Showing papers on "Emotional labor published in 1999"
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of self-focused and other-focused emotion management on work stress, job satisfaction, and psychological distress were explored using data from a survey of workers in a large organization.
Abstract: Although early research suggested that the performance of emotional labor had deleterious effects on workers, recent empirical investigations have been equivocal. The performance of emotional labor appears to have diverse consequences for workers—both negative and positive. Variation in the consequences of emotional labor may be due to the different forms of emotion management involved. There is also evidence that the effects of emotional labor are specified by other work conditions. The effects of two forms of emotional labor on work stress, job satisfaction, and psychological distress—self-focused and other-focused emotion management—are explored using data from a survey of workers in a large organization. Results indicate that both forms of emotional labor have uniformly negative effects on workers, net of work complexity, control, and demands. Emotional labor increases perceptions of job stress, decreases satisfaction, and increases distress. Self-focused emotion management has the most pervasive and detrimental impacts. There is little evidence of interaction effects of work conditions and emotional labor.
607 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined emotion work as the emotional regulation required of the employees in the display of organizationally desired emotions, and differentiated emotional regulation problems (emotional dissonance) were differentiated based on existing literature on emotion work and action theory.
Abstract: This article discussed emotion work as a neglected area in organizational stress research. Emotion work (emotional labour) was defined as the emotional regulation required of the employees in the display of organizationally desired emotions. Based on the existing literature on emotion work and action theory, emotional regulation requirements (sub-scales: the requirement to express positive emotions; the requirement to express and handle negative emotions, the requirement to be sensitive to clients' emotions, and the requirement to show sympathy), emotional regulation possibilities (control), and emotional regulation problems (emotional dissonance) were differentiated. Questionnaires were developed and applied in a sample of employees in a handicapped children's home (N = 83), in the hotel business (N = 175) and employees working in call-centres (N = 250). Scales showed satisfactory reliabilities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed minor problems with discriminant validity of the scales....
569 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the role of gender in shaping occupational and organizational norms for emotional labor in policing, and identify variations in the norms regulating emotional labor across policing assignments, interactional situations, and the gender of both the officers and the citizens in an encounter.
Abstract: Police work involves substantial emotional labor by officers, who must control their own emotional displays and those of citizens, who often are encountered at their worst—injured, upset, or angry. Although policing often is viewed as masculine work that focuses on fighting crime, it also requires that officers maintain order and provide diverse services, which officers tend to disdain as feminine activities. This article explores the varieties of emotional labor, the rules regulating emotional displays in policing, and the role of gender in shaping these occupational and organizational norms. It identifies variations in the norms regulating emotional labor across policing assignments, interactional situations, and the gender of both the officers and the citizens in an encounter. It also reviews coping mechanisms for regulating emotions—including socialization, organizational rituals, humor, and off-duty social activities—and the dilemmas that norms related to emotional labor pose for women officers.
301 citations
TL;DR: The phrase "emotional labor" was coined by sociologist Arlie Hochschild in 1983 in her classic book, The Managed Heart as discussed by the authors, which assesses the current multi-and interdisciplinary literature on emotional labor.
Abstract: The phrase "emotional labor" was coined by sociologist Arlie Hochschild in 1983 in her classic book, The Managed Heart. Jobs requiring emotional labor typically necessitate contact with other people external to or within the organization, usually involving face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact, especially in service work. In this article, the authors summarize Hochschild's pathbreaking work and assess the state of the current multi- and interdisciplinary literature on emotional labor. They distinguish between two interrelated areas of research on emotional labor. The first area involves predominantly, though not exclusively, qualitative case studies of employees at workplaces in the service sector. A second set of studies, primarily quantitative, investigates the link between emotional labor at home, in different jobs, or in nurturing activities (a specific form of emotional labor) and its consequences for individual employees' job satisfaction, productivity, and pay.
289 citations
TL;DR: This article found that women spend more time in teaching, research, service, and administration than men, and that research and administration are associated with traits culturally defined as masculine, while teaching and service are associated as feminine.
