University of Central Florida University of Central Florida

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

2011

Emotional Regulation At Walt Disney World Deep Acting Vs. Emotional Regulation At Walt Disney World Deep Acting Vs.

Surface Acting Surface Acting

Anne Reyers

University of Central Florida

Part of the Communication Commons

Reyers, Anne, "Emotional Regulation At Walt Disney World Deep Acting Vs. Surface Acting" (2011).

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

. 1955.

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1955

EMOTIONAL REGULATION AT WALT DISNEY WORLD:

DEEP ACTING VS. SURFACE ACTING

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts

© 2011 Anne Reyers

Disney on-stage employees were interviewed off-property in Orlando. The emotional regulation

framework was divided into several categories: (1) a distinction between deep acting and surface

acting, (2) emotional deviance, and (3) emotional exhaustion. “Surface acting” is a strategy by

which employees display company-imposed emotions not genuinely felt, whereas “deep acting”

occurs when employees do feel the emotions that they are required to express (Hochschild,

1983). Throughout the data reduction process, five key themes surfaced as the most relevant to

the initial research questions: (1) Self-Motivated Deep Acting, (2) Organizational Expectations

for Surface Acting, (3) “Back-Stage” vs. “Front-Stage” Dichotomy, (4) Benefits of Emotional

Training, and (5) Negative Effects of Emotional Regulation.

Overall, the researcher found that a key strategy of emotional regulation that Disney

formally monitor its employees’ facial expressions and emotional behavior in the future.

and foremost, I thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Jonathan Matusitz for all of his guidance and

support. Whether it was sitting in his office for eight hours a day or responding to my many

questions via email, without him this thesis would not have been possible. The amount of his

time, dedication, and knowledge made this process as smooth and painless as I could have ever

hoped. By paying such close attention to every detail, he helped me stay on track and kept me

excited about the information and possibilities that could come from this study. I consider myself

extremely lucky to have an advisor who is so committed to academics. Truly, without Dr.

Matusitz, none of this would have been possible and I cannot thank him enough.

I would also like to thank Dr. Kimberly Voss for her help and time in meeting with me to

discuss not only my thesis but also my future. Her knowledge of the interviewing process and

a crucial role in keeping me excited about this project. Thank you for sitting on the phone with

me for hours and convincing me that all of my hard work would be worth it in the end. Your

emotional support was vital in my success! Also, thank you to those of you who visited Walt

Disney World with me countless times to conduct pivotal “research.”

Lastly, I offer my thanks to all of the individuals who supported me in any fashion

throughout the completion of this project, especially the interviewees.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1

Objective of this Analysis ........................................................................................................... 1

Rationale for Conducting this Analysis ...................................................................................... 3

Preview of the Main Points of this Analysis ............................................................................... 4

The Walt Disney Company: A Description ................................................................................ 7

History of the Walt Disney Company ......................................................................................... 7

Social and Economic Impact of Walt Disney World .................................................................. 9

Emotional Regulation Training ................................................................................................. 19

General Description ............................................................................................................... 27

The Objective as a Qualitative Interviewer ........................................................................... 28

Participants ............................................................................................................................ 32

Themes across the Participants’ Accounts ............................................................................ 33

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 35

Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................ 60

Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 64

Future Research ......................................................................................................................... 65

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ................................................................................ 67

APPENDIX B: CONSENT PROCESS ........................................................................................ 69

APPENDIX C: IRB APPROVAL LETTER ................................................................................ 72

The objective of this study is to examine the emotional regulation strategies used by Walt

Disney World on-stage employees as a way to fulfill requirements set forth by the company. Ten

This analysis employs an emotional regulation framework to examine the emotional demands of

the Walt Disney World Company and the employees’ styles of responding to such emotional

regulation, which have been suggested as contributing to employee stress. Emotional regulation

1928, he invented, and owned the rights to, the character Mickey Mouse. Mickey was an

immediate sensation around the world (Company History). Mickey Mouse cartoons turned into

full-length movies, starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Many successful

films were to follow, and after mastering the art of television shows and movies, Walt decided to

take on the challenge of building an amusement park. As a father, Walt wanted to build a place

where adults and children could have a good time together, and that was the start of Disneyland

elsewhere to continue his dream.

In 1959, Walt Disney Productions began searching for another location for a second

resort to supplement Disneyland. Surveys showed that only 2 percent of Disneyland’s guests

came from the east coast (Fogleson, 2003). Also, Walt Disney did not approve of the businesses

that were opening around the park and wanted a larger plot of land so he could control the

surrounding area. There were many cities Disney considered building near such as Miami and St.

flying over the site and Construction on the Disney World Resort began in Orlando in 1967

(Mannheim, 2002). To avoid a burst of land speculation, Walt Disney invented numerous fake

corporations in order to acquire over 27,000 acres of land for the resort. Disney World opened in

1971, but Walt would never see the finished product. On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney

passed away due to lung cancer. His brother, Roy Disney, opened The Magic Kingdom and

named the resort Walt Disney World in Walt’s honor (Fogleson, 2003). Soon after, Roy began

construction on EPCOT Center, which was Walt’s last plan before his death. However, less than

three months after Walt Disney World opened, Roy passed away from a stroke (Company

history). The park continued to flourish, with the opening of EPCOT in 1982, followed by MGM

In Orlando, Disney also has an effect on the context outside of its theme parks and

resorts. Almost everything obtains Disney flavor; even the gas stations have bushes trimmed in

the silhouette of Disney characters. Disney retains its own police force and, since they are in

charge of many areas of Orlando, Disney police can be seen frequently patrolling areas including

parts of Orlando that are not Disney owned (Milman, Okumus, & Dickson, 2010). Since the

1960s, the Disney Company has been in an economic expansion marriage with the Orlando local

Disney private government status (which includes tax and fee immunities); Disney’s receiving of

bond money to pay for new sewers, and Disney negotiating with the city of Orlando and the state

of Florida to build and utilize a nuclear power plant at the theme park (Chung & Schneider,

2003).

