We will explore what emotional labor is and the harmful effect it has on both personal and professional relationships. In addition, demonstrate real-life examples of the emotional lives of cabin crew members to support the emotional labor theory. (Hochchild, 2003, cited in Taylor, 2023, p. 138)
First, in her theory of emotions Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023, p. 138- 139) argues that in daily life people follow a certain, unwritten social code of emotions. People are expected to respect these rules for society to function smoothly and for relationships to be maintained. If feelings were like currency, and someone does us a favor, then we would owe a debt to the person who did us a favor. This dept is then paid by expressing gratitude or returning the favor of equal value to the person who helped us. Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023, p. 138-139) refers to these feelings transactions as emotional work. She believes that when emotional work becomes commercialized, it turns into emotional labor, and it could affect the quality of workers relationships in a less than ideal way.
Emotional labor could be defined as accepting responsibility for our own emotions and those of others (Hochchild, 2003, cited in Taylor, 2023, p. 138-139). Service workers are expected to wear a mask of positivity and leave negative emotions unexpressed. This is done to invoke a certain feel-good emotion in clients that will keep them coming back for more. Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023 p. 138-139) researched cabin crew and found that they are expected to do emotional labor and passengers are not. This results in cabin crew members doing their job emotionlessly. For that reason, passengers instinctively notice their lack of sincerity. It could be suggested that it takes a toll on both their professional and personal relationships. (Taylor et al., 2023).
Service workers who do an excessive amount of emotional labor lose touch with their own emotions and may feel like a fish out of water doing their own jobs. Consequently, they experience little to no work satisfaction and it has a negative effect on maintaining work relationships (Taylor et al., 2023). Clients who become aware of this may in turn feel undervalued. Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023 p. 142) suggests that when this happens workers go into robot mode, separating themselves from their emotions. For example, when a passenger is rude to the cabin crew, they are expected to maintain a positive attitude. Work relationships directly influence the happiness of employees and their results, and it could be inferred that engaging in too much emotional labor has a damaging effect on these relationships.
In addition, emotional labor also has dire consequences on personal relationships of service workers. The quality of personal relationships is directly linked to the level of emotional regulation and maintenance one has. Service worker’s relationships suffer because of separating themselves from their emotions. Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023, p. 142) concluded that this is a real concern and must be addressed. For example, service workers who go home after work might struggle to get out of robot mode and get in touch with their own feelings again. Emotional labor creates unique challenges for individuals in their personal relationships.
Finally, certain factors contribute to hiring these workers and the extent workers are expected to perform emotional labor such as the employee’s status and gender. The lower the worker’s status in the hierarchy of the corporation, the more emotional labor they are expected to do (Taylor 2023). Women tend to be hired in lower status job positions therefore, women do more daily emotional labor and is expected to have a positive attitude, no matter what the situation may be. In her research, Hochchild (2003, cited in Taylor, 2023 p. 142) found that female cabin crew members must take more responsibility for emotional labor. In contrast, passengers were more likely to follow the instruction of male flight attendants, for example, when given instructions. Therefore, it can be assumed that female employees are at more risk to experience challenges in maintaining personal and professional relationships due to the exceeding expectations to perform emotional labor. Following daily emotional rules and doing emotional work is the golden thread that keeps society functioning effectively. The argument could be made that if emotional labor is abused by employers for capital gains, it results in having a negative effect on both work and personal relationships of service workers.
References:
- Taylor, S. (2023) ‘Relationships and work’, in L. Lazard and A. Strathie (eds) Encountering psychology in context 1. Milton Keynes: Open University, pp. 115–150.
- Taylor, S., Frances, T. and Latif, M. (2023) ‘Relationships and work’. D120: Encountering psychology in context. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=2087008§ion=2.1 (Accessed: 18 November 2023).
