Authenticity and occupational emotions
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Mikko Salmela
Abstract
This article seeks to elucidate conflicting evidence on the relation between emotions in a professional context and worker authenticity by focusing on the concept of emotional authenticity. It identifies a paradox of emotional authenticity, which emerges from the existence of theories that occlude the possibility of authentic emotion management in professional roles even if such emotions are often experienced as authentic. It is argued that this paradox emerges from Hochschild’s conceptualizations of authenticity and emotionally involved labor that many researchers still implicitly share. The article suggests that an understanding of authenticity as a regulative ideal of coherence between a person’s various roles and their constitutive commitments allows us to see the possibility of authentic emotion work in a professional role whose constitutive commitments are compatible with the worker’s other salient epistemic and normative commitments, provided that emotions are managed in proper working conditions. Nursing is analysed as a profession that can meet these criteria.
Abstract
This article seeks to elucidate conflicting evidence on the relation between emotions in a professional context and worker authenticity by focusing on the concept of emotional authenticity. It identifies a paradox of emotional authenticity, which emerges from the existence of theories that occlude the possibility of authentic emotion management in professional roles even if such emotions are often experienced as authentic. It is argued that this paradox emerges from Hochschild’s conceptualizations of authenticity and emotionally involved labor that many researchers still implicitly share. The article suggests that an understanding of authenticity as a regulative ideal of coherence between a person’s various roles and their constitutive commitments allows us to see the possibility of authentic emotion work in a professional role whose constitutive commitments are compatible with the worker’s other salient epistemic and normative commitments, provided that emotions are managed in proper working conditions. Nursing is analysed as a profession that can meet these criteria.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Authenticity, emotions, and the self
- Self-love and the structure of personal values 11
- The self of shame 33
- Authenticity and self-governance 51
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Part II. Ramifications of emotional authenticity
- Picturing the authenticity of emotions 71
- Status, gender, and the politics of emotional authenticity 91
- How to be “emotional”? 113
- Authenticity and occupational emotions 133
-
Part III. Emotional authenticity in ethics and moral psychology
- Is emotivism more authentic than cognitivism? 155
- Emotional authenticity as a central basis of moral psychology 179
- Authentic emotions as ethical guides? 195
- Emotional optimality and moral force 215
- Index 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Authenticity, emotions, and the self
- Self-love and the structure of personal values 11
- The self of shame 33
- Authenticity and self-governance 51
-
Part II. Ramifications of emotional authenticity
- Picturing the authenticity of emotions 71
- Status, gender, and the politics of emotional authenticity 91
- How to be “emotional”? 113
- Authenticity and occupational emotions 133
-
Part III. Emotional authenticity in ethics and moral psychology
- Is emotivism more authentic than cognitivism? 155
- Emotional authenticity as a central basis of moral psychology 179
- Authentic emotions as ethical guides? 195
- Emotional optimality and moral force 215
- Index 235