Walt Disney World is not only Central Florida’s leading employer but also the overall

biggest single-site employer in the United States with over 58,000 “cast members” (Milman et

al., 2010). Since Disney’s opening in 1971, Orlando has become one of the world’s top domestic

and international travel destinations (Zbar, 1995). According to Forbes magazine, 48 million

have formed within the community and local government in Orlando (Chung & Schneider,

2003).

In the beginning, Walt Disney would place specially trained guest-relations

representatives at various places throughout Walt Disney World. These cast members wore white

shirts, Mickey Mouse ties, and special name tags in order to be obvious for guests to identify.

However, guests thought they looked too important to bother them with simple questions or

approachable cast members in the park – a valuable source for guests. The custodial staff now

spends two weeks going through training in order to familiarize themselves with the entire park

so they can answer questions and offer directions for guests. The concentration and time given to

the individuals during the training process show the cast members they are a vital piece of the

Disney team. Consequently, they perform at a higher level as they are more prideful in their

work (Cockerell, 2008).

Initially, the theme of “creating happiness” for guests empowers cast members. The Walt

Disney Company then offers extensive training, continuing communication, and reliable support

systems to assist the cast in providing the proper guest service for each guest encounter (Johnson,

in emotional regulation, a concept described in detail in the following section.

Hochschild (1983) first defined emotional regulation as the regulation of employees’

emotions to fulfill occupational or organizational standards. Employees who maintain face-to-

face or voice-to-voice contact with the public are known as emotion laborers (Hochschild, 1983).

Their jobs entail them to construct an emotional state in other people as a result of their

communicating. Hochschild’s research has typically found that emotional labor stems from the

human life and helps people control their emotions after stressful situations through thoughts or

cognitions (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spinhoven, 2001).

Emotional regulation strategies that have been examined as a way to handle fear include

disappearance, cognitive control, active coping, and reconsolidation (Hartley & Phelps, 2010). In

her qualitative work of U.S. flight attendants and bill collectors, Hochschild (1983) analyzed the

over-inclusion of human emotions and feelings in commercial relationships. She divided the

modern-day management of human emotions into two categories: (1) the real meaning of an

emotional system as part of an individual’s private life at home (i.e., emotion work), and (2) the

this by modifying their thoughts, physical conditions, facial expressions, and body language

through both private surface acting and deep acting (Ashforth, & Humphrey, 1993, 1995; Brief,

& Weiss, 2002; Morris, & Feldman, 1996, 1997; Zapf, 2002). Emotional regulation was called

“impression management” or “performance” by sociologist Erving Goffman (1959).

Goffman (1959) uses the term “impression management” as a type of performance in

which individuals engage in activities in the presence of observers (i.e., an audience). The

individual desires to build. Impression management occurs on a front-stage area (Goffman,

1959). The front-stage refers to the physical and social space where performances are acted out.

It always involves the presence of audiences (Grayson, 1998). Goffman identifies other stages as

well, the most essential of which is the back-stage. On the back-stage, individuals enact

“performance maintenance” practices – practices that allow for a careful preparation of front-

stage performances. If they were enacted on front-stages, back-stage performances would ruin

and stigmatize front-stage performances. For this reason, individuals make sure that back-stage

behaviors do not become visible to their audiences (Grove & Fisk, 1992). Audiences are not to

be found back-stage. The individual, then, will separate front and back-stages. For Goffman,

As Klein and Ritti (1984) put it, impression management involves the ways individuals

certain type of impression. The management of one’s voice and face (which also includes the

“telephone voice”) has been considered the easiest and best example of impression management.

Performers must prepare (beforehand) for possible contingencies and exploit the opportunities

that linger. Unconfident performers try to select the type of audience that will give the least

amount of trouble (Arndt & Bigelow, 1986). From a communicative standpoint, then, impression

management is self-presentation; its objective is to grease the wheels of social interaction (Leary,

1996). The front-stage is the setting in which the fake performance (i.e., “surface acting,” as

expressing one’s discontentment or exhaustion is only reserved for the back-stage (Preves &

Stephenson, 2009).

As one can see, Goffman’s impression management theory serves to convey the

appearance of conformity to social norms (Paolucci & Richardson, 2006). The objective is to

control how one is perceived by others (Leary, 1996). Goffman also called it Dramaturgical

Analysis, a sociological worldview coming from symbolic interactionism. Dramaturgical

Analysis is symbolic interactionism because the latter follows the same principles; it examines

how people communicate through shared symbols, like words, definitions, roles, and gestures

and psychologist, is the forerunner of symbolic interactionism. According to Mead (1934),

interaction was communication through meaningful symbols. Meltzer (1975) and Plummer

(1991) developed Mead’s ideas: for them, interaction implies that behavioral interpretation is

created in a particular society or culture.

Two main strategies in emotional labor are known as deep and surface acting (Çukur,

2009). Goffman’s (1959) Dramaturgical Analysis of surface acting was expanded by Hochschild

Constantin Stanislavski in 1965. By his definition, a role is portrayed by an actor by

authentically changing what he or she feels to become the part (Hochschild, 1983). This concept

is then translated to be used in the workplace. Employees may use their instruction or past

experience to invoke feelings they are required to portray when their emotions do not fit the

situation (Kruml & Geddes, 2000). When an employee is experiencing feelings that do not match

the circumstances, he or she has two options as to how to approach the situation. The employee

can arouse emotions that are not truly felt and express superficial emotions (surface acting), or

use internal feelings from past incidents or instruction to convey the required emotions (deep

acting) (Çukur, 2009). While partaking in surface acting, employees fake or “paint on” emotions,

