The effect of social support on emotional labor through professional identity

Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors investigate whether and how social support impacts the emotional labor of live streamers through professional identity. They also explore the boundary conditions by focusing on the moderation effect of emotional intelligence. Based on a sample of 331 live streamers in the content industry, the results show that social support weakens (enhances) live streamers' surface acting (deep acting) by enhancing their professional identity. Emotional intelligence significantly moderates the professional identity-emotional labor relationship. In addition, they find that emotional intelligence strengthens the negative indirect effect of social support on surface acting through professional identity but weakens the positive indirect effect of social support and deep acting through professional identity. They also discuss theoretical contribution in emotional labor literature and practical implications for live commerce.