We also proposed a moderating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between emotional labor strategies and emotional exhaustion. The results of moderated structural equation model analysis (see Table 2) showed that emotional intelligence significantly and negatively moderated the relationship of surface acting with emotional exhaustion, whereas it had no moderating effect on the relationship between genuine expression and emotional exhaustion. First, coaches who were low on emotional intelligence reported increased emotional exhaustion at the higher level of surface acting compared to coaches high on emotional intelligence. That is, high emotional intelligence coaches compared to low emotional intelligence coaches are less likely to fall prey to emotional exhaustion as a consequence of engaging in surface acting.