Praca emocjonalna w zawodach usługowych – pojęcia, przegląd teorii i badań

The topic of emotions in the workplace is beginning to draw attention from researchers and theorists. In many work settings, employees are expected to exert effort in the management of emotions in order to conform to the norms of organizations. This is called emotional labor, a term coined by Hochschild (1983). Emotional labor is the display of expected emotions by service agents during service encounters. The article reviews and compares different ways of conceptualizing emotional labor. The authors have used a variety of definitions, reflecting differences in emphasis: for Ashforth and Humphrey (1993), emotional labor is an observable behavior; for Morris and Feldman (1996), it is a state of emotional dissonance; and for Hochschild (1983) and Grandey (2000), it is a process of emotion regulation (at deep and surface levels). Emotional labor has been widely studied and is of considerable interest in relation to outcomes such as perceived stress, burnout and sense of accomplishment. The article presents research findings concerning consequences of emotional labor for both employees and organizations. In conclusion, some problems and future research directions were put forward.