The subjective well-being of cabin crew population in Hong Kong

Abstract

Few studies on subjective well-being have focused on the cabin crew population in Hong Kong. The study aimed at (1) to examine the changes of familiarity and perceived hierarchy within a flight, (2) to explore potential causal relationships between changes in familiarity to positive affect and burnout as well as perceived hierarchy to life satisfaction across timepoints, and (3) to investigate the interaction effect between familiarity and perceived hierarchy on positive affect and life satisfaction respectively on a meaningful timepoint. Fifty cabin crew members from an airline company aged 18 to 55 were invited for the study. Four timepoints were measured and applied, namely, (T1) before the first flight sector and Inflight Services Manager (ISM) briefing, (T2) during the layover/rest hours in the outport, (T3) right before the return flight sector, when the whole set of crew gathered in hotel lobby or on crew bus to airport, and (T4) end of the flight duty. One-way repeated measures ANOVA, cross-lagged regression models as well as multiple regression analyses were conducted to achieve the above aims. The results showed that both familiarity and perceived hierarchy changed significantly within a flight. The study also suggested a close to satisfactory model to describe the changes of relationship between familiarity and burnout, with an observed significant prediction of previous burnout leading to a later familiarity. Moreover, at timepoint 3, there was a significant interaction effect between familiarity and perceived hierarchy on positive affect while perceived hierarchy significantly predicted life satisfaction. These findings gave insights into how subjective well-being of cabin crew could be enhanced through changes in familiarity and perceived hierarchy.