EMOTIONAL LABOR IN CUSTOMER SERVICES JOBS, A MYSTERIOUS CASE OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES

The cumulative meaning of the term emotional labor is the showcase of emotions that are unique and accepted by the all the stakeholders of a given occupation. Service sector employees anyhow have similar protocols to abide by authenticated by the organizational display rule. Prime vectors of emotional labor are surface acting, deep acting and expression of genuine emotions. Emotional labor is usually mandated by the organizations in order to accomplish task effectiveness and self-expression. On the flip side of the same coin it can also serves as a primer that determines the customer's expectations that if not met induces emotional dissonance and self-alienation in the service provider. In order to moderate the consequences of emotional labor, the paper argues an explicit application of social identity theory that may mitigate the negative consequences of emotional labor when interacting with aggressive customers at an interpersonal level. The paper discusses the micro level application of social identity theory to accomplish the organizations agenda of fostering effective customer services, wherein the role of emotional moderation remains an employee's own responsibility.