emotional labor

[ih-moh-shuh-nl ley-ber]

noun

1. the sum of small acts performed by one person to make other people’s lives more pleasant and to protect them from negativity, including hiding the effort required to do so.

2. the suppression of negative emotion and the assumption of a polite and cheerful facade at work, especially by employees in the service industry, as waitstaff, flight attendants, sales clerks, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotional labor¹

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Moving forward, my emotional labor is to make sure that I remain full — full of creativity, joy, faith, emotional health, esteem, curiosity, rest, courage and the vibrancy of life itself.

From Los Angeles Times

Loving a dog like Ivy is a profound act of emotional labor.

From Salon

There’s even a fun new term a Stanford University researcher coined to describe the emotional labor women undertake to soothe their partner’s psychological boo-boos: mankeeping.

From Salon

The emotional labor needed to deal with 2025 is like a rotten, toxic relationship, and I’d rather hide out in my cozy apartment from the looming monster.

From Salon

“For mothers specifically, it’s more of the emotional labor we have to take on because the vast majority of us —not me, though — are ‘food people,’” said Margaret Quinlan, a researcher at the University of North Carolina who studies the intersection between parenting and health.

From Salon