Surface acting means that employees modify or control their emotional expressions by

enhancing their feelings or faking a smile when assisting a demanding customer or in a bad

mood (Abraham, 1998; Brotheridge, 1999; Erickson & Wharton, 1997; Pugliesi, 1999; Pugliesi

& Shook, 1997). Displaying these false emotions requires emotional dissonance, or the anxiety

that occurs when expressions and emotions differ (Hochschild, 1983). Surface acting may have

the consequence of causing employees to become more displeased with their occupation –

leading them to perform at the minimum level (Grandey, 2003). An employee attempting to

change only his or her outward appearance and feelings to fit “organizationally required

emotions” is said to engage in surface acting (Kruml & Geddes, 2000)

commanded company rules. It works on altering stimulations or cognitions that are included in

emotions through various techniques (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994; Folkman &

Lazarus, 1991; Gross, 1998; Lazarus, 1991; Totterdell & Parkinson, 1999). While taking part in

deep acting, the actor attempts to transform his or her own feelings in order to complement the

mandatory displays. The objective, then, is to present authenticity to the spectators (Grandey,

2003). To some degree, both deep acting and surface acting reflect emotive dissonance, a

significant space between what emotions the actor is feeling and what they are expressing

(Brotheridge, & Lee, 2003; Hochschild, 1983; Kruml, & Geddes, 2000).

Considering both surface and deep acting as emotional labor is valuable for a number of

individual anxiety, and health issues for example, and positive effects such as guest service.

Second, there is utility from conceptualizing emotional regulation with surface and deep acting.

If the two processes of emotional regulation have differences relating to their outcomes, stress

management courses and organizational instruction can be suggested (Grandey, 2000).

According to Hochschild (1983), an employee acting fake over time could result in feeling

disconnected from other people’s feelings (as well as their own). This suggests a connection with

the dimension of depersonalization. Surface acting provides a lesser sense of personal success,

whereas deep acting adds a greater sense of personal usefulness at work (Brotheridge &

Grandey, 2002). Feeling reduced personal achievement is also probable if the employee feels the

Humphrey, 1993; Brotheridge, 1999).

Deep acting has potential benefits for employees and customer outcomes, but it is

important that organizations do not treat employees’ emotions as a commodity (Hochschild,

1983). Research has found that performing expressions that are opposite from feelings leads to

anxiety (Abraham, 1998; Brotheridge, 1999; Erickson & Wharton, 1997; Pugliesi, 1999; Pugliesi

& Shook, 1997) because of the inner tension and the physiological struggle of repressing genuine

feelings (Gross & Levenson, 1997; Morris & Feldman, 1997; Pugliesi, 1999). Human service

professionals reported the greatest levels of emotional display and expectations for managing and

expressing their emotions based on frequency, variety, intensity, and duration. Another

dedication. It also prompts them to engage in deviant activities (Mulki et al., 2006).

Emotional deviance refers to the expressions of one’s truer emotions. Felt and expressed

emotions are not met with required organizational display rules and may even challenge them

(Mann, 1999; Rafaeli, & Worline, 2001; Zapf, 2002). As Rafaelli and Sutton (1987) state,

“emotional deviance is the opposite of emotional dissonance because the organization member

expresses inner feelings and disregards feelings rules. Again, however, the internalization of

33). Emotional deviance differs in quality or degree from what is anticipated in specific

situations (Kemper, 1990; Thoits, 1990). An example of emotional deviance occurs when service

employees, who are emotionally exhausted, carry negative job attitudes that customers can

and a tour of the park or property where they will work including back-stage and front-stage

areas and operations (Chung & Schneider, 2003).

Next, employees learn specifically how to perform their roles along with basic lessons in

the significance of being friendly with guests, smiling, and maintaining a clean environment.

This is known as “immersion in division” training. The main goal of this training is to prepare

employees to surpass guest expectations (Cockerell, 2008). This part of the training teaches

examine Disney employees in action.

The result of this exceptional training is that Disney’s front-line attrition rate is only 15

percent in comparison to the rest of the hospitality industry at 60 percent (Pell, 1998). There are

seven guest service guidelines that are taught to employees at Walt Disney World in order to

create a standard of friendly, courteous, considerate treatment for all guests. These guidelines

include beginning and ending each interaction with direct eye contact and an honest smile, using

proper posture, facial expressions, and a clean appearance to create a good impression, and

complete each interaction with a “thank you” and a smile (Cockerell, 2008). Finally, the training

for the actual job the cast member will be doing begins. The training facilities use the most up-

ensure that there are no problems on the job, a 30-day follow up is conducted to guarantee that

the training is being maintained and reinforced every day on the job (Chung & Schneider, 2003).

Disney offers numerous activities and channels of communication in order to keep

employees involved. For example, there are recognition programs, picnics, Disney newsletters,

and sports events (Chung & Schneider, 2003). When it comes to maintaining the Disney culture,

managers also play an important role. On occasion, Disney executives can be found working

side-by-side with other employees in the theme parks. Behavior such as this conveys several

ideas about the culture: they are not afraid to get their hands dirty, and they desire to stay within

close proximity to their employees and guests (Chung & Schneider, 2003).

technique accessible including face-to-face surveys, focus groups, and telephone surveys. Disney

employees make every effort to create magic moments out of tragic moments (Schueler, 2000).

One example of this takes place at the end of the day when guests exit the theme park and cannot

locate their cars. An attendant, simply by finding out when the guests arrived, can identify where

they are parked within three rows. Service such as this allows parking attendants to be heroes

and keeps guests satisfied (Schueler, 2000).

