Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia Volume 7.
Issue 1, 119-126 e_ISSN: 2798-4311 https://glosains.
DOI: : doi.
org/10.
59784/glosains.
The Role of Emotion Regulation as a Mediator between Job Stress and Psychological Well-Being in Customer Service Employees Mela Astri Netty Jesajas Muhammad Iqbal Universitas Paramadina.
Indonesia Universitas Paramadina.
Indonesia Universitas Paramadina.
Indonesia *Corresponding author:
Mela Astri.
Universitas Paramadina.
Indonesia.
nCmela.
astri@students.
Article Info:
Article history:
Received: February 14th, 2026 Revised: February 25th, 2026 Accepted: February 26th, 2026 Abstract Background: Customer service employees operate in emotionally demanding environments characterized by high job demands, performance monitoring, and continuous interpersonal interaction.
Such conditions potentially increase job stress and threaten psychological wellbeing.
Objective: This study examines whether emotion regulation mediates the relationship between job stress and psychological well-being among customer service employees in Indonesia.
Keywords:
Methods: A quantitative approach with a mediational correlational design customer service employees.
was employed involving 258 customer service employees in Indonesia emotion regulation.
job stress.
selected through purposive sampling.
The research instruments included psychological well-being a job stress scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Psychological Well-Being (PWB) scale.
Data analysis was conducted using path analysis via Hayes' PROCESS Macro Model 4.
Results: Job stress was not significantly associated with psychological well-being ( = 0.
0415, p > .
Emotion regulation did not significantly predict psychological well-being and did not mediate the relationship between job stress and psychological well-being .
% CI [-0.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that psychological well-being in this sector may be maintained by broader organizational and social resources rather than individual emotion regulation strategies alone.
To cite this article: Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal.
The Role of Emotion Regulation as a Mediator between Job Stress and Psychological Well-Being in Customer Service Employees.
Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia, 7 .
, 119-126.
https://doi.
org/10.
59784/glosains.
INTRODUCTION
The service industry sector, especially in the customer service unit, is at the forefront of organizational sectors facing multidimensional demands of considerable complexity, including intense cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects (Ahmed et al.
, 2017.
Dlouhy et al.
, 2.
carrying out their operational functions, customer service employees are faced with routines that demand continuous mental readiness, such as dealing with customer complaints with various characteristics, fluctuating workloads, pressure on service duration targets, and the need to maintain professionalism under strict supervision (Dudija & Rindu Annisa Putri, 2025.
Survival Survival et al.
, 2025.
Wahyuni & Sulastri, 2.
This dynamic and stressful work environment puts employees at high risk of job stress.
According to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory, stress arises when job demands exceed the resources possessed by individuals, which, if chronically occurring, will trigger mental health degradation and a significant decline in organizational performance (Jannar Tampang & Adriana Madya Marampa, 2025.
Nurhasanah et , 2.
This model specifically suggests that high job demands combined with low job resources can trigger stress, interfere with concentration, and increase the potential for cognitive 119 | Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA In the perspective of organizational psychology, work stress is understood as a maladaptive response to situations in which there is a mismatch between environmental demands and individual capacities.
This phenomenon prompts individuals to conduct a cognitive appraisal of each stressor that arises.
For customer service employees, stress that is not managed in an adaptive manner risks reducing psychological well-being, which represents the optimal condition of psychological functioning that includes self-acceptance, autonomy, and environmental mastery.
Interestingly, even though employees are in a work ecosystem with relatively similar stressors, the degree of decline in psychological well-being experienced shows significant variability.
This indicates that there are internal psychological mechanisms that act as regulators in determining how the impact of work stress manifests on an individual's mental state.
One of the internal factors that is a crucial determinant in mediating the impact of stress is emotion regulation.
Emotion regulation refers to the ability of individuals to recognize, monitor, and manage their emotional responses adaptively according to the demands of the situation (Ballarotto et al.
, 2025.
Madrid et al.
, 2019.
Uhrecky, 2.
In the context of customer service, employees are often required to perform emotional labor, which is the management of emotions carried out to display expressions that are in accordance with organizational standards even though they are contrary to their original feelings (Jacobs et al.
, 2025.
Pinkawa & Dyrfel, 2.
Effective emotion regulation skills, such as through cognitive reappraisal strategies, allow employees to interpret work pressure more constructively.
Individuals with mature emotion regulation tend to be able to maintain affective balance, which in turn becomes the foundation for the creation of stable psychological well-being amid a stressful work environment.
However, contemporary psychological literature shows that the influence of work stress on psychological well-being is often not direct, but occurs through a complex mediation process.
Within this conceptual framework, emotion regulation is seen as serving as a mediating mechanism that bridges the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being (Ma & Fang, 2019.
