Emotional Labor and Inequality: A Sociological Field Log

Field Log Observations

Morning: Wake up; take a shower; have breakfast with other family members.

Arrive at the bank: Pick a waiting ticket; interact with service staff; a member of staff at the next counter is having a difficult time with a customer.

9:00 am: Arrive at my girlfriend's house; help her with laundry and other household chores; watch a movie together.

12:30 pm: Have lunch with my girlfriend at a restaurant; at an adjacent table, three women are talking about their dating experiences with men from different cultures.

2:00 pm: At the parking lot, a beggar stops me; he tells me he has no home or family.

7:00 pm: Watch the evening news — a robbery at a local store and the unnecessary shooting of an innocent Black man by a White police officer.

Applying Sociological Concepts

Sociology demonstrates that people's daily lives are shaped and constrained by society (Dillon, 2010). By interacting with and observing other individuals at home, work, or school, individuals are influenced in one way or another. Six sociological concepts that can be applied to these field log observations include role theory, emotional labor, social deviance, inequality, poverty, and ethnocentrism.

According to role theory, society expects individuals to behave in certain ways or to fulfill certain obligations given their status or position. For instance, men and women do not generally have equal roles at home, with household chores conventionally regarded as a domain of women. My decision to assist my girlfriend with household chores therefore somewhat contradicts commonly held perceptions of gender roles. Nonetheless, I do not consider my behavior unusual, as I have observed more and more men becoming involved in housework.

The notion of emotional labor was also evident in my field observations. When at the bank, I witnessed a member of staff handling a seemingly difficult customer. Despite the challenging circumstances, the staff member remained calm and collected. In a non-work setting, such an encounter might have led to an exchange of words or even a physical confrontation. Employees, however, are expected to present themselves positively while at work, regardless of the difficulty they are experiencing.

Another relevant sociological concept is ethnocentrism. This was evident in the three women's discussion of dating men from different cultures. Most people are, to some degree, guilty of this tendency — we often view our own culture as superior to others and hold preconceived notions about different cultures.

A scene of social deviance was also apparent in the evening news, which featured a story about a robbery at a local store. Robbery is a behavior that contravenes societal norms as well as the law; members of society are expected not to commit actions that inflict pain and suffering on others. The news also reported a police officer shooting an innocent African-American man. Such incidents have become increasingly common and point to the persistent inequality between majority and minority populations. Finally, the issue of poverty was illustrated by the homeless beggar encountered in the parking lot. The beggar serves as a visible indication of the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources in society. It is deeply troubling when some members of society are extremely wealthy while others in the same society cannot meet even their most basic needs.

Emotional Labor in the Workplace

Though all six concepts above have received considerable scholarly attention, this paper focuses more deeply on emotional labor and inequality. Emotional labor — a concept introduced by Arlie R. Hochschild in her landmark 1983 book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling — refers to the expression of positive facial and bodily gestures by an employee while at work (Williams, 2003). Such gestures are important for creating an emotional climate desirable to both the organization and the customers it serves. Emotional labor is most common in workplaces where employees interact frequently with customers, whether in person or verbally, in the fulfillment of their everyday roles and responsibilities (Williams, 2003). Front-line employees at an airline company, for instance, interact with travelers during general inquiries, ticket purchases, check-in and checkout, and food and beverage service. Similarly, healthcare workers engage in emotional labor when conducting diagnoses, providing medical information, and explaining drug prescriptions to patients.

The fundamental idea of emotional labor is that employees are generally expected to display positive emotions — such as empathy and tranquility — when engaging with customers (Williams, 2003). The projection of these positive emotions is not, however, contingent on the actual emotions an individual is experiencing. Regardless of how difficult a customer may be, an employee is expected to respond with calmness. Regardless of how exhausted one feels, the employee is expected to present a cheerful demeanor. Essentially, one is expected to act normally even while experiencing negative emotions.

While emotional labor is crucial to service delivery, it may carry negative psychological consequences for the individual (Williams, 2003). Suppressing negative emotions to comply with organizational expectations can result, over time, in emotional dissonance, which may in turn contribute to psychological discomfort (Williams, 2003).

References

Dillon, M. (2010). Introduction to sociological theory: Theorists, concepts, and their applicability to the twenty-first century. UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Hurst, C., Gibbon, H., & Nurse, A. (2016). Social inequality: Forms, causes and consequences (9th ed.). New York: Routledge.

Williams, C. (2003). Sky service: The demands of emotional labour in the airline industry. Gender, Work & Organisation, 10(5), 513–550.