China Social Science Review

No.3, 2022

Analysis and Expansion of the Core Concepts of Emotional Labor Research

(Abstract)

Mei Xiao

Emotional labor research generally has a marked critical perspective, being dedicated to reflections on the negative effects of exploitation of emotional resources and self-distancing of labor in the emotional labor process. Although research findings based on a critical perspective have made outstanding contributions to the development of emotional labor research, they have also, to a certain extent, limited the theoretical imagining of the positive social impact of emotional labor. Analyzing three pairs of concepts (authenticity and sincerity, standardization and specialization, commercialization and the public) can help us recognize more clearly the potential of emotional labor for enhancing the self-efficacy of labor, improving the degree of specialization, generating public benefits, etc. Such an expansion of the research perspective will help us undertake a more comprehensive examination of the social impact of emotional labor and promote the future development and application of emotional labor research.