Revisiting the Impact of Illegitimate Tasks on Volunteers: Does Emotional Labor Make a Difference?

Abstract Volunteers are frequently assigned illegitimate tasks that exceed what can be reasonably required from them. In this study, we used affective events theory to investigate the impact of illegitimate tasks on volunteer engagement. We developed a moderated mediation model and analyzed the mediating role of emotional labor and moderating role of power distance. Based on data from a three-wave survey of 1,948 volunteers, we found that illegitimate tasks negatively affected volunteers' subsequent work engagement. Our results show that emotional labor is the mechanism through which illegitimate tasks affect engagement. By identifying a dual pathway, we demonstrate that illegitimate tasks affected the two strategies for dealing with emotional labor differently, causing volunteers to increase surface acting and decrease deep acting. The volunteers’ power distance has a moderating role, weakening the positive effect of illegitimate tasks on volunteers’ surface acting while enhancing the negative effect of illegitimate tasks on volunteers’ deep acting, reducing subsequent engagement.