The third chapter explains the methods used to examine the emotional regulation

strategies used by Walt Disney World on-stage employees. Ten Disney World on-stage

employees were interviewed outside the confines of the company in Orlando in places that suited

the participants. Each interview consisted of a collection of open questions (see interview

General Description

exploring a subject or experience to research its elements and inner workings. In doing so, the

researcher fabricates a pattern for the whole by mending categories or themes in one piece

(Schwandt, 2001). From this perspective, meaning is deduced from the data gathered during the

interviews. All qualitative interviews with Walt Disney World on-stage employees were

conversations – not between “equals.” Rather, it was asymmetrical. Part of the raison d'être of

in-depth interviewing is that the researcher sets the tone – he or she determines and controls the

situation. For instance, the topics of surface acting, deep acting, and emotional deviance will be

introduced to them by the researcher. This is an example of influencing the situation.

The “answers” to the interview questions should be regarded as stories or accounts. A

an event through a type of storytelling, with believability. It is an extended “telling” of some

knowledge or past experience (Riessman, 1993). It was anticipated that Walt Disney World on-

stage employees would tell the researcher about events and memories at their own pace and in

their own manner. Interviewing is a conversation – accounts are being told in a conversational

fashion (Wengraf, 2001). So, participants used stories or accounts to explain their own actions or

actions of others (Rubin & Rubin, 1995).

The Objective as a Qualitative Interviewer

understanding, and empathy (as a research tool). Reflexivity is important at every level of the

research process. Because the researcher is a qualitative research tool, the majority of what

happens in the research reflects the qualitative interviewer’s thinking.

The objective is to contemplate what the participants tell and provide an analysis

subsequently. After the participants told their accounts of emotional regulation strategies used by

Walt Disney World on-stage employees, the researcher judiciously analyzed their accounts by

“making sense” of them. The researcher looked for themes that appeared across the participants’

responses (as explained in detail later). Themes were created based on the repetition of words,

terms, or subject matter throughout the interviews. The research is reflexive throughout the entire

through; particular attention was continuously paid from the beginning to the end. As a

qualitative interviewer, the researcher has a saturated role. It ranges from the largest perspective

of the entire analysis to the tiniest focal point on the moment of the interview. All are included

by the researcher’s own experience of the matter that is under study (Roulston, 2010).

The substance of the participants’ accounts was thoroughly tested. Data collection and

analysis procedures were documented (thanks to a digital audio-tape recorder). Essential steps in

the analysis of the accounts consist of the transcription and analysis/interpretation stages.

Transcription refers to translating from verbal language, with its own set of rules, to written

account to the research text: notes and interpretations coming from the field text. At that

moment, the field text was remade as a working interpretive document and included the

researcher’s preliminary attempts to make sense of what was learned. It is the researcher’s hope

that a thematic analysis will be done, hoping to find patterns coming out across the participants’

responses. Lastly, a public text will be the final product for the reader (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003).

The goal is to deliver a clear and intelligible report for readers – both laypersons and

scholars. Please heed that the analysis of the accounts is to be differentiated from Labov’s and

Walestky’s (1967) framework of narrative analysis. For Labov and Walestky, narrative analysis

is interpretation of its clauses and its overall structure (i.e., its grammatical consistency, abstract,

researchers have discovered new methods for analyzing qualitative data. Again, in this study, the

participants’ interviews are to be viewed as “stories,” “responses,” or “accounts.” They are not

narratives.

The analysis of participants’ accounts represents an omnipresent process in the research.

The qualitative scholar has to figure out how to analyze qualitative interview data. He or she

should fully comprehend that methods of improving research validity and reliability must be

recapitulates, or paraphrases the information obtained from participants. The aim is to ensure

(i.e., “check”) that words and statements made during the interview are accurate. Logically,

member checking is to be done after data collection and consists of reporting back preliminary

findings to participants, requesting crucial critiques on the findings, and perhaps including

commentaries into the analysis (Mears, 2009). The researcher engaged in member checking with

as many participants as possible.

instead of quantitative. The first reason is that, with qualitative interviewing, each participant’s

point of view can be comprehended by the researcher through interviewing (Brenner, Brown, &

Canter, 1985). However, with quantitative methods, the researcher needs to fall back on more

isolated, inferential experimental materials and therefore could barely gain the respondent’s

perspective (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998).

The next reason is that interviewing allows the researcher to probe or extract

supplementary information should the participant need clarification or explanation when

responding to questions. For example, when a Walt Disney World employee was not familiar

with the jargon or objective of the study, informal discussion was used at the beginning of the

(as these terms are unusual in daily conversations). Rather, layperson’s terms were be used by

the researcher. For example, to clarify surface acting, the terms “impression management” or

“performance” were used. Another option was for the researcher to use the proper terminology,

but also provide a definition of each term. Mutual understanding and complete communication

between the participants and the research is the key objective.

The final reason for using qualitative interviewing is that, unlike quantitative research,

interviewing has more structure. While quantitative scholars “leave the field with mountains of

empirical materials and then easily write up his or her findings” (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998, p. 29),

the qualitative interviewer initially generated notes. After each interview was recorded, it was re-

researcher had learned (Brenner et al., 1985). Ultimately, the researcher generated the outcome

(i.e., the text) for the reader. The latter learns from the carefully reflexive perspective and

incident/interpretation of the researcher (Silverman, 1993).

The participants involved in this study consisted of on-stage employees working for Walt

Disney World. First, in order to recruit participants the researcher directly spoke with Walt

Disney World employees and inquired if they were willing to participate in the study. Second,

conducting interviews. The interviews were conducted separately in a public environment, such

as a coffee shop.

Before conducting the interview, the researcher explained the informed consent form

from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to each participant and asked him or her to read it.

Participants were also informed that the interviews would be tape-recorded. If they refused, notes

were simply taken. To insure protection of the participants, the researcher promised them that

their names would remain confidential, that they can use a nickname or alias, and that the tapes

would be destroyed after the information was transcribed. Lastly, the researcher gave participants

her phone and email address as well as the contact information for the professor directing the

you have any questions.” If they had any questions about their rights as a research participant,

they could contact the University of Central Florida Institutional Review Board. They were given

a copy of this information to keep for their records. If they were not given a copy of this consent

form, they could request one.