Abstract: Most professors divide their time between teaching, research, service, and, for some, administration. As in the nonacademic labor market, there is a gendered reward structure in academia. Teaching and service are most closely aligned with characteristics and behaviors culturally defined as feminine, and, in the aggregate, women spend more time in these activities than men. Teaching and service clearly involve substantial amounts of emotional labor, but this labor is generally not seen as involving valued skills and is conse quently poorly rewarded. In contrast, research and administration are associated with traits culturally defined as masculine, and, on average, men spend more time in these activities. Although research and administration also involve emotional labor, their emotional aspects are largely ignored, while intellectual, technical, or leadership skills are emphasized and highly compensated. Aside from differences in the propensity of women and men to engage in different activities and the gen...
256 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a management technique for directing and monitoring interactive service workers that extends managerial control to aspects of workers' selves usually considered outside of the scope of employer intervention.
Abstract: Emotional labor is crucial to the performance of interac tive service work, jobs that involve direct interaction with customers or clients. In such jobs, employers frequently try to manage the emotions of their workers, while workers try to control the emotional responses of service recipients. Management techniques for directing and monitoring interactive service workers extend managerial control to aspects of workers' selves usually considered outside of the scope of employer intervention. Bureaucratic controls are also extended beyond the boundaries of the organization through the management of customer behavior. While workers and consumers derive some benefits from the routinization of service interactions, its instrumental approach to human personality and social interaction raises troubling moral issues.
250 citations
TL;DR: The psychological consequences of emotional labour for workers have been an ongoing project among students of emotional labor as discussed by the authors, drawing on Hochschild's pathbreaking work in this area, five major streams of qualitative and quantitative research have emerged, including the experiences of workers who perform emotional labor, comparisons between performers and nonperformers, conditions under which emotional labor may be positive or negative, variations between workers that condition their responses to emotional labour, and consequences of emotionally labor at work for workers' private lives.
Abstract: Understanding the psychological consequences of emotional labor for workers has been an ongoing project among students of emotional labor Drawing on Hochschild's pathbreaking work in this area, five major streams of qualitative and quantitative research have emerged, including (1) the experiences of workers who perform emotional labor; (2) comparisons between performers and nonperformers of emotional labor; (3) the conditions under which emotional labor may be positive or negative; (4) variations between workers that condition their responses to emotional labor; and (5) consequences of emotional labor at work for workers' private lives This article reviews each area and concludes with suggestions for future research on the psychological consequences of emotional labor
237 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the extent to which emotional labour is performed in almost two-thirds of workplace communi cation and found that emotional labor is performed by almost two thirds of workers.
Abstract: Emotions and emotion management are a prominent feature of organizational life and the concept of emotional labour was coined to describe the effort required to fake or suppress an emotional display because of the demands of the work role Although much qualitative work has been conducted to investigate emotional labour, no attempts have been made to measure the degree to which this emotion work occurs This omission is partly due to the difficulties in defining the construct and dimensions of emotional labour and this article discusses previous attempts at definition and reconceptualizes the concept in order to allow the development of a measurement tool The process of development and testing of the tool within 12 UK companies is the focus of the remainder of the article and leads directly to the first quantitative answer to the question, to what extent are we expressing, suppressing, and faking emotion at work? Results suggest that emotional labour is performed in almost two-thirds of workplace communi
217 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an overview of the multiple roles of emotion at work and the advantages of understanding more specific feeling states rather than the nonspecific states of "stress" and "satisfaction".
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the multiple roles of emotion at work. First, traditional approaches to work and well-being and their limitations are considered. The advantages of understanding more specific feeling states rather than the nonspecific states of "stress" and "satisfaction" are outlined. Next, some recent developments in activity surrounding the study of emotion at work are briefly described. A distinction is made in the article between the expression and experience of felt emotion at work. The literature around the expression of emotion at work and, in particular, emotional labour is reviewed by addressing four key questions. Then, the very limited research on the experience of emotion at work is described: The importance of looking at emotion in terms of transactions and processes rather than simple cause and effect is emphasized. Some of the implications of the overview for both practitioners and researchers are considered. The article concludes with the observation that as emotion i...
204 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate dimensions of emotional labor in the content of work performed by registered nurses, police officers, and managers, and find that the emotional labor required of police officers and registered nurses is comparable despite the cultural ideology that portrays these jobs as requiring gender-specific skills.
Abstract: Using qualitative and quantitative evidence from studies of several occupations in the public sector, the authors evaluate dimensions of emotional labor in the content of work performed by registered nurses, police officers, and managers. Two indexes are constructed to measure a range of emotional skills and demands found in these historically female and male jobs. The authors find that the emotional labor required of police officers and registered nurses is comparable despite the cultural ideology that portrays these jobs as requiring gender-specific skills. The authors demonstrate the utility and increased accuracy of using an augmented conceptualization of emotional labor to measure what employees actually do in performing their jobs. It is proposed that those studying emotional labor abandon their reliance on preconceived stereotypes of femininity when studying emotional labor, especially in service sector jobs.
