Title: Emotion management and workplace status: consequences for well-being

Authors: Melissa M. Sloan

Addresses: Department of Sociology, Drew University, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940, USA

Abstract: Although originally thought to be performed primarily in service occupations, emotion management is important in many types of work. Since emotion management has been linked to psychological consequences, it is important to identify the conditions under which workers manage their emotions and when and how managing emotions has negative effects. In this paper, the antecedents and consequences of emotion management in the workplace are investigated using survey data from respondents working in several jobs for an American University. The findings indicate that the amount of emotion management a worker performs depends on the worker|s status within the workplace. In addition, managing emotions at work is psychologically distressing for workers when it increases feelings of estrangement from their true selves and real feelings.

Keywords: emotion management; emotional labour; workplace status; authenticity; distress; survey; well-being; universities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2008.019425

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2008 Vol.2 No.3, pp.236 - 255

Published online: 11 Jul 2008 *

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