Week 3 Blog: Interviews

This week, I conducted semi-structured interviews with several workers at my dad’s factory, which produces electronic device parts. At first, I thought emotional labor would mostly relate to being friendly or interacting with customers. However, what I found was much less obvious. The workers explained that they are not only expected to “act nice,” but also expected to control their emotions in more quiet ways like hiding their feelings and avoiding conflicts.

Many workers described an expectation for them from their boss that even if sometimes they feel bad, they should not show it and should continue working as usual. One worker mentioned that “if you argue back, it just creates more problems,” so staying quiet is often the better choice. Others said that while they might complain privately with coworkers, they act differently in front of managers. This shows that emotional control is still an important part of their job, even if it is not officially required.

Through this week’s interviews, I realize that emotional labor is not only shown in service jobs, but also in factory settings where it is less visible.