Marketing

Service (business)

Social psychology

Emotive

Expression (computer science)

Computer science

Emotional labor

Anthropology

Business

Burnout

Psychology

Emotional exhaustion

Political science

Cognitive dissonance

Sociology

Programming language

Alienation

Clinical psychology

Emotional expression

Academy of Management Review

Emotional labor is the display of expected emotions by service agents during service encounters. It is performed through surface acting, deep acting, or the expression of genuine emotion. Emotional labor may facilitate task effectiveness and self-expression, but it also may prime customer expectations that cannot be met and may trigger emotive dissonance and self-alienation. However, following social identity theory, we argue that some effects of emotional labor are moderated by one's social and personal identities and that emotional labor stimulates pressures for the person to identify with the service role. Research implications for the micro, meso, and macro levels of organizations are discussed.

Emotional Labor in Service Roles: The Influence of Identity