When I crossed London a few days ago, the two statues immediately caught my attention.
Heraclitus and democr clit are two Greek thinkers, who are called "crying philosophers ".
Heraclitus's name comes from melancholy and sadness, while de itus Crete always wears a mask of joy.
Human beings are very sensitive to the emotional expression of others, and have always been so.
Research shows that it's not surprising for those who look sad or neutral.
But what is the emotional price like deitus clit always smiling, is it fair to ask people to do so in our work that we have just reviewed the evidence on the subject? The findings are worrying.
The reason why we like a happy face so much is that the positive emotions of others will immediately improve our mental state.
For example, in a quick date, those who look positive can trigger more uplifting emotions on others and be more popular on a second date.
But what are the emotional consequences of Arlie Hochschild's attempt to look happy in order to please others? He divided this "emotional labor" into two parts: deep performance and surface performance.
When we adjust our facial expressions and body postures, we use surface movements without really changing our emotional state-smiling and unhappy, for example.
On the other hand, deep action is when we try to change our feelings by thinking about something that stimulates the ideal feeling or reduces the importance of negative experience.
For example, when you are dealing with a difficult customer, you may consider the upcoming holiday or identify something you like.
In a way, both techniques can help us develop better relationships at home and at work, but, in general, deep acting helps to make a more authentic sense.
In fact, waiters engaged in deep acting get more tips than others.
Employees in the service sector are clearly under pressure to do emotional work-to suppress or amplify specific emotions, to make customers happy and to encourage them to come back.
Most empirical studies on emotional labor have found negative effects.
People perform on the surface to "put on the mask", which creates unhealthy inner conflicts between the emotions expressed and felt.
A review of 95 studies in 2011 showed that use of surface behavior can lead to emotional exhaustion, nervousness, reduced job satisfaction, and decreased attachment to employer organizations.
It can also cause physical and mental problems such as sleep difficulties, headaches and chest pain.
Deep action, on the other hand, is associated with some positive outcomes, such as greater personal achievement, customer satisfaction, and attachment to the employer.
This may be due to the fact that it helps to play a more real emotion, which is appreciated by customers and colleagues.
It can also help.
This is not all good, however.
Deep performances are also linked to greater emotional exhaustion and more physical and mental illness.
Although the arguments between researchers contradict each other, superficial and deep behavior seems to be harmful to employees.
Consider the big picture.
If emotional labor runs out of our energy and leads to a build-up of stress and stress, it can have a negative impact on our relationship.
Some theories believe that will and self
Regulation depends on limited mental resources that can be exhausted.
It can be argued that repeated emotional labor will exhaust these resources.
Thus, the slightest trigger can explode into a positive reaction rather than being friendly with others.
Over the past decade, I have done research in the field of workplace bullying.
I know how aggressive the workplace is.
In a tense environment, we become more defensive, sensitive and therefore more likely to take hostile actions.
Given that emotional labor can create stress and stress, it makes sense that it can also trigger attacks.
My colleague and I decided to find out.
As a starting point, we have a systematic review of existing research papers that link emotional labor and attacks on others at work.
We reviewed 12 recent studies.
Mostly published in 2015 and 2016)
It pays special attention to workplace relationships with emotional labor and dysfunction.
In addition to the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, our comments have not yet been published, suggesting that in most cases surface behavior is related to aggressive behavior towards customers and colleagues.
In a study, deep acting was related to attacks on colleagues.
In some cases, aggression was reported by the participants themselves, as well as by colleagues or supervisors in other cases.
In the future, we would like to see whether gender, cultural background, training and socialization in the organization will affect emotional labor and relationships at work.
As a second step, we plan to implement a qualitative study to interview employees in the service department.
In addition, we are looking for ways to develop a joint intervention program with theater actors and directors to transfer the stage
Provide agency technology to service organization.
At the moment, while we are aware that emotional labor can support organizations, it can actually hinder performance.
If we accept that we all have an inner Heraclitus that sometimes needs to shine, we may be able to reduce stress and attacks in the workplace-and ultimately make it a happier and more productive place.
Senior lecturer in professional psychology, this article was originally published. Read the .