Yurtsever Gurkan et al.
, 2.
Adaptive emotion regulation acts as an internal resource that allows employees to turn threats from work stress into manageable challenges.
other words, the achievement of psychological well-being is not merely the result of the absence of stressors, but the outcome of the success of the emotion regulation process in transforming these pressures into positive self-evaluation and a stronger sense of environmental control.
Although much research has been done on work stress and well-being, studies that specifically examine the role of emotion regulation as a mediator variable in the context of customer service employees with unique emotional burden characteristics still need further Most previous studies have focused more on performance outcomes or burnout in general, but not much has explored the psychological pathway of how emotion regulation bridges work stressors to employee eudaimonic well-being.
This research gap shows the need for a more integrative approach to understanding the internal mechanisms that maintain employee mental Although previous studies consistently report that job stress negatively affects psychological well-being, findings remain inconsistent across professions characterized by structured emotional display rules.
Most existing research positions emotion regulation as a universal protective resource without sufficiently distinguishing between voluntary coping strategies and organizationally mandated emotional labor.
In professions such as customer service, emotion regulation may operate as a performance requirement rather than a psychological buffer.
Empirical examination of this distinction remains limited, particularly in the Indonesian service context.
Therefore, this study addresses this gap by investigating whether emotion regulation truly functions as a mediating psychological mechanism or whether its role differs in occupations with institutionalized emotional display rules.
Based on this description, this study aims to empirically examine the role of emotion regulation as a mediator in the effect of work stress on psychological well-being in customer service employees.
This research is expected to make a theoretical contribution in enriching the literature on industrial and organizational psychology, especially regarding the dynamics of mental health in the workplace.
Practically, the results of this research are expected to serve as the foundation for organizations to develop more comprehensive psychological intervention programs, such as mindfulness-based emotion regulation training or the development of social support systems, to improve the psychological well-being of employees in the midst of high job Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia | 120 Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA In addition, the study also considers contextual factors such as personality type and organizational support that may affect the effectiveness of the emotion regulation process in mitigating work stress.
METHOD
Research Design This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional design using a mediational correlational framework to examine the indirect effect of job stress on psychological well-being through emotion regulation.
The mediation model (X Ie M Ie Y) was tested to determine whether emotion regulation serves as an intervening variable explaining the stressAewell-being The cross-sectional approach captured psychological conditions within a specific organizational context at one point in time.
Participants 258 customer service employees working in various service and complaint-handling divisions across Indonesia participated in the study.
Participants' ages ranged from 19 to 40 years (M = 27.
SD = 5.
The majority were female .
%) and held a Bachelor's degree .
7%).
Employment status included contract employees .
1%), outsourced employees .
3%), and permanent employees .
5%).
Purposive sampling was applied using the following inclusion criteria: active employment in a customer service role, a minimum active working period of six months, and willingness to participate through informed consent.
Incomplete responses and patterned responses indicating inattentive answering were excluded from the analysis.
Data Collection Procedure Data were collected through online surveys distributed via digital platforms.
The survey consisted of a demographic information instrument and three standardized psychological scales.
Before completing the questionnaire, participants were provided with an explanation of the research objectives, assurances of data confidentiality in accordance with the principles of research ethics, and electronic informed consent.
Research Instruments The instrument used in this study has gone through the process of adaptation into Indonesian and has psychometric properties .
which are measured using Cronbach's Alpha () as follows:
Job Stress: Measured using a work stress scale adapted to the context of customer service .
This scale assesses employees' perceptions of workload, time pressure, and role The reliability test results on this sample showed a value = 0.
962, which indicates excellent internal consistency.
Emotion Regulation: Measured using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) developed by Gross & John .
and adapted by Radde et al.
This scale .
measures two main strategies: Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression.
The results of the reliability test showed a value of = 0.
951, indicating that this instrument is reliable for measuring the mechanism of employee emotion management.
Psychological Well-Being: Measured using the PWB scale adapted from the 18-point model of Ryff.
This scale includes the dimensions of autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationships, life goals, and self-acceptance.
After reverse scoring on negative items, the reliability value in this sample is = 0.
Data Analysis Techniques Data analysis was carried out using path analysis techniques to test the mediation model (X Ie M Ie Y) according to the Model 4 procedure of Hayes' PROCESS macro.
The stages of analysis include the Classical Assumption Test, which encompasses normality, linearity, and multicollinearity tests to ensure that the data meets the requirements of regression analysis.
Descriptive Statistics, to map the distribution of scores, means, and standard deviations of each and a Mediation Hypothesis Test, using the bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples to test the significance of indirect effects through a 95% confidence interval.
