The Managed Heart
Insight into the costs of emotional labor in service industries.
Summary of 6 Key Points
Key Points
- The concept of emotional labor
- The effects of emotional labor on personal life
- Gender roles in emotional labor
- Management of feelings in professional settings
- Coping mechanisms for emotional strain
- The exchange between private and public emotional spheres
key point 1 of 6
The concept of emotional labor
Emotional labor is conceptualized as the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. It’s a continuous process that entails studying, evaluating, and occasionally altering one’s emotional responses. Workers are often expected to project certain emotions that align with their organization’s rules, even if they don’t align with their true feelings. This can potentially lead to emotional dissonance, where there is a conflict between experienced emotions and emotions expressed to meet job demands…Read&Listen More
key point 2 of 6
The effects of emotional labor on personal life
In ‘The Managed Heart’, the effects of emotional labour on one’s personal life are explored in a profound manner. Emotional labor refers to the process by which workers are expected to manage their feelings in order to fulfill the emotional requirements of their jobs. This is often seen in service industry jobs, such as flight attendants and customer service representatives, where employees are expected to maintain a cheerful disposition even in stressful situations…Read&Listen More
key point 3 of 6
Gender roles in emotional labor
In the realm of emotional labor, gender roles have a significant influence. Traditionally, women are expected to take on roles that demand emotional labor, such as caregiving, nurturing, and comforting. These roles often require women to manage their emotions to meet the expectations of others. In professional settings, women are often tasked with roles that require emotional management, such as customer service or nursing, where they are expected to maintain a positive and caring demeanor, regardless of their true feelings or the stress they are under…Read&Listen More
key point 4 of 6
Management of feelings in professional settings
In professional settings, the management of feelings often becomes an essential part of the job. This largely involves the display of certain emotions that are deemed appropriate for the role, regardless of an individual’s internal emotional state. Typically, individuals in service-oriented roles like customer service or healthcare are expected to display positive emotions such as enthusiasm, kindness or patience, even in stressful or challenging situations. This ’emotional labor’ can often pose psychological challenges for employees, as it requires them to suppress their authentic emotions and project an entirely different set of feelings…Read&Listen More
key point 5 of 6
Coping mechanisms for emotional strain
Emotional strain can be devastating and, if left unchecked, can lead to a variety of psychological and physical health issues. The book discusses several coping mechanisms for emotional strain. One of the most significant coping mechanisms is emotional labor. It is the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. It includes three main components: surface acting, deep acting, and emotional regulation…Read&Listen More
key point 6 of 6
The exchange between private and public emotional spheres
The Managed Heart investigates the phenomenon of emotional labor, where individuals in certain professions must manage their own feelings in order to properly perform their jobs. The book argues that in these contexts, there is a complex exchange that takes place between private and public emotional spheres. Private emotions, or those we genuinely feel and express in personal contexts, are often suppressed or manipulated in these roles. This is done to project the expected public emotions, or the feelings that are deemed appropriate for the job role…Read&Listen More