Head Hurt? Your Job May Be to Blame

Does your job threaten your mental well-being? University of Bedfordshire, jobs that require “emotional labor” (such as dealing with cantankerous customers) inflict psychological distress that many employees don’t know how to handle. As a result, they internalize frustrations, suppress true emotions and conceal dissatisfaction with the job. According to Kinman, the negative effects of emotional labor are the same whether an employee deals with people in person or via phone. Kinman’s research is based on poll responses from 124 flight attendants and 122 sales agents employed by a British airline, 80 percent of whom are women.