An important objective is that the final analysis of the qualitative interviews yielded

times it emerged across the participants’ responses. If the same argument or story was heard at

least 60 percent of the time (i.e., at least in six narratives out of ten), then it was a signal that a

common theme was about to emerge. Most themes in this analysis were evident across the vast

majority of the interviews. In regards to the number of themes in qualitative interviewing, the

typical number is five, as demonstrated in numerous studies (e.g., Chang, Li, & Liu, 2004;

Godinez, Schweiger, Gruver, & Ryan, 1999; Grant & Stephen, 2005)

Participants’ accounts symbolized the wealth of the qualitative data obtained. Such

wealth of information enabled patterns (i.e., themes) to emerge, which, in turn, smoothed the

progress of “generalizations” about the emotional regulation strategies used by Walt Disney

are consistent and can be “transferred” – i.e., they are applicable in other contexts – i.e., other

service theme park industries (Oberle, 2002). Thanks to meaningful themes, the ultimate goal

“I think at Disney they teach you to care about other people more than yourself because

there is such an emphasis on the guest and the guest experience, that I don’t feel that you

are as important as an employee there.”

This quotation illustrates how important the guest is to the company and how the expectations

are made to enhance the guest experience, no matter how it affects employees. The Disney

Company is known worldwide for its exceptional guest service, and in order for Walt Disney

producing and organizing the entire experience, and strives to be in full control of all aspects of

the company, including employees (Chung & Schneider, 2003). In order to provide this magical

experience, employees must do whatever they can to fulfill these expectations, even if that means

they have to surface act. When asked how often she utilizes surface acting, one 23-year-old

female from Puerto Rico responded:

“Just pretty much all the time, you always have to be like smiling and happy ‘cause that’s

just the way that they want it to be: the happiest place on earth. So, you have to portray

that. You have to be smiling or singing along to songs or whatever. And like when I was

a character, I was Tigger, so you know even when I was exhausted I still had to act really

The participant provides information that parallels Goffman’s (1959) definition of impression

management. According to Goffman, “impression management” is a type of performance in

which employees engage in activities in the presence of, in this case, an audience. This

participant discussed activities such as singing or smiling in order to alter the audience’s

perception, and to convince them that employees are constantly having fun. While impression

management is a way to keep guests happy, it is also a way to comply with the regulations set by

the Walt Disney World Company.

There are many aspects that make up the guidelines set by the Disney Company, and in

the interviews participants discussed how Disney implements said guidelines. The first step to

employ individuals who have, like, a great interest in participating in, I don’t know

putting on “the show” which is all aspects of Disney. It’s all about the show.”

This idea of putting on a “show,” combined with the theater jargon that is used throughout the

theme park creates an atmosphere that promotes acting on the job. No matter what the cast

member may have going on, or how they might be feeling, they are forced to exude a positive

persona. This starts with the person Disney chooses to hire, as a 26-year-old male from Fremont,

CA said in his interview, “I think they find people that, in general, are relatively upbeat and

wanting to help others have a ‘magical experience.’” By hiring individuals with an existing

positive attitude, they will be more likely to portray the proper emotions that make people

(Bryman, 1999). The magical experience that Disney is so well known for is not easy to create,

and some participants discussed the specific regulations implemented by the company. For

example, according to a 22-year-old-female from Orlando, “They would always be walking

around and if you were leaning, you would be yelled at. You aren’t allowed to lean.” Regulation

goes beyond emotions, as employees in Walt Disney World are trained to control their physical

attributes as well in order to exude a welcoming attitude. As explained by a 20-year-old female

from West Palm, FL,

“You’re not supposed to stand behind the register that much if there’s no guests, and we

have to like make sure it’s neat at the store we’re in, and we have to stand outside and

“entertailing” or “shoppertaining.” It refers to the modern trend of mingling business and

entertainment opportunities for guests (Morgan & Rao, 2003). The objective is to add excitement

to the merchandizing experience or, at least, turning it into an engaging and interactive

experience. The outcome of merchantainment is the appearance of a fun environment for not

only guests but also on-stage employees (Taylor & Labarre, 2008). Such guidelines inherently

contribute to greater surface acting and include physical aspects of exuding happiness. The

objective of impression management is to control how audiences perceive others (Leary, 1996),

and these specific regulations ensure that the impression employees give off is a positive one.

A majority of the participants gave their own descriptions of surface acting, and

surface acting, a 23-year-old male from Orlando, FL responded:

“A lot of times, at the beginning of the day, it will be a lot of surface acting ‘cause you

haven’t really gotten in the groove yet or if you’ve had a long day and you’re really

irritated or really fed up, uh, and you know that either a manager is around or someone is

really looking at you, you can surface act.”

It is important for employees to recognize when surface acting could benefit their situation. This

description offers insight into which times of the day employees might exercise surface acting.

Many participants included times that their feelings did not match the circumstances they were

involved in, where they were forced to arouse superficial emotions that were not legitimately

“Most of the time when you’re surface acting it’s like that. It’s somebody’s not being

nice to you and you have to pretend that you’re still their friend or you’re still there to

help them, and it is the most draining experience ever; or when people cuss at you.

‘Cause they will cuss at you as well and that’s kind of hard to take. My friend got spit on

one time. It was definitely harder being in merchandise because I’m on-stage as myself

and I’m being judged as myself and I have to be friendly.”

This quotation gave insight into the conflict that goes on within some employees of the Disney

Company as they are trying to uphold the Disney reputation. This conflict can cause tension

within employees, which is what makes emotional regulation so important. Disney has obviously

importance of guest service. It is necessary for a company to introduce new ways of dealing with

stress. Consequently, it is of utmost importance for Disney to invest in their employees

(Schuppert et al., 2009). As said by a 23-year-old male from Orlando,

“It can lead to being very stressful ‘cause you’re constantly having to suppress any

emotions, but I think it keeps the guests more positive so that I think it really does make

people happier when we even fake it because they’re not seeing that unhappiness from

us, even if we’re really unhappy, it keeps them happy.”

