Spirituality, religion, and emotional labor in the workplace

Abstract

Emotional labor is the regulation of emotional displays as part of a work role. To date, minimal research has considered how spirituality and religion impact the performance and consequences of emotional labor, which is an important omission given a growing awareness that religion and spirituality are important components of people’s lives that continue to inform their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors while at work. Accordingly, we review the literature on emotional labor and develop a series of research questions that focus on issues such as the interplay between organizational and religious expectations for emotional displays toward others, as well as the ability of religious support and beliefs to buffer the negative effects of emotional labor on individual employees. Our hope is that these ideas spark interdisciplinary research on emotional labor that draws on a wider body of perspectives in management.

Keywords:

• emotions
• emotion regulation
• display rules
• social support
• helping professions
• forgiveness
• faith

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Father William Lago, Rabbi Joel Chernikoff, Kim Rosamilia, and Sweta Tekal for their insights during the development of this article.