New Vantage Points on Emotional Labor and Its Service Context: An Introduction to the Emotional Labor and Service Special Issue

This special issue introduces new perspectives on emotional labor in the service context. That is, while service work has been a focus of much of the emotional labor research world, explication of the context in which that service work occurs (including the customers served, the leadership of those who serve, and the larger organizational context) has not received much attention. In addition, the emotional labor of customers has also not been much explored. The papers included in this special issue explore these issues from the viewpoints of both the fields of organizational behavior and services management; they consider emotional labor from both employees’ and customers’ perspectives; and they explore the outcomes of emotional labor in ways that signal the common human experiences of people when in interaction with each other. Together, these papers offer new insights on emotional labor by translating service characteristics and service leadership into attitudes and experiences of service workers and customers, their behaviors and emotions, and ultimately into their health and wellbeing. This introduction provides a series of lenses useful for interpreting the papers in this special issue. We hope that the depth and diversity of new directions for emotional labor research and practice that are suggested by this special issue will inspire many researchers and practitioners navigating this world to provide both understanding of it and further the health and well-being of those involved in it.

Download Full-text

The ethics of service work in a neoliberal healthcare context: doing embodied and “dirty” emotional labor

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/qrom-08-2020-2005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Lilith Arevshatian Whiley ◽

Gina Grandy

Keyword(s):

Emotional Labor ◽

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Well Being ◽

Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Service Work ◽

Dirty Work ◽

Service Workers ◽

Content Type ◽

The United Kingdom

PurposeThe authors explore how service workers negotiate emotional laboring with “dirty” emotions while trying to meet the demands of neoliberal healthcare. In doing so, the authors theorize emotional labor in the context of healthcare as a type of embodied and emotional “dirty” work.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to their data collected from National Health Service (NHS) workers in the United Kingdom (UK).FindingsThe authors’ data show that healthcare service workers absorb, contain and quarantine emotional “dirt”, thereby protecting their organization at a cost to their own well-being. Workers also perform embodied practices to try to absolve themselves of their “dirty” labor.Originality/valueThe authors extend research on emotional “dirty” work and theorize that emotional labor can also be conceptualized as “dirty” work. Further, the authors show that emotionally laboring with “dirty” emotions is an embodied phenomenon, which involves workers absorbing and containing patients' emotional “dirt” to protect the institution (at the expense of their well-being).

Download Full-text

A Social Psychological Evaluation on Envy

Nesne Psikoloji Dergisi ◽

10.7816/nesne-08-17-09 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (17) ◽

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Organizational Behavior ◽

Organizational Context ◽

Human Life ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Well Being ◽

Organizational Contexts ◽

Mediating Role ◽

The Difference ◽

Psychology Literature

Envy has serious effects on individuals in both intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. However, it has not attracted sufficient attention from the psychology literature in Turkey. This review aims to evaluate studies on envy from the social psychology perspective and to contribute to the literature related to this topic in Turkey. In the first part of the article, a definition for envy is provided on the basis of empirical studies and the difference between envy and jealousy, and envy and benign form of it (i.e. gıpta in Turkish) is discussed. The second part of the article reviews the effects of envy on daily life on the basis of empirical studies again. According to research, envy has a mediating role in the relationship between social media use and psychological well-being. In addition, envy, in organizational contexts, reduces constructive organizational behavior and increases destructive ones. The characteristics of organizational context, of employees and of the leader affect the level of envy experienced in the workplace. Finally, successful individuals feel discomfort and fear due to being the target of envy. The reactions to being at the target of envy differ according to personal, relational and cultural factors. As indicated by the research on this topic, envy affects human life in a broad context. More research needs to be done in Turkey on this emotion to have a more complete understanding. Keywords Envy, jealousy, benign envy, social comparison, social media

Download Full-text

Online Customer Service and Emotional Labor: An Exploratory Study

10.31235/osf.io/qjx5y ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Kumi Ishii ◽

Kris M Markman

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Customer Service ◽

Emotional Labor ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Service Industries ◽

Service Work ◽

Emotional Communication ◽

Surface Acting ◽

Service Workers ◽

Face To Face

The recent growth of service industries as well as the rise of e-commerce has increased the number of online customer service workers. Research on face-to-face service work has shown that these workers are expected to display certain emotions in the course of their work, a phenomenon known as emotional labor. However, little is known about emotional communication among online customer service workers. We explored emotional labor in an online context by examining the degree of emotional presence in mediated service interactions and its relationship with workers’ acting strategies (i.e., surface acting, deep acting). Further, we examined if emotional presence and acting strategies predict job satisfaction as well as burnout. Data collected from 130 online customer service workers indicated that they perceive the highest emotional presence in phone conversations, followed by email and chat. Although there was little relationship between emotional presence and acting strategies, those who engage in surface acting are less satisfied with their job and more likely to experience burnout. In addition, those who feel a higher degree of emotional presence over the phone tend to experience higher job satisfaction and less burnout. These findings suggest that online customer service workers also engage in emotional labor.

