Addressing the Relationship Between Emotion Management and Social Capital: An Analysis of Federal Employees

Abstract

Emotion management describes the ability of an employee to regulate the outward manifestation of emotions during personal interactions. Prior studies examining emotions in organizations have often emphasized the production of emotional labor during service delivery transactions with clients. Such a focus has overlooked the emotion management that takes place between employees. Using ordinary least- squares (OLS) regression, this study analyzes the 2016 Merit Principles Survey of federal employees to examine the relationship between emotion management and the development of social capital. Findings from the study show a positive relationship between emotion management and social capital. These findings provide evidence that employees capable of properly regulating their emotional states during interactions with their colleagues perceive themselves as having more social capital. The findings, however, also indicate that the positive relationship between emotion management and social capital does not hold for employees of color to the same extent that it does for white employees. This could mean that emotion management by employees of color is less likely to lead to increases in social capital as it is for their white counterparts. These findings have important implications for our understanding of emotion management and its impact on how employees navigate their organizations.

Emotional Labor and Professionalism: Finding Balance at the Local Level

“…While scholars have often described emotional labor as a requirement of employees that helps the organization achieve its goals (Hochshild 1983), additional research suggests that meeting the emotional requirements of a job can provide employees with individual benefits by helping them develop colleague relationships that are associated with social capital (Humphrey 2020). Statements from this sample provide additional support to research in this area.…”

Racialized Emotional Labor: An Unseen Burden in the Public Sector

“…Prior research suggests that employees willing to invest in relationships with their colleagues through emotion management activities can enhance their social capital (Humphrey, 2020). However, there is also evidence that people of color tend to have less social capital compared with White employees (James, 2000).…”

“…However, there is also evidence that people of color tend to have less social capital compared with White employees (James, 2000). Even when participating in emotion management, which is often associated with the development of social capital, they still perceive themselves as having little social capital compared with their White counterparts (Humphrey, 2020). Additional studies have found similar findings and suggest that although employees of color and White employees report similar levels of providing emotional support to coworkers, employees of color are less likely to feel supported by coworkers and report having fewer social ties (Sloan et al, 2013).…”

“…With the events of 2020 and calls for action to address racial disparities in the United States, discussions of race have come to the forefront of public administration scholarship and practice. Although some scholars have questioned how race underlies common ideals and procedures within the field of public administration (see Alexander & Stivers, 2010, 2020Portillo et al, 2020), race often remains a topic on the margins of our scholarship, practice, and teaching (Gooden, 2014;Starke et al, 2018). This article aims to bring race in from the margins and incorporate discussions of racial bias into an area of public administration where it is notably absent, emotional labor research.…”

Sosyal Hi̇zmet Bölümü Öğrenci̇leri̇ni̇n Duygu Yöneti̇m Beceri̇ Düzeyleri̇ni̇n İncelenmesi̇

“…Örneğin çocuk refah alanında çalışan bir sosyal hizmet uzmanı para kazanmak için değil, işinin bir parçası olduğu için duygularını yönetmektedir. Niven, Totterdell, ve Holman (2009) duygusal emek yerine duygu yönetimi kavramının kullanılmasının daha uygun olduğunu belirmektedirler; çünkü kişinin duygularını kontrol etmesi iş için gerekli bir görev olarak tanımlanmamakta ve iş sözleşmesinde belirtilmemektedir (Humphrey, 2020). Bu çalışmada duygu yönetimi, hangi ortamda meydana geldiklerine bakılmaksızın, bireylerin içinde bulundukları durumlarla kendi duygularını uyumlu hale getirerek içsel bir bütünleşme sürecinin sağlanmasına ilişkin gösterilen çabayı ifade edecek şekilde kullanılmaktadır.…”