From my list of research questions, I originally wanted to talk about networking. I ended up having a very difficult time with that topic, but it did lead to a related note to talk about!
So, what do I mean by business persona and emotional dissonance?
You can probably guess that the way I act in these posts is very different from how I usually do. I would call this a business (or professional) persona! This is a fairly natural reaction to different situations, and I think most people do it somewhat unconsciously.
However, I believe many jobs encourage it to an unhealthy, possibly destructive degree to keep up their brand or reputation. A professional persona can help you in many ways (like networking, for instance), but keeping it up constantly isn't great for your mental health.
For example, think of customer service! Many people in that line of work must put on a friendly, professional persona as a job requirement. This requirement makes sense but can cause problems when dealing with angry or disrespectful customers.
In the cited study, 23,989 client-facing workers were surveyed[1] and gave these statistics:
~11% of the studied group handled angry clients for more than half of their work time
~34% reported hiding their feelings most or all of the time
1.4% experienced depression or anxiety in the last year
Poor mental health was more common in workers who had poor general health, commonly hid their emotions, faced job insecurity, received little or no support from supervisors, had high psychological demands, or were female (from highest to lowest frequency).
The employees up front will often majorly impact a customer's opinion of a business. If those employees are mentally drained from masking their emotions, then it'll eventually cause problems for the employee, customer, and/or business.
"The response-focused strategy of hiding one’s feelings is considered an indicator of emotional dissonance between felt and expressed emotions. Emotional dissonance is known for its detrimental psychological effects on mental health, and the extent to which dissonance exists between felt and expressed emotions affects the degree of harmful consequences."[1]
Emotional dissonance or labor is the act of faking, hiding, or modifying your emotional expression, usually for the sake of a job[2]. It relates to cognitive dissonance, the discomfort felt when a person's actions don't align with their values or beliefs.
Remember that not every employee will react the same to emotional strain or dissonance. Certain personalities and traits are more equipped for it while others have developed better methods of dealing with emotional stress or the specific work situation causing it[3].
From my research, stress caused by hiding emotions due to work obligations isn't nearly as universal as I thought. However, it's common enough that managers should pay close attention to how their employees handle stressful situations and act accordingly.
If this post leaves you with anything, let it be "Please be nice to customer service and other client-facing workers" and "Please do something about it if your workers routinely have to sacrifice their mental health for the sake of their job".
Thanks!!!
References
Suh, C., & Punnett, L. (2022). High Emotional Demands at Work and Poor Mental Health in Client-Facing Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12). https://doi-org.wwcc.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/ijerph19127530
Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotional regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 95–110. https://doi-org.wwcc.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.1.95
Indregard, A.-M. R., Knardahl, S., & Nielsen, M. B. (2018). Emotional Dissonance, Mental Health Complaints, and Sickness Absence Among Health- and Social Workers. The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 592. https://doi-org.wwcc.idm.oclc.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00592
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