldman (1996), were rearranged for the research on the exhaustion of workers at institutions for the disabled and the organizational characteristics thereof. This tool is scaled from 1 to 5, with higher number indicating the more emotional labor. The reliability of this scale (Cronbach s a) is Research Result 4.1 General and Job Characteristics of Social Workers at Welfare Institutions for the Disabled As a result of investigation on the general characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled, 37.6% males and 62.4% of females have responded. The 20s was the largest age group (35.7%), followed by 30s (26.8%), 40s (18.5%) and 50s or over 132 Copyright 2016 SERSC

5 (19.1%). 51.0% responded to be single, while 45.2% responded to be married. 55.4% of the respondents were Protestants, 20.4% has no religion and 9.6% has other religions.. The majority were graduated from university (52.9%), followed by graduated from junior college (35.7%) and graduated from graduate school or higher (11.5%). As a result of investigation on the job characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled, the majority worked for less than 3 years (42.7%), followed by 5-10 years (27.4%), 3-5 years (24.2%) and 10 years of more (5.7%). 36.3% responded to be working average of hours per week, 33.8% answered hours and 26.1% answered 51 hours or more. The majority has condition of the job contract as regular worker (75.8%) and the rest as contract worker (24.2%). Regarding the annual income, 35.0% answered million won, 26.1% answered million won, 21.7% answered million won and 10.8% answered less than 15 million won. 4.2 Emotional Labor As a result of investigation on the emotional labor of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled, it is found that the average level their emotional labor is The result shows that the level of emotional labor of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled is higher than the average. 5 Hypothesis Verification 5.1 Influence of the general characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled on their emotional labor As a result of investigation on influence of the general characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled on their emotional labor, it was found that the level of emotional labor Copyright 2016 SERSC 133

6 significantly depends on the genders and age groups of the workers, whereas it is independent of their marital status, religion and education level. In terms of the gender, the average level of emotional labor of male social workers is found to be 2.96, whereas that of female social workers is found to be 3.17, indicating that the female social workers experience higher emotional labor. In terms of the age groups, the level of emotional labor was found to be the lowest for those in 50s or over, followed by those in 30s, 20s and 40s. 5.2 Influence of the job characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled on their emotional labor As a result of investigation on influence of the general characteristics of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled on their emotional labor, it was found that, at a significant level of 5%, the level of emotional labor is independent of the working period, average working hours per week, conditions of job contract and annual income of the social worker at welfare institutions for the disabled. 6 Discussion and Conclusion In this study, influence of job characteristics of social workers at the welfare institution for the disabled on their emotional labor was analyzed. The discussions on the research results are as follows. First, the influence of general characteristics of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled was investigated. As a result, it was found that the level of emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions is significantly influenced by their gender and age group, whereas it is independent of their marital status, religion and education level. In terms of the gender, the average level of emotional labor of male social workers is found to be 2.96, whereas that of female social workers is found to be 3.17, indicating that the female social workers experience higher emotional labor. In terms of the age groups, the level of emotional labor was found to be the lowest for those in 50s or over, followed by those in 30s, 20s and 40s. Such 134 Copyright 2016 SERSC

7 result semantically corresponds to a research result that showed the emotional labor of community nurses is significantly influenced by their career experience, while it is independent of their marital status [8]. Second, the influence of job characteristics of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled was investigated. As a result, it was found that the level of emotional labor of social workers at welfare institutions for the disabled is not influenced by their working period, conditions of job contract and annual income. Such result semantically corresponds to a research result that shows the gender, age group, guard class, education level, position, wage and welfare of community nurse is independent of their emotional labor [9]. Based on the above research result, the following suggestions can be drawn. Firstly, the level of emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled is found to be significant dependent on the gender and age group, while it is independent of the marital status, religion and education level. This result is considered to serve as the fundamental information on enhancement of the emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled. Secondly, the level of emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled is found to be independent on the conditions of job contract and annual income. This result is considered to serve as the fundamental information on enhancement of the emotional labor of social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled. Consequently, there is a necessity for further researches on the other relevant factors on the social workers at the welfare institutions for the disabled. References 1. KOSIS, (2015). 2. Ko, G. h., Jang, Y. S., Kang, J. W., Kim, J. W., Choi, S. Y., Jung, Y. E.: 2009 Year of the Disabled in Korea Proceedings of welfare spending Copyright 2016 SERSC 135

8 and income security system compared to OECD countries, Ministry of Health, Social Affairs, (2011). 3. Kim, S. W.: The Impact of Job Stress on the Life Satisfaction of the Disabled Worker, Journal of Community Welfare, Vol. 44, pp (2013). 4. Choi, S. K.: A Study on Job Satisfaction of Workers at welfare Center for the Disabled, The Research Institute of Social Science, 22(4), , (2015). 5. Lee, W., Kim, D. K.: A study on emotional labor affecting a burnout level of personal assistants - Focused on the mediating effects of job stress and job satisfaction, Social Science Research Review, 27(2), , (2011). 6. Community Health Survey,(2011). 7. Kim, M. J.: Effects of Emotional Labor of Hotel Workers on their Working Attitude. Tourism Research, 21(2), ,(1998). 8. Han, S. J., Kwon, M. S., Yoon, O. S., Moon, M. Y.: Emotional Labor and Job Stress of Public Health Nurses, Korean Society of Public Health Nursing, 26(2), , (2012). 9. Lee, E. D., You M. J.: A Study on the Effect of Emotional Hardship on Job Satisfaction and Turnover of Nurses in the correctional field, Corrction Review, (55), , (2012). 136 Copyright 2016 SERSC