It seems Disney promotes the importance of the guest experience, which can be seen through

their employees’ actions. As stated previously, the Disney brand is synonymous with exceptional

responses are perfect examples of this. According to a 28-year-old female from Clermont, Fl,

“It’s putting your emotions aside, so it’s really putting them aside and thinking about

others first. So, I don’t’ think that I’m controlling myself necessarily-I mean of course, if

you have an angry customer you’re going to control your emotions and just be like

[makes aggravated noise], and you do become a better communicator because you can do

that.”

Employees understand the goals of the company and are willing to set aside their emotions in

order to provide the best experience for the guest.

One area that literally all of the participants responded unanimously was regarding

participants discussed ways in which they could present happy emotions, through nonverbal

actions and behaviors, when their feelings did not correspond with the company expectations.

Employees must literally fake or “paint on” their emotions (Grove & Fisk, 1989, Hoschild,

1983). Smiling was the most universal response when asked how to display happy emotions,

and was described as an example of positive body language, among other things. As explained

“You smile all the time, all the time like my cheeks hurt at the end of the night. I guess

like smiling is the biggest thing as long as you have a smile on your face the guest will

come up to you smiling. And I guess just like if you want you can come here and just use

at them.”

This includes another important aspect of guest service, which is globalization. The Disney

Company now has resorts in multiple countries, and welcomes visitors from all over the world. It

is imperative that no guest is offended while in Walt Disney World, and the organization takes

great precaution in order to achieve this (Matusitz, 2010). By negating all gestures that could be

taken offensively, Disney not only protects itself but also pleases the diverse demographics that

are found among their guests. This example is also a perfect illustration of impression

management. When individuals manage their communication such as facial expressions,

appearance, and voice on-stage, they can accomplish this by giving off a specific impression

ways she appears happy:

“Like my eyebrows would always have to be up. And some days I would be like really

tired and falling asleep, so I would have to be like to keep like my eyes really wide open,

so that’s pretty much what I do.”

Facial expressions appear to be the most powerful tool while engaging in surface acting. It seems

that no matter how an employee is feeling, facial expressions can help convince guests that cast

members are always happy. As discussed previously, successful surface acting typically includes

How do they come across as happy when they are tired, if they cannot show their face? This is

best explained by a 27-year-old female from Panama City, FL:

“Since my face is covered for the most part I do that with my hands and body language.

So, it’s either me doing full out body language, this that and the other, that’s how I

express myself. ‘Cause I can’t use my face to do it, I’m expressing through body

language. I have to get myself hyped up after a 15 hour day.”

For occupations such as this, it is very important for employees to use body language in order to

uphold the expectations held by the company. Proper use of body language can be explained

Mead’s (1934) symbolic interactionism, whereby the use of symbols and gestures are to be

important role on-stage, and if these employees were not up to the standard, the company would

suffer greatly.

While most of the responses were about staying positive and upbeat on the job, there

were also times where employees needed to regulate emotions on a more serious level. While

working in a park full of children, it is important to act properly in certain situations. For

example, as told by a 25-year-old female from Stillwater, MN:

“As an I-Greeter [information greeter], we often had to deal with parents that were

frantically looking for their children who they misplaced in the water park. As we called

the guests.”

While the reputation of the Disney Company is built on employees and their positive attitudes, it

is important to remember that it is not always appropriate to act happy, and Disney ensures that

their employees’ emotions are regulated to adapt to any situation.

The layout of Walt Disney World is structured specifically to ensure that there is a clear

difference between how employees act while they are front-stage versus back-stage. The main

stage, or as known in Disney jargon “on-stage” area, consists of any part of the park that guests

are allowed to roam. This is where employees work directly with guests within the resort or park.

The “back-stage” section is the space that is behind the scenes, where cast members can be

themselves (Cockerell, 2008). When asked if their back-stage behavior was different from their

on-stage behavior, there were unanimous discussions about their actions back-stage and how

they use that area as a place to vent or relieve stress. It is often used as a place for employees to

“talk about anything, rant, and rave about the company.” According to a 23-year-old male from

Orlando, FL:

“The entire thing with back-stage is you put on this face on-stage. So when you’re back-

This information expresses not only the importance of the back-stage area, but the stress that can

build while on-stage. The front-stage area is defined as a place that constantly involves the

presence of an audience – the physical and social space where actors deliver their performance

(Grayson, 1998). As this participant states, stress is created while acting on-stage, and the benefit

of a back-stage area is to release the stress in order to successfully perform for the remainder of

the day. This is further supported by a 27-year-old female from Panama City, FL:

“You come off set and just relaxing for 30 minutes or however long it is, you’re just

you’re there, you’re relaxing before you have to get ready again. It’s good stress relief. If

we didn’t have those breaks as characters, I wouldn’t be able to do it for so many years.”

performers. Even though their faces are covered, as discussed earlier, they are still forced to act

through nonverbal communication. According to this participant, having those breaks back-stage

offers enough relief to continue working, even though the job is exhausting. This confirms

Goffman’s (1959) notion that the back-stage is a place where individuals can practice their

“performance maintenance,” which prepares them for front-stage performances. Using the area

to release negative emotions and reinstate positive feelings was a common response, as said by a

22-year-old female from Wellington, FL:

“If like a guest is like annoying me I’ll like go in the back and just start, like I don’t

know, just letting it all out. I’ll go in the back, and like let it all out, and it’s more to let

participants. The reason that Walt Disney World has a back-stage to begin with is in order for

cast members to have a place where they can stop performing the show. The back-stage is

reserved as an area where individuals can practice behaviors the company forces them to

suppress while on-stage. As Grove and Fisk (1992) contend, individuals ensure that behaviors

they use back-stage do not become visible to their audiences, or in this case, to guests in the

park. Some of the participants offered specific examples of their behaviors back-stage, and how

they differ from their behaviors on-stage. According to a 20-year-old female from West Palm,

