Central European Business Review X:X | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.421

Role of Beliefs About Emotions in Emotional Labour: A Study of Czech Senior Business Development Managers

Petra Sofia Horňáková ORCID...
Prague University of Economics and Business, Faculty of Business Administration

This study examines how beliefs about emotions shape the emotional labour of senior business development managers in long-term, relationship-driven business contexts. While emotional labour research has primarily focused on short-term roles, less is known about how emotion regulation operates in sustained strategic client relationships. Based on semi-structured interviews with 12 senior managers in the Czech Republic, analysed using template analysis informed by Grandey and Gabriel’s framework, the findings show that beliefs influence emotional labour at three interconnected levels: as antecedents shaping initial orientations toward emotional demands; as evolving intermediaries recalibrating emotional engagement through experience; and as real-time components guiding moment-to-moment regulation or generating ethical tensions. By positioning beliefs about emotions not only as stable antecedents but also as evolving and enacted elements of emotional labour, the study extends understanding of how emotion regulation unfolds in long-term B2B relationships. The findings suggest that organisations can strengthen managerial resilience and authenticity by targeting underlying emotion beliefs, for example through coaching and reflective development practices.
Implications for Central European audience: This study suggests that beliefs about emotions play an important role in how senior business development managers perform emotional labour. While the concept of emotion beliefs has been examined internationally, this research explored it within the Czech context, offering insights relevant to Central European business culture. Building on Central European Business Review’s established interest in workplace well-being and the role of emotions in organisational life (Pauknerová, 2024; Globočnik ®unac, 2024), the findings suggest that resilience could be supported, and a sense of authenticity maintained, not only through skills training but also by addressing managers’ underlying beliefs about emotions. Coaching, reflective practice, and leadership development may provide useful avenues for supporting adaptive regulation in relationship-driven roles in the region.

Keywords: emotional labour; beliefs about emotions; business development; B2B relationships

Received: September 15, 2025; Revised: May 21, 2026; Accepted: June 30, 2026; Prepublished online: July 15, 2026 

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