Heart patients may feel the need to put on that happy face even when they are in fact experiencing severe cardiac symptoms. This emotional dissonance evokes psychological stress.Īnd when patients exhibit this emotional labour on an ongoing basis (meaning that they feel one way, but act another so as to hide how they’re feeling around others), this can eventually result in stress, frustration, and even impaired physical health. Nurses report, for example, that they outwardly express care and compassion even while they are internally focused only on the more instrumental tasks at hand. Previous research has found that cardiac rehabilitation nurses can exhibit emotional labour when dealing with their heart patients (Barrett et al, 2005). When patients exhibit emotional labour, explains Nicholas Lockwood (who has studied how heart patients’ use of humour can help – or hurt – their recovery), it means that their outward expression of emotion is not genuinely felt.įor example, although this outward expression serves to make other people around us feel comfortable, when this expression isn’t a genuine representation of how we really feel inside, it can actually hurt us.Īnd this concept is not limited only to patients. This is widely experienced by patients who tell me they often feel compelled to pretend to be “fine, just fine” so as not to worry their families or friends – even when they are quite clearly not feeling fine. Originally identified by researchers in 1983, emotional labour is described as the suppression of feelings to provide a welcoming outward appearance. Similarly, I wrote here about the interesting concept called emotional labour. So faking a smile while still feeling negative emotion conflicts with this cultural norm, and can cause even more harmful feelings in women compared to their male counterparts. Scott’s study didn’t explore the reasons behind these differences, he said that previous research suggests women are both expected to and do show greater emotional intensity and emotional expressiveness than men. ![]() This focus can indeed help – especially for those who tend to ruminate ( “…things are bad now, and they’re only going to get worse!”) Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism. But they were helped more by deep acting, meaning their mood improved more and they withdrew less.”ĭeep acting – affecting one’s mood through conscious focus on positive things – is also demonstrated in the work of social psychologist Dr. “ Women were harmed more by surface acting, meaning their mood worsened even more than the men and they withdrew more from work. Trying to suppress negative thoughts, the researchers observed, may have made those thoughts even more persistent.Īccording to Dr. The study found that on days when the smiles were forced, the drivers’ moods deteriorated and they tended to withdraw from work, emotionally exhausted. (2) Researchers examined what happened when the drivers engaged in fake smiling, known as “surface acting” and its opposite, “deep acting” where they generated authentic smiles through focusing on positive thoughts. “…the human psyche’s way of coping with intolerable circumstances – a means of escape to assure survival, no matter what the price.”Ī Michigan State University study on this phenomenon tracked bus drivers, whose jobs require them to be courteous and endure frequent interactions with many other people all day long, day after day. Dissociation is defined in Abugel & Simeon’s book Feeling Unreal as: The study authors suggest that smiling when you don’t feel like smiling is a form of dissociation that can actually predict poor psychological functioning. ” Positive emotional behavior that does not accurately signal a person’s experience – such as a smile that is not felt – may impede social connectedness and, in turn, psychological functioning.” This warning is particularly important for those living with a chronic diagnosis like heart disease, who often report feeling obliged to paste on a happy face around other people – even when feeling alarmed about their symptoms.Īccording to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: (1) It turns out that Nat’s advice about faking smiles, however, may be exactly the wrong thing to do for your own mental health. If you smile through your fear and sorrow When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by Sing along with me now, my heart sisters, as we revisit these famous lines: By Carolyn Thomas ♥ classic song called Smile was originally written as an instrumental by the legendary Charlie Chaplin for his 1936 movie Modern Times lyrics were later added, and the song was recorded by Nat King Col e in 1954.
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