FL:

“You immediately go back-stage and you’re different, like most the time. You’re

cell phone, you talk about guests, um yeah, it’s a lot different but I’m still happy back-

stage.”

managing the emotions of employees to adhere to their job description (Ekman & Friesen, 1975;

Goffman, 1959; Hochschild, 1983). While emotional regulation training may seem to be a

negative feature of training, it is essential to the success of the company. As said by Schuppert et

al. (2009), occupations involving a large amount of customer service can lead to stress and

psychological vulnerability. One crucial objective of emotional regulation training is to introduce

new methods of managing stress. By the same token, this training has obviously been successful

The Disney Company is universally known for its customer service and its constantly-

upbeat employees. However, this is not always the case. In order to portray constant happiness,

many employees of the Walt Disney World are forced to “surface act” while on-stage. One vital

consequence of surface acting is causing employees to become more dissatisfied with their

profession, which may lead them to perform at a lower level (Grandey, 2003). As said by a 27-

year-old female from Panama City, FL:

don’t want to be happy, but you have to push that aside sometimes ‘cause people paid a

lot of money to come and see you and just to have that experience and you don’t want to

ruin it for them.”

magical guest experience. Yet, too often, participating in surface acting can lead to emotional

exhaustion, or even emotional deviance. This may not be due to organizational expectations, but

due to unhappy guests. Surface acting is frequently utilized by modifying or controlling

emotional expressions – e.g., by faking a smile while assisting a demanding customer (Abraham,

1998; Brotheridge, 1999; Erickson & Wharton, 1997; Pugliesi, 1999; Pugliesi & Shook, 1997).

“If someone is like yelling at me for something ridiculous I just want to like let it out but

I have to just turn it on and be like this is my job. So it’s like really emotionally draining

on myself like I want to just come home and lay in bed after. Just shut my brain off.”

This supports Maslach and Jackson’s (1981) definition of emotional exhaustion, which is the

feeling of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work. While this is vastly

common with a company such as Disney, as one 26-year-old male participant from Fremont, CA

put it: “As with any job in which you are working you know 8 to 10 hours a day there will

always be a level of exhaustion.” According to participants, being forced to “surface act” for

long periods of time is extremely draining, no matter which company one is working for.

aggression, which can intensify their level of emotional exhaustion (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993).

The idea of being “fake” on-stage was the most draining to participants, as said by a 22-year-old

female from Florida:

“Definitely ‘cause when you have to be like, like there were times that I wasn’t being

fake like, I liked to be there and stuff, but, having to be fake for like 12 plus hours a day

just kills you really. That’s why I actually, by the time I was done I liked doing like

drinks or trays or something that didn’t involve people ‘cause then like I didn’t feel like I

was being fake.”

High levels of emotional exhaustion could potentially lead to employees partaking in

employees at Walt Disney World were more likely to experience emotional exhaustion or

describe situations in which they suffered tensions between what the company expected of them

and what they actually felt. While none of the participants reported that they had ever taken part

in emotional deviance, some admitted to being tempted. The participant that said the previous

quote went on to say:

“At the counters [in a restaurant], there are two levels, and here it gives you lists of

questions to ask people like where are you from, how’s your day, what rides have you

gone on just like all these questions you’re supposed to ask people. Which is helpful in

terms of you always have a question but you feel like a robot after a while like you ask

day you’re like ‘I don’t care where you’re from!’”

This is an example of how emotional regulation could lead to emotional deviance. According to

Grandey et al. (2004), emotional deviance occurs when emotionally exhausted service

employees give off negative job attitudes that customers can interpret and, ultimately, result in

lower customer satisfaction with the service experience. Some behaviors that may occur during

emotional deviance are mistreating organizational norms, creating business inadequacies, or

withholding effort (Colbert et al., 2004; Dunlop & Lee, 2004; Mulki et al., 2006). One example

that was given by a 23-year-old female participant from Puerto Rico was;

“Sometimes I would be so exhausted ‘cause it does take a lot out of you to be so

it makes me pick and choose like who I want to be nice to, sometimes, or just who I want

to be sarcastic to, or just ignore completely, which I did sometimes too.”

By suppressing effort while on-stage, this would technically be considered emotional deviance.

Many participants admitted to holding back on-stage due to being emotionally exhausted.

Robinson and Bennett (1995) suggest that emotional exhaustion and an excessive supply of

emotional regulation in the workplace can lead to emotional deviance. Emotional deviance can

not only tarnish the reputation of an employee, but it could also endanger the well-being and

atmosphere of an organization. However, a majority of the participants discussed ways they

would “cool off” or release frustrated emotions on-stage without deviating. According to a 28-

“Well, even though I don’t think I’m the biggest emotional regulator, sometimes and

there you couldn’t because you were going to get fired. You couldn’t be like “oh, fuck

you” and tell somebody off, because your job depended on it. And, but there were certain

things you knew you could get away with.”

Most of the participants responded that they never contributed to emotional deviance, as they

truly did enjoy their occupation and did not want to lose their job. As said by the same

participant: “We don’t deviate to the point where we could get fired-we might get a stern talking-

to, but it’s not deviate as retaliating against someone that was mean to you.”

Walt Disney World. In this conclusion, the researcher describes, in detail,

(a) the summary of the findings (and, above all, addressing all four research questions of

this analysis),

(b) the limitations of this study, and

(c) suggestions for future research.

