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Emotional Labor
Lacey Casel
Dr. Daggs
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Emotional Labor is a topic that is hard to discuss and identify but is valid in the

workplace. Emotional Labor, a concept coined by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, can be defined

as occurring when employees introduce or suppress emotions in order to portray themselves in a

certain light that, in turn, produces a wanted state of mind in another (Steingberg & Figart). More

simply, emotional labor is the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the

emotional requirements of a job. In this paper, I will identify and analyze the issue, propose

actions to solve this problem and describe the benefits of implementing these solutions.

Emotional Labor is split into two important aspects related to the management of one’s

emotions. The first theory is deep acting. Deep Acting is where a person works to place his or

her private emotional state into one that is in line with what is socially acceptable for a given

situation, deep acting changes how you privately feel. The second theory is Surface Acting.

Surgace Acting is where a person puts on a face, essentially, and places his or her outward

emotional appearance in line with what is socially expected or acceptable in a certain situation.

In other words, surface acting changes your public display of emotion (Seery).

We live in a society where a lot of people are engaged in highly relational, service-based

work - work that requires a lot of socialization with customers and colleagues directly. This kind

of work requires a lot of emotional skill and is the basic premise behind emotional labor. There is

a difference between an employee in an organization having a bad day and feeling emotionally

drained from the job they are working. How a company identifies and handles the concept of

emotional labor will in turn affect employee productivity and burnout rates.

According to an article titled “Emotional Labor, Burnout and Inauthenticity: Does

Gender Matter?” posted by the American Sociological Association, a growing number of

researchers have explored the conditions under which individuals perform emotional labor and
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the extent to which such performance influences psychological well-being. In a study where

respondents were asked to indicate how often they feel “emotionally drained” or “used up” after

a day of work, also asking questions about the stress of the job, 90% of people said that their

work does exhaust them and that they feel this way multiple times a month (Erikson).

Respondents were also asked questions about their authenticity in the workplace and 87% of

them stated that when at work, they feel they have to mask their emotions and almost become

another person.

Emotional Labor is an issue in the workplace. Although it is hard to decipher whether

employees are just being lazy or if they are feeling burnt out, employees who do experience

distress while on the job is being reported more now than ever. It is important for a company to

have policies set in place to combat this feeling of emotional labor in the workplace to increase

employee productivity. By implementing policies on emotional labor, a company in turn takes

good care of their employees and burnout rates would decrease. In companies that do have

benefits for emotional labor, job satisfaction rates among employees have been positive

(Grandey).

Identifying emotional labor in the workplace is difficult, but subsequently important

when it comes to employee retention. It is important to define what “burnt out” means in the

workplace in order to address how to identify emotional labor. According to an article titled

“Emotional Labor and Burnout,” burn out is defined as a state of physical or emotional

exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity

(Bayram). Employees who experience this feeling are usually withdrawn and act different than

usual. Employees who undergo the distress of emotional labor are more common to have issues

with their mental health and authenticity/personal identity (Bayram).

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There are a number of ways to solve the issue of emotional labor in the workplace.

Although giving employees the option to take a mental health day is beneficial, there are other

ways to deal with this concept that benefit both the employee and the employer.

One solution is that the organization itself should offer staff assistance programs.

Investing in the care and development of their workers by providing access to stress management

and emotional health services will help employees recognize that emotional labor is hard and

exhausting work. Examples of these programs can be stress less events, healthy living classes,

self-care demonstrations and many more.

Another solution is to teach problem solving techniques to employees. By teaching

employees to solve problems more efficiently, it will in turn build confidence and reduce

negative reactions to angry or unpredictable situations. The better employees are to deal with

problems, the more likely they are to resolve interpersonal issues.

Improving emotional intelligence is another way to deal with emotional labor in the

workplace. “The ability to recognize other people's emotions is an effective way to reduce the

burden of emotional labor. Building empathy and using other emotional intelligence tools help

reduce the likelihood that emotional conflict will lead to emotional exhaustion” (Pykett).

The most important tool an employer can use to combat emotional labor in the workplace

is to bring emotional labor into the evaluation process. Organizations can recognize the

importance of emotional labor by having a healthy and effective line of communication between

the employee and employer. When employees feel they can be who they want and express their

emotions in a safe environment, their productivity is more efficient. Also, when management and

employees can have civil conversations about the well-being and job satisfaction of the

employee, burnout rates decrease.

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Implementing these solutions concurrently would maximize employee productivity in the

workplace while diminishing the trivial of emotional labor. Aiding employees with programs

where they can learn healthy coping mechanisms with their stress, teaching problem solving

solutions, improving emotional intelligence and bringing the topic of emotional labor into

performance evaluations will equip employees with a tool set of success.

In conclusion, emotional labor is currently a problem in today’s world. Living in a

society where a lot of people are engaged in highly relational, service-based work that requires a

lot of socialization with customers and colleagues directly, emotional skill is required and is the

basic premise behind emotional labor. When employees feel inauthentic and emotionally

drained, burnout rates rise and create conflict. Implementing solutions that invest in the care of

the employees will in turn increase productivity.

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Works Cited

Bayram, N. (2013, March 15). Emotional Labor and Burnout at Work: A Study from Turkey.

Erickson, R. J., & Ritter, C. (2001). Emotional Labor, Burnout, and Inauthenticity: Does Gender

Matter? Social Psychology Quarterly, 64(2), 146. doi:10.2307/3090130

Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotional regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize

emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 95-110.

doi:10.1037//1076-8998.5.1.95

Pykett, J. (2015). Managing workplace emotions. Brain Culture, 139-170.

doi:10.1332/policypress/9781447314042.003.0005

Seery, B. (n.d.). Emotional labor: Links to work attitudes and emotional exhaustion. Retrieved

from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/02683940910996806

Steinberg, R. J., & Figart, D. M. (n.d.). Emotional Labor Since: The Managed Heart - Ronnie J.

Steinberg, Deborah M. Figart, 1999.