The entire data 121 | Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA processing was carried out using SPSS software version 26.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results Respondent Profile This study involved 258 respondents who were active employees in the customer service Based on demographic data, most respondents were women .
%) with an average age of 7 years (SD = 5.
Most of the respondents held a Bachelor's degree as their highest level of education .
7%) and worked with contract or outsourced employee status .
4%).
This demographic distribution reflects the characteristics of the young workforce that dominates the customer service sector in Indonesia.
Descriptive Statistics and Assumption Tests Descriptive analysis was conducted to provide an overview of the three research In addition, classical assumption tests .
ormality, linearity, and multicollinearit.
were performed and showed that the data were suitable for testing using a mediated regression model.
The mediation analysis revealed that:
Job stress did not significantly predict emotion regulation ( = -0.
0255, p = .
Emotion regulation did not significantly predict psychological well-being ( = -0.
0211, p = .
The direct effect of job stress on psychological well-being was non-significant ( = 0.
0415, p = .
The indirect effect was non-significant .
% CI [-0.
0113, 0.
Since the confidence interval included zero, emotion regulation does not mediate the relationship between job stress and psychological well-being.
Table 1.
Average.
Standard Deviation, and Correlation Matrix (N = .
Variable Work Stress
Emotion Regulation Psychological Well-Being Red
37,48
33,16
72,29
11,58
8,83
8,56
-0,025
0,042
-0,022
The initial correlation results showed a non-significant relationship between the three variables .
> 0.
, indicating that changes in one variable were not directly associated with changes in the other variables in this sample.
Mediation Hypothesis Test Mediation hypothesis testing was carried out using Hayes' PROCESS Macro (Model .
with a bootstrapping procedure .
,000 sample.
The results of the path analysis are presented in Table 2:
Table 2.
Results of Mediation Path Analysis Relationship Pathway Work Stress Ie Emotion Regulation (Pathway .
Regulation of Emotions Ie Psychological Well-Being (Track .
Work Stress Ie Psychological Well-Being (Direct Effect / C-Lin.
Work Stress Ie Psychological Well-Being (Total Effect / Pathway .
Coefficient () -0,0255 -0,0211 0,062 0,063 -0,407 -0,337 0,684 0,736 0,0415 0,063 0,663 0,508 0,0420 0,062 0,673 0,501 Based on the indirect effect test, a coefficient value of 0.
0001 with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) of [-0.
0113, 0.
was obtained.
Since the CI range includes zero, it can be concluded that Emotion Regulation does not play a mediating role in the relationship between Work Stress and Psychological Well-Being.
Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia | 122 Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA Discussion The findings in this study provide an in-depth picture of the psychological dynamics in customer service employees, where the results of statistical analysis show that work stress does not have a significant negative impact on psychological well-being, and the regulation of emotions does not serve as a mediating mechanism in these relationships.
Previous research has confirmed that support from superiors, colleagues, and family is able to improve psychological well-being and reduce work stress (Al-Floarei et al.
, 2025.
Sulistyowati et al.
, 2.
On the other hand, some studies indicate a significant negative relationship between work stress and psychological wellbeing, where the increase in work stress is inversely proportional to the level of individual psychological well-being.
This phenomenon is interesting to study further because it contradicts the common assumption in the industrial psychology literature that often positions work stress as the sole predictor of a decline in mental well-being.
The insignificance of this relationship indicates that there are certain protective variables or adaptation mechanisms that allow employees to maintain their optimal psychological function despite being in a highly demanding work environment (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017.
Demerouti & Bakker, 2.
Theoretically, the absence of a significant effect of work stress on psychological well-being can be explained through the perspective of cognitive appraisal.
According to Lazarus & Folkman .
, the impact of a stressor largely depends on how the individual interprets the demands.
Given that most respondents' profiles are in the early adult phase .
verage age 27.
7 year.
, this group may perceive pressure in the customer service unit such as handling complaints and repetitive workloads not as threats, but as demands of routine tasks or challenges that are already inherent in their professional roles.
This is supported by the respondents' average psychological well-being score which is relatively high .
, which shows that respondents have a stable level of self-acceptance and autonomy, so that fluctuations in daily work stress do not interfere with the eudaimonic dimension in them.
Furthermore, the unproven role of emotion regulation as a mediator in this study lifts the veil on the nature of emotion management in the customer service profession.
In the perspective of Emotional Labor theory, employees in this sector are required to consistently display positive facial expressions and tone of speech in accordance with the organization's Standard Operating Procedures (SOP.
, a process known as surface acting or deep acting.
This condition causes the regulation of emotions to change its function from what was originally a free intrapersonal coping strategy, to a "technical task" that must be carried out automatically.