Download Full-text

Workers, Managers, and Customers

Work and Occupations ◽

10.1177/0730888410375683 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 251-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Steven Henry Lopez

Keyword(s):

Emotional Labor ◽

Customer Relationships ◽

Service Work ◽

Shop Floor ◽

Special Issue ◽

Organization Of Work ◽

Introductory Essay ◽

Relative Neglect ◽

And Control ◽

The Relationship

The sociology of service work has blossomed in the 10 years since Work and Occupations first published a special issue on this subject. This introductory essay chronicles developments and new debates around emotional labor, worker–customer relationships in the service triangle, and the nexus of gender and control in service work. Several neglected themes are highlighted, including the relationship between race and the organization of work on the shop floor, as well as a number of themes that were once prominent in industrial sociology but which have fallen into relative neglect in the sociology of service work despite their continuing relevance.

Download Full-text

Training for emotional labor: Impact on performance and well-being

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e518392013-850 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Alicia A. Grandey ◽

Patricia E. Grabarek

Keyword(s):

Emotional Labor ◽

Well Being ◽

Labor Impact

Download Full-text

"The Effect of Occupational Constitution in Myeongri Apriority on Occupational Well-Being of Emotional Laborers - Focusing on Mediating Effect of Emotional Labor "

Journal of Korean Sundo Culture ◽

10.35573/jksc.23.11 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 403-456

Author(s):

Hae-soo Ham ◽

Ki-seung Kim

Keyword(s):

Emotional Labor ◽

Well Being ◽

Mediating Effect

Download Full-text

Positive Psychology Applications

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0005 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 34-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

P. Alex Linley ◽

Stephen Joseph ◽

John Maltby ◽

Susan Harrington ◽

Alex M. Wood

Keyword(s):

Positive Psychology ◽

Organizational Behavior ◽

Employee Engagement ◽

Medical Model ◽

Well Being ◽

Humanistic Psychology ◽

Human Needs ◽

Organizational Scholarship ◽

Client Centered Therapy ◽

Good Lives

Applied positive psychology is concerned with facilitating good lives and enabling people to be at their best. It is as much an approach as a particular domain of inquiry. As shown throughout this chapter, positive psychology has applications that span almost every area of applied psychology and beyond. In clinical psychology, counseling and psychotherapy, applied positive psychology builds on the traditions of humanistic psychology and Carl Rogers' client-centered therapy. It challenges the dominant assumptions of the medical model and promotes a dimensional, rather than dichotomous, understanding of mental health and mental illness. Beyond the alleviation of psychopathology, applied positive psychology has also seen the development of specific happiness-increase interventions, including counting one's blessings, using signature strengths, and paying a gratitude visit. In education, applied positive psychology has been used to promote flow in the classroom, as well as harnessing children's strengths to aid their learning and development. Forensic applications of positive psychology are represented by the good lives model of offender management, which focuses on the adaptive satisfaction of human needs. In Industrial Organizational (I/O) psychology, positive psychology applications are represented throughout work on transformational leadership, employee engagement, positive organizational scholarship, positive organizational behavior, appreciative inquiry, and strengths-based organization. In society, more broadly, applied positive psychology is shown to influence the development of life coaching and the practice of executive coaching, while population approaches are being explored in relation to epidemiology and the promotion of social well-being. Having reviewed these diverse areas, the chapter then goes on to consider the theoretical basis for applied positive psychology; the questions of who should apply positive psychology, as well as where and how; and whether positive psychology applications could be universally relevant. The chapter concludes by considering what the future of applied positive psychology may hold and suggesting that the discipline has the potential to impact positively on people throughout the world.

Download Full-text

Leisure Time Sports Activities and Life Satisfaction: Deeper Insights Based on a Representative Survey from Germany

Applied Research in Quality of Life ◽

10.1007/s11482-020-09866-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Mutz ◽

Anne K. Reimers ◽

Yolanda Demetriou

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Large Scale ◽

Leisure Time ◽

Organizational Context ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Well Being ◽

Activity Level ◽

Leisure Satisfaction ◽

General Life Satisfaction ◽

Sports Activities

Abstract Observational and experimental studies show that leisure time sporting activity (LTSA) is associated with higher well-being. However, scholars often seem to assume that 1) LTSA fosters “general” life satisfaction, thereby ignoring effects on domain satisfaction; 2) the effect of LTSA on well-being is linear and independent of a person’s general activity level; 3) the amount of LTSA is more important than the repertoire of LTSA, i.e. the number of different activities; 4) all kinds of LTSA are equal in their effects, irrespective of spatial and organisational context conditions. Using data from the German SALLSA-Study (“Sport, Active Lifestyle and Life Satisfaction”), a large-scale CAWI-Survey (N = 1008) representing the population ≥ 14 years, the paper takes a closer look on these assumptions. Findings demonstrate that LTSA is associated with general life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction (concerning relationships, appearance, leisure, work and health), but that the relationship is most pronounced for leisure satisfaction. Associations of sport with life satisfaction, leisure satisfaction and subjective health are non-linear, approaching an injection point from which on additional LTSA is no longer beneficial. Moreover, findings lend support to the notion that diversity in LTSA matters, as individuals with higher variation in sports activities are more satisfied. Finally, results with regard to spatial and organizational context suggest that outdoor sports and club-organized sports have additional benefits.

Download Full-text