Feeling Rules & Social Norms
Which of the following is a feeling rule rather than a behavioral rule?
A. Do not make noise while eating 🍜
B. One should feel sad at a funeral 😢
C. Greet elders when you see them 🙋♂️
D. Wear formal attire for a job interview 👔
What is B, One should feel sad at a funeral
Emphasizing the distinction between feeling rules and other social rules. Feeling rules differ curiously from other types of rules in that they do not apply to action but to what is often taken as a precursor to action. Therefore, they tend to be latent and resistant to formal codification. ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure" p. 565)
Can you provide an example of a facial expression that is commonly used in emotion work?
Smile: Used to convey friendliness and warmth, even when we don't feel happy.
Calm expression: To appear composed in stressful or tense situations.
Nodding and eye contact: Indicates understanding or agreement without words.
Surprised expression: Shows shock or disbelief, often to convey engagement.
Concerned expression: Demonstrates empathy or care, especially when others are upset.
Relaxed smile: Helps ease tension and make social interactions more comfortable.
Interested expression: Raised eyebrows and focused gaze to show attentiveness.
Sympathetic expression: Slight frown or downturned lips to show empathy.
Which of the following is NOT an example of commodified feeling in the workplace?
A) A flight attendant smiling warmly at passengers
B) A therapist showing empathy towards clients
C) A factory worker assembling a product
D) A customer service representative apologizing for a service issue
What is C, a factory worker assembling a product.
The factory worker’s job does not require emotional display, while the other professions involve emotional labor. ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structures", p. 569)
According to Hochschild, how do middle-class parents typically discipline their children?
A) Through physical punishment
B) By controlling emotions and intentions
C) By focusing on immediate behavior and consequences
D) By avoiding discipline altogether
What is B) By controlling emotions and intentions
Middle-class parents often emphasize how a child "should" feel or perceive a situation, training them for future emotion management. ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure")
How does Hochschild distinguish between deep acting and surface acting in emotional labor?
Deep acting involves self-persuasion, so changing one's internal feelings to align with expected emotional expressions, often through cognitive or bodily techniques. In contrast, surface acting only modifies outward expressions without altering internal emotions, leading to emotional dissonance.
Deep acting is seen as a greater gift by Hochschild: might be achieved by amplifying a real feeling, or reframing the event.
What are framing rules?
Framing rules are how we cognitively interpret and give meaning situations; feeling rules are how we manage our emotions to fit (or not) the situation. ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure", p. 566)
However, as ideologies change, framing rules are subject to change as well. Framing of the same events can change with what Hochschild refers to as "the changing climate of opinion" (p.567).
Name one technique of emotion work
What is Cognitive, Bodily, or Expressive
Cognitive: the attempt to change images, ideas; or thoughts in the service of changing the feelings associated with them.
Bodily: the attempt to change somatic- or other physical symptoms of emotion (e.g., trying to breathe slower, trying not to shake).
Expressive emotion work: trying to change expressive gestures in the service of changing inner feeling (e.g., trying to smile, or to cry). These three techniques are distinct theoretically, but they often, of course, go together in practice.
("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure", p. 562)
Which social class is most affected by the commodification of feelings in their professional life?
A) Working class
B) Middle class
C) Upper Class
D) All classes equally
What is B) Middle Class
Middle-class jobs often require employees to manage emotions as part of their work, such as expressing enthusiasm or empathy, even when it is not genuine.("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure", p.569)
Why do some middle-class individuals place a high value on "authenticity" in emotions?
A) Because they rarely engage in emotional labor
B) Because their jobs require constant emotional management, making authenticity rare
C) Because they are naturally more emotional
D) Because their emotions are more genuine than those of the working class
What is B) Because their jobs require constant emotional management, making authenticity rare.
Why does Hochschild argue that women perform more emotional labour than men in professional settings?
Women are disproportionately expected to manage emotions in ways that uphold social harmony, often due to gendered occupational roles and cultural expectations of care work, making emotional labour a more integral and demanding part of their jobs.
Feeling rules influence an individual's emotional responses by specifying the ________, direction, and duration of emotions.
What is Intensity.
"Rights and duties set out the proprieties as to the extent (one can feel "too" angry or "not angry enough"), the direction (one can feel sad when one should feel happy), and the duration of a feeling, given the situation against which it is set. These rights and duties of feeling are a clue to the depth of social convention, to one final reach of social control." ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure" p. 564)
Can you name an example of a profession involving emotion work? If emotional work were paid, which profession do you think deserves the highest raise? Why?
"The smoothly warm airline hostess, the ever-cheerful secretary, the unirritated complaint clerk, the undisgusted proctologist, the teacher who likes every student equally, and Goffman's unflappable poker player may all have to engage in deep acting, an acting that goes well beyond the mere ordering of display." ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure, p. 563).
Customer service representatives (they must tolerate unreasonable complaints), Kindergarten teachers (they have to pretend not to be driven crazy by noisy children), Therapists (they need to maintain emotional stability to support their clients), etc.
How might commodification of feeling relate to alienation in work?
Employees performing emotional labor may feel detached from their authentic emotions, leading to emotional dissonance and workplace alienation. ("Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure, p. 570)
How might emotional exchanges differ from a customer-employee situation vs. a married couple?
"Where the customer is king, unequal exchanges are normal, and from the beginning customer and client assume different rights to feeling and display. The ledger is supposedly evened by a wage." ("Paying Respects with Feeling" p. 86)
Marriage, on the other hand, involves a variety of exchanges that are not always emotional gift exchange/ 'psychological bowing'. This can be external exchanges as well, such as completing chores. There is more time and depth surrounding the relationship that may allow partners to make up for some areas when they lack in others. Exchange would be more-or-less equal in a stable relationship. (p. 84)
According to Hochschild, how can emotions function as gifts in social interactions?
Emotions can act as gifts when they are freely given and received in personal or professional relationships, fostering genuine connections. There is an ‘Owed’ and ‘received’ mental ledger for feelings … and we make exchanges to settle our accounts. However, when emotional expressions are commodified, as in service work, they lose their voluntary nature and become obligations rather than genuine gifts.