The American Review of Public Administration, Ahead of Print.
This study used the model of emotional labor as emotion regulation to examine the indirect effect of transformational leadership behaviors on leaders’ emotional exhaustion through leaders’ deep acting. Further, it is hypothesized that this indirect effect varies depending on the level of leaders’ emotional intelligence. The sample included 230 leader-follower dyads working in public sector organizations in Pakistan. The results of the regression analysis showed that deep acting behaviors mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and emotional exhaustion, but only for leaders with low levels of emotional intelligence. These findings highlight the importance and relevance of emotional intelligence in managing emotions and maintaining emotional well-being among transformational leaders in the public sector. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study in the manuscript.