Title: Constructing labour: an exploration of emotional responses to work in two cultural settings

Authors: Alexia Panayiotou

Addresses: Department of Public and Business Administration, University of Cyprus, 75 Kallipoleos Avenue, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus

Abstract: This paper explores the responses of participants in a study designed to invoke emotions about the importance of work vis-a-vis other priorities in life. It asks: What happens when people are presented with similar work situations in different cultural contexts? Do people evaluate and respond with different emotions to these scenarios? To address these questions, bilingual/bicultural informants were asked to respond to an emotion-eliciting scenario about time spent at work. The results indicate that bilinguals show different emotional responses based on the language and culture in which and to which they are responding and suggest that work may be a culturally constructed phenomenon.

Keywords: cultural construction; emotions; work organisation; emotion narratives; cultural importance; bilingual respondents; bicultural respondents; priorities; work importance; language; culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2006.011876

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2006 Vol.1 No.4, pp.352 - 365

Published online: 29 Dec 2006 *

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