Abstract
In the era of COVID-19, organizations are under great threat. Organizations should perform appropriate
strategies to survive in an uncertain future. The organizational members’ behaviors are key elements for
organizations to consider in this environment. However, employees working in hospitals may have a large
workload and job-related stress in the era of COVID-19. This large workload and emotional labor could
lead to a low level of psychological well-being, resulting in a low level of individual and organizational
performance. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal which factors can lead to a lower psychological wellbeing among employees who work in Chinese medical institutions. We focused on emotional labor (i.e.,
surface action and deep action) and demonstrated the effect of emotional labor on one’s psychological
well-being. We also verified the mediating role of job stress on the relationship between emotional labor
and psychological well-being. Overall, the main purpose of this study was to identify the factors that have
a key influence on one’s psychological well-being and to seek ways to improve that level of well-being.