Research Question 1 (RQ1), “How do Disney on-stage employees engage in emotional

the researcher’s analysis of them – as interpreted in the first two themes especially. RQ1 was

dealt with, in part, through the use of deep acting versus surface acting. It is clear from the data

that employees of Walt Disney World are not constantly upbeat and positive. As this study

shows, particularly through all five themes, most of them turn to surface acting to achieve the

emotions they are forced to emit. A certain number of responses, however, also pointed to the

utilization of deep acting as a way to engage in emotional regulation. Most of the employees

commented on how they remind themselves of their training regarding the importance of the

guest’s experience at Walt Disney World. Responses showed that participants felt that guests did

not respond as well to fake happiness. Because of this, employees would strive to achieve deep

acting would allow them to keep their composure and respond in a positive way in order to

maintain Disney’s expectations. While this was less sincere than deep acting, a majority of the

responses revealed that surface acting was used more often while dealing with negative

situations or guests.

For Research Question 2 (RQ2), “How do Disney on-stage employees control emotional

deviance as part of their occupation?,” it is clear from the findings (especially in the third and

fifth themes) that while many employees are tempted to resort to emotional deviance, very few

of them actually engage in this type of emotional strategy. While some participants admitted to

not paying as much attention to guests or not going above and beyond for all guests, rarely did

back-stage area helped reduce potential deviance by providing an area for employees to vent

their frustrations. After relieving their negative emotions and taking a break from the pressures

of being on-stage, employees were able to revitalize themselves and return to the on-stage area

rejuvenated and emotionally prepared for all situations, be they negative or positive.

emotional exhaustion as part of their occupation?,” it was found, based on information found in

the third, fourth, and fifth themes, that emotional exhaustion was a common problem among

employees at Walt Disney World. It seemed to be due to the long hours given to employees. Yet,

employees maintained a positive attitude in front of customers. One key aspect of the Disney

Company that helped decrease emotional exhaustion was the emotional regulation training

provided for every employee. While this training is designed to implement the rules and

regulations of the Disney Company, it also offers ways for employees to deal with situations that

could lead to emotional exhaustion. By educating individuals about the values of the Disney

Company and instilling the importance of a positive guest experience, Walt Disney World on-

stage employees have a sense of loyalty and commitment to the guests that they strive to uphold.

Through responses from participants, it seemed that, while many of them faced emotional

exhaustion, they were able to overcome it.

favor the most: deep acting or surface acting? And why?,” the participants’ responses revealed

that surface acting was the most commonly used method among employees, and this was seen in

all five themes. While many of them felt that deep acting would be ideal, due to the long hours

and stressful situations, most of the participants resorted to surface acting. They also expressed

their desire to use deep acting, but at times were aware that it would fail because they knew they

were faking it. As one participant said, she would enjoy deep acting because it was a “more

genuine feeling, but it usually didn’t work.” This offers an example where deep acting, in effect,

causes the opposite reaction. Throughout the interviews, it was clear that neither employees nor

guests responded well to employees who were not genuinely showing their emotions. Many

able to keep a happy face while on-stage. Nevertheless, once safe in the privacy of the back-stage

area, they were able to let off steam and look as frustrated as they desired. It seemed to be very

important to employees not to let their personal emotions known to guests. As one said, “It’s not

their fault we might be having a bad day.” Surface acting was perhaps not the desired method of

emotional regulation, but certainly the method used most frequently. Due to their extensive

training, employees are taught how to appear happy, whether that includes positive jargon,

keeping a smile on their face, or using upbeat nonverbal communication. Surface acting allows

Walt Disney World on-stage employees to uphold and maintain Disney’s reputation as the

“happiest place on Earth.”

emotional regulation that Walt Disney World on-stage employees use is surface acting. From this

vantage point, emotional regulation training and display rules that govern emotional behavior

will have already been internalized by highly skilled Walt Disney World employees, after

working for the company for a while. Consequently, there is less need for the Disney Company,

in the future, to officially monitor its employees’ facial expressions and emotional behavior. As

we have seen in the literature review, the result of extensive training in surface acting is that

Disney’s front-line attrition rate is only 15 percent as compared to the rest of the hospitality

industry at 60 percent (Pell, 1998).

with difficulties finding a sufficient number of Walt Disney World on-stage employees to

interview. While the researcher was able to get ten successful interviews, it would have been

beneficial to find more participants. In actuality, while some participants were willing to

participate in the interview process, they were either unavailable or reluctant to sitting with the

researcher. The reason for their refusal lies in the fact that they are presently working in Walt

Disney World and did not want to incur the risk of speaking too openly about their experiences.

The second limitation relates to time constraints. In some cases, having only a couple of

months available, scheduling ten interviews and locating a dwelling to hold the interview proved

to be difficult in a city as large as Orlando. Similarly, in order to take part in the study,

Disney World on-stage employee, having enough experience to reflect on their involvement with

emotional regulation, and so forth. In spite of these limitations, it was vital to this analysis and

research questions that this specific group of employees be interviewed.

The third limitation deals with the method utilized in this study: in-depth, face-to-face

qualitative interviewing. Not all ten interviews provided copious amounts of information on

concepts such as deep acting, surface acting, emotional regulation training, emotional deviance,

and emotional exhaustion. With qualitative interviewing, there is always a possibility that a few

participants may have altered their accounts for unidentified reasons. On the same note, when

piloting in-depth, face-to-face qualitative interviewing (even after audio-taping full

Emotional regulation training has proven to be a relatively effective means for Disney

employees to adapt to their work situations. For future research, it may prove interesting to

investigate the cultural side of emotional regulation. For example, while Disney is renowned for

being the “happiest place on earth,” its “smile factory” strategy did not carry well among the

Chinese crew personnel at Hong Kong Disneyland. A major reason lies in the fact that, in Hong

Kong, people who look “too friendly” are viewed as suspicious. From this vantage point, a smile

is not necessarily perceived as a positive feature in other cultures (Matusitz, 2009). Yet, no

World employees across racial groups. It would be useful to compare the long-term effects and

emotional reactions of those employees.

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