Title: The role of emotion management in the legitimation performance of researchers

Authors: Elizabeth Shaw

Addresses: Department of Management, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London, SE1 OAA, UK

Abstract: This paper argues for the recognition of emotion management during doctoral researchers' legitimation performances. Emotion management is defined as managing feeling and acting these out based on the propriety of emotional display (Hochschild, 1983). Legitimation performances are acted out to gain others' validation (Goffman, 1963). Researchers are continually negotiating their legitimation requiring them to manage their emotions. An emotion map, that is, a set of feeling rules, is conceptualised with positive engagement and deference, with these the feeling rules shaping researchers' interpretation and expression of emotion. This study also demonstrates that researcher-supervisor team performances emerge as scaffolding and masked back region performances.

Keywords: feeling rules; emotion management; emotional labour; performance; impression management; legitimation; interaction; doctoral research; researchers; autobiography.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2011.045967

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2011 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.286 - 300

Published online: 23 Mar 2012 *

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