Emotional labour, its antecedents and consequences

Emotions are the basis of social life. They function as filters of perception, affecting conscious decisions and, sometimes, even making decisions on their own. However, organizations often expect their employees to alter their emotions, or the expressions thereof. The reason is that adequate emotional displays by employees will result in efficient working, high-quality service provision, and regular customers. In the healthcare sector in particular, they will bring about increased patient turnovers, high numbers of regular patients with increased levels of satisfaction, and improved follow-up/control rates. A healthcare professional’s emotional displays may as well affect patients’ attitude toward themselves, their diseases, or the overall healing process itself. However, not each and every physician/HCP is capable of spontaneously displaying emotions expected by patients and their family members. Present book attempts to guide health-care institutions how to select employees less vulnerable to the negative side affects of emotional labour, and how to help their staff members to avoid burnout resulting from their daily (physical, cognitive and emotional) routine.