Emotional Labor and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Labor and Emotional Intelligence In the book the Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, the sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild defined "emotional labor" as the "management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display & #8230; sold for a wage" (Resnikoff 2013). When a Starbucks barista or McDonald's worker is forced to follow a predetermined friendly interactional 'script' with the customer, acting as though the customer's needs are synonymous with his or her own, the corporate machine has extended its outreach into human emotions.

No longer are workers simply required to work -- they also have to act as if they are not working at all, and are enjoying themselves. Of course, it could be argued that nearly all employees are judged by their ability to have an appropriate 'bedside' manner, from doctors to salespersons. However, for higher-level occupations, such as a surgeon or a doctor, possessing sufficient professional qualifications often means that he or she does not need to do as hard 'emotional labor' as a lower-level employee.

A skilled neurologist with no social skills will still be able to find employment while a waitress cannot, nor does the neurologist have to follow a script when interacting with patients. Emotional labor is thus something that lower-wage workers find themselves particularly subject to, adding to their daily stress. Not only must they be productive -- their personalities must be shaped and formed in a standardized fashion for the majority of their daily interactions.

"In the New Republic, Timothy Noah observes that the sandwich shop chain Pret a Manger aggressively monitors its employees' displays of enthusiasm. If any worker at any particular store seems insufficiently pleased to see their customers, he and all of his coworkers could suffer the consequences" (Resnikoff 2013). Corporations such as Southwest Airlines and Google do hire pilots and engineers for perceived 'character' and attitude as well as technical skills, even though these workers must be qualified for their jobs.

Particularly given the increasing emphasis on teamwork in the workplace, emotional compatibility has become a significant factor of consideration for employers in many hiring decisions. "Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions" (Cherry 2013). However, in contrast to the scripted nature of emotional labor, EI requires that the employee have autonomous control over their emotions and can use their interpersonal skills in a creative and dynamic fashion.

"The perception of emotion, the ability reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions" are all part of EI (Cherry 2013). Even an engineer can benefit from a high degree of EI when working with other engineers on a team-based project. Similarly, a service employee with a high degree of EI is more beneficial for the company than one following a script, given that she or he can respond to immediate and unexpected customer demands.

However, merely demanding employees with a high degree of emotional intelligence dominate the workforce.