Role of emotional labour in mental health

Abstract

Emotional labour is defined as a deliberate disconnect between the felt and performed emotions when providing any specific or important service or interacting with some individual. Mental health consists of the individuals’ emotional, psyc hological and social well-being along with their ability to enjoy life and attain a sense of balance. Mental health is increasingly becoming important in the workplace and thus maintaining the mental health of employees is extremely essential and important. Employees in the garment industry improve their service quality by engaging in emotional labour which requires them to maintain pretentious and desirable emotions under all circumstances. The aim of the present study was to understand the relationship between emotion labour and mental health of salespersons working in garment stores. The study followed a qualitative approach and the sample was collected using purposive sampling, the total sample being 8 salespersons working in different garment stores in Delhi NCR. The data was collected through in-depth interview. Thematic Network Analysis was used to analyse the data to obtain a complete understanding of the meaning. The findings of the study provide an understanding about the importance of emotional labour and its associated benefits both at the employee and organizational level.