140 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how structural changes in the labor market for professional and managerial employees might be changing the nature of emotional labor required in these occupations, drawing on ethnographic data in a firm noted for stable long-term employment to illustrate how efforts to create a corporate culture focus on shaping employees' emotional labor toward displays of loyalty and commitment to their employer.
Abstract: In this article, the authors explore how structural changes in the labor market for professional and managerial employees might be changing the nature of emotional labor required in these occupations. They first draw on ethnographic data in a firm noted for stable long-term employment to illustrate how efforts to create a corporate culture focus on shaping employees' emotional labor toward displays of loyalty and commitment to their employer. This is followed by a speculative analysis of how the current shift toward market-based forms of employment and an entrepreneurial work ethic is changing both the substance and the style of emotional labor.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the emotional labor required of paralegals serves to reproduce the sex-segregated structure of law firms. But they do not consider the psychological well-being of paralese.
Abstract: Despite the invisibility of emotional labor among paralegals, this dimension of work has significant consequences for the reproduction of the labor process in the large bureaucratic firm and for the psychological well-being of paralegals. These legal workers function to support and maintain the emotional stability of the lawyers for whom they work through deferential treatment and caretaking. By affirming the status of lawyers, paralegals also reproduce gender relations in the law firm. Most attorneys who receive caretaking and support are men, and the majority of the legal assistants who provide these emotional services are women. In this way, the emotional labor required of paralegals serves to reproduce the sex-segregated structure of law firms.
TL;DR: In this article, four dimensions of emotional labor are discussed: human relations skills, communication skills, emotional effort, and responsibility for client well-being, and the most detailed measurement of the components of emotional labour available and represent a starting point for refinement of this increasingly important type of work.
Abstract: Few client-oriented organizations compensate those who perform emotional labor. Traditional job evaluation systems, used by employers to construct a wage hierarchy, fail to recognize the value of emotional labor. Through the pay equity movement, this bias was identified. This article offers a technical attempt to design a new job content questionnaire and evaluation framework that measure the actual tasks, activities, and situations in which incumbents of differentially female jobs perform emotional labor. Four general dimensions of emotional labor are discussed: human relations skills, communication skills, emotional effort, and responsibility for client well-being. These instruments offer the most detailed measurement of the components of emotional labor available and represent a starting point for refinement of this increasingly important type of work.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of corporate change programs on the emotions and ultimately the performance of the so-called "middle managers" within these organizations were examined, and the extent to which Hochschild's highly original writing on the commercialization of human feeling is applicable to managers in today's organizations was addressed.
Abstract: This paper addresses the effects of corporate change programmes on the emotions and ultimately the performance of the so-called ‘middle managers’ within these organizations Drawing on empirical data from a recent case study in a large engineering company, the paper addresses the extent to which Hochschild's highly original writing on the commercialization of human feeling (1983) and the concept of emotional labour is applicable to managers in today's organizations Emotional labour is defined as: ‘the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display’ requiring one ‘to induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others’ (Hochschild 1983: 7) The conclusion reached is that emotional labour appears to be a growing but much ignored phenomenon in organizations today, which is worthy of attention and further research by the HRD community
TL;DR: The authors explored the concept of emotional labor by workers who struggle with their organization's culture and its demands on them and suggested that the negative consequences of the demand for emotional labor can be mitigated when workers both identify positively with their work and have a strong sense of solidarity with their coworkers.
Abstract: Organizations often dictate how their employees should behave through explicit rules and structures. In addition, sociologists and organizational theorists suggest that organizations invest energy, time, and money into creating a uniform mentality through selective hiring, formal meetings, and informal gatherings. Based on in‐depth interviews with seven frontline workers at a Canadian youth shelter, this article explores the concept of emotional labor by workers who struggle with their organization's culture and its demands on them. I suggest that the negative consequences of the demand for emotional labor can be mitigated when workers both identify positively with their work and have a strong sense of solidarity with their coworkers.
Book•
22 Apr 1999
TL;DR: The Emotional Labor of Grassroots Leadership Tools: Grassroots leadership Step by Step as discussed by the authors, is an example of such a tool that can be used to build credibility and trust in grassroot leaders.