As a result, the process of managing emotions becomes detached from the employee's internal psychological well-being.
they can regulate emotions in front of customers without allowing the process to affect or be influenced by their perception of work stress (Almasooudi et al.
, 2023.
Dutli et al.
, 2.
Social environmental factors are also predicted to be strong buffer variables but not explicitly measurable in this model.
In the context of a work culture in Indonesia that tends to be collectivist, social support from coworkers is often a protective factor that neutralizes the impact of work stressors.
Employees may feel high work stress when interacting with customers, but their well-being is maintained due to the presence of emotional ventilation spaces with colleagues or a supportive organizational culture.
This is in line with the expansion of the Job DemandsResources (JD-R) theory which states that the availability of social resources can mitigate the health impairment process triggered by job demands.
In addition, the demographic characteristics of the respondents, which are dominated by Bachelor's graduates .
7%), indicate a relatively good cognitive capacity and level of mental health literacy.
Individuals with higher levels of education tend to have access to a variety of coping strategies and a better understanding of the boundaries between self-identity and professional burden.
Therefore, a reduction in anxiety or an increase in well-being is not solely a direct output of emotional control at work, but the result of achieving a condition of psychological resilience that has been formed previously through the background of education and life experience (Burr et al.
, 2.
This study shows that an effective emotion regulation strategy does not only depend on the internal capacity of the individual, but also requires managerial support and continuous training programs to create a work environment conducive to employees' mental well-being (Shymko, 2.
123 | Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA Overall, this study makes a theoretical contribution by showing that the mediating model of emotion regulation in stress-well-being relationships is not universal across all professions.
jobs that have mandated emotion regulation as part of the job description, this variable may lose its mediating power to eudaimonic psychological well-being.
These findings also provide practical implications for the management of customer service organizations to not only focus on standard emotion regulation training, but rather on strengthening broader psychological resources, such as granting work autonomy, improving work meaning, and providing a solid social support system for employees (Bakker & Demerouti, 2.
The gap between the results of this study and some previous studies shows the need for a more integrative approach in understanding the psychological mechanisms of employees.
Future research is suggested to consider other contextual variables, such as perceived organizational support or spiritual coping, given the central role of these values in Indonesian society.
Thus, the understanding of the psychological mechanisms of employee well-being can be understood more comprehensively in a unique cultural and situational context.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of data analysis and discussions that have been conducted, this study concludes that job stress does not have a significant effect on psychological well-being in customer service employees.
In addition, emotion regulation was found to play no role as a mediator in the relationship between job stress and psychological well-being.
These findings show that in the sample of this study, the high and low job stress felt by employees did not directly determine the fluctuations in their psychological well-being.
Employees' psychological well-being tends to be stable and eudaimonic, which is most likely driven by the more dominant factors of individual resilience or other organizational resources.
Furthermore, emotion regulation in the context of customer service work seems to function more as a demand of professional roles .
motional labo.
than as an internal coping mechanism that affects psychological well-being in a profound This indicates that an employee's ability to manage emotions in front of customers is a technical competency separate from their personal mental health condition.
Thus, the mediation model proposed in this study is not empirically proven in the population of customer service employees in the context of the studied work environment.
The findings imply that organizations, particularly customer service units, should not rely solely on workload reduction or standard emotion regulation training to maintain employee wellbeing.
Greater emphasis should be placed on strengthening workplace social support systems, fostering collaborative cultures, increasing job autonomy and task variety, and developing holistic well-being programs such as counseling services or structured emotional debriefing For future research, scholars are encouraged to examine alternative mediating variables such as perceived organizational support, resilience, or psychological capital.
The use of mixed-methods or qualitative approaches may provide deeper insight into how employees interpret and manage job stress subjectively.
Additionally, incorporating cultural and religious coping variables relevant to the Indonesian context and employing longitudinal designs across broader service sectors would enhance theoretical development and generalizability.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Universitas Paramadina for providing academic support throughout the completion of this research.
Appreciation is also extended to all customer service employees who voluntarily participated in this study and shared their time and experiences.
Their willingness to contribute made this research possible.
The authors also acknowledge the constructive feedback from colleagues and reviewers who provided valuable insights during the manuscript preparation process.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT
Mela Astri conceptualized the research idea, designed the study framework, conducted data collection, performed statistical analysis using PROCESS Macro Model 4, and prepared the initial manuscript draft.
Netty Jesajas contributed to research supervision, theoretical framework development, interpretation of findings, and critical revision of the manuscript.
Muhammad Iqbal assisted in instrument validation, methodological refinement, data verification, and manuscript Glosains: Jurnal Sains Global Indonesia | 124 Mela Astri.
Netty Jesajas.
Muhammad Iqbal The RoleA editing for intellectual content.
All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
REFERENCES