The Link Between Emotional Labour and Empathy
I was having a conversation with some friends the other night and we ended up on the topic of emotional labour. What I realized early into the conversation was that many people are not aware of what emotional labour is and how it is carried out in the workplace. The reality is that emotional labour is something we all do; yet women end up doing a lot more of it due to real and perceived expectations, norms, and societal realities. I decided to write this blog about some easy ways to increase your awareness and understanding of emotional labour.
Emotional labour was first defined by sociological theorist Arlie Hochschild in 1983 as the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. Since then, there has been a slew of research, discussion, and debate surrounding the topic; particularly around the emotional labour that women ‘traditionally’ perform in the familial environment (i.e. household chores, raising children, supporting family & friends, and acting in generally ‘maternal’ ways).
There are also many ways that people enact emotional labour in the workplace; particularly when they start a new job, when there are professional opportunities or threats on the horizon, or simply, to fit into a particular organizational culture. Examples include acting as emotional support to colleagues & clients, agreeing to do extra administrative work, and taking the blame for someone else’s mistakes. This emotional labour often reinforces preconceived gender norms or unconscious biases. At the end of the day, people perform. We perform in our everyday lives to please people around us; and often, to support our own personal agendas.
Even more fascinating is the impact that social media has had on this performance. Now people can evoke a particular self, both digitally and in day-to-day life. What we need to ask ourselves is if these performances are a representation of genuine self-agency or part of a far more complex system of societal norms and pressures to act in a particular way. Understanding that allows us to be more conscious of the way both we and others around us perform. I personally try to be mindful of when I am being true to myself in professional environments and when I am performing in a way out of line with my own values. This helps me to realign my personal and professional self and speak up when necessary.
The goal of this blog is not to say that women are the only people who perform emotional labour. Nor is it to say that emotional labour is an inherently bad thing. Many people are happy, and even feel empowered by the experience of expressing and regulating their emotions for the betterment of personal or professional goals. Rather, this blog seeks to provide some high-level insight into what emotional labour is and how it happens in the workplace. I believe that being aware of emotional labour only makes it easier to understand other people, what drives them, and how their personal experiences impact the way they present themselves in professional environments.
Here are a few links to interesting and relevant articles on the topic if you’d like to learn more!
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/gender-emotional-labor/427083
https://www.forbes.com/sites/melodywilding/2018/06/06/dont-be-the-office-mom-how-emotional-labor-affects-womens-careers/#3ae50b471103
About the author: Bronwyn is a 2019 Corporate Residency MBA Candidate at Dalhousie University. She acts as a liaison between WIBA and the MBA program, with the goal of providing a support system for female business students in every stage of their educational and professional journeys.