Abstract: Because If You Don't, No One Will Create a Compelling Future Let the Customer Drive the Organization Involve Every Mind Manage Work Horizontally Build Credibility and Trust The Emotional Labor of Grassroots Leadership Tools: Grassroots Leadership Step by Step Appendices Notes Bibliography References Index About the Authors About AchieveGlobal
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of emotional labour in the private sector were investigated in a qualitative interview study, an organizational study and a survey, and the results reveal both positive and negative effects across different service occupations.
Abstract: This article contributes to the discussion of effects of 'emotional labour', or work where the management of feeling to create a publicly observable display is a crucial part. Some authors stress detrimental effects like emotive dissonance and alienation. Others observe the joy and satisfaction people feel in this kind of work. Emotional labour is here presented as a form of acting, which is related to individual and organizational factors, and studied within a Swedish context. To investigate the different forms of service occupations in the private sector and the effect that this kind of work has on people, a qualitative interview study, an organizational study and a survey were conducted. The results reveal both positive and negative effects of emotional labour across different occupations. A typology with four types of service occupations is suggested: (1) 'Work First'; (2) 'Personalized Services'; (3) 'Routine Selling'; and (4) 'Persuasive Selling'.
TL;DR: Men's and women's views on their reasons for mental distress and on their coping styles, respectively are examined, including a layered theory of mental health.
Abstract: The article examines men's and women's views on their reasons for mental distress and on their coping styles, respectively. The data were taken from written statements given on two open-ended questions from a survey questionnaire returned by 43 men and 57 women who were self-reported, long-term users of these drugs, and from taped interviews with 10 respondents. Men's accounts (n = 25) expressed a layered theory of mental health: alcohol was a remedy to alleviate temporary strain caused by external pressure, while the use of psychotropic drugs indicated a loss of a men's assumed self-regulatory powers and autonomy. Women's accounts (n = 31) were stories of emotional pain related to their caring work in the private sphere, and psychotropics restored their capacity to carry out emotional labor.
Book•
01 Jan 1999
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: This article examined men's and women's views on their reasons for mental distress and on their coping styles, respectively, from written statements given on two open-ended questions from a survey questionnaire returned by 43 men and 57 women who were self-reported, long-term users of these drugs and from taped interviews with 10 respondents.
Abstract: The article examines men’s and women’s views on their reasons for mental distress and on their coping styles, respectively. The data were taken from written statements given on two open-ended questions from a survey questionnaire returned by 43 men and 57 women who were self-reported, long-term users of these drugs, and from taped interviews with 10 respondents. Men’s accounts (n25) expressed a layered theory of mental health: alcohol was a remedy to alleviate temporary strain caused by external pressure, while the use of psychotropic drugs indicated a loss of a men’s assumed self-regulatory powers and autonomy. Women’s accounts (n31) were stories of emotional pain related to their caring work in the private sphere, and psychotropics restored their capacity to carry out emotional labor. Recei6ed 17 No6ember 1998 Accepted 15 April 1999
Book•
01 Jan 1999
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, a worker's willingness to accept employment at a firm depends not only on the characteristics of the firm but also the other possible options open to the worker, and this two-sided aspect of the problem generates a significant interest.
Abstract: Of course, marriage and employment are different. Nevertheless, a worker looking for a job, a firm looking for worker, or a single person looking for a marriage partner face similar problems as all are seeking a long-term partner. Indeed, forming long-term partnerships is a common occurrence in life. There are many other examples ‐ business people search for other business people to form a profitable relationship, bridge players seek to find a suitable partners, students search for a good university, we would all like to find a good friend, etc. The problem becomes significant if there are substantial differences in the return obtained from forming a partnership with different partners. For example, employers differ in the wages they offer, or in the work environment they provide. In such a situation a worker may reject some job offers. Similarly, as many have learned to their cost, some make better marriage partners than others. The problem is two-sided. While a worker is evaluating a potential employer, the employer is also evaluating the worker. It is this two-sided aspect of the problem that generates a significant interest. A worker’s willingness to accept employment at a firm depends not only on the characteristics of the firm but also the other possible options open to the worker. The better an individual’s opportunities elsewhere, the more selective he or she will be in evaluating a potential partnership. An academic who believes Harvard may make an offer in the near future, will be more selective in evaluating offers from lesser