Chances are, most of us have worked a customer service job at some point in our lives. They're often stepping stones to other careers, but there's definitely an art to those jobs as well.
If you're the sort of person who can serve people every day and never lose hope for humanity, you'll never be out of a job for very long. It's not easy, and it's not for everyone.
Regardless of what might be happening behind the scenes, the face the public sees just has to be happy and smiling at all times.
And hey, if you make tips, pushing through a shift with a fake smile plastered on your lips can actually pay off. But as a new study shows, it comes with a price of its own.
Researchers at Penn State and the University of Buffalo found that employees who force their smiles through a shift were at greater risk of heavy drinking after their shift ends.
For the study, the researchers examined survey data from the National Survey of Work Stress and Health, in which 1,592 participants were asked how often they faked a smile, how often they drank after work, how much control they felt they had at work, and how impulsive they typically were.
As Penn State psychology professor Alicia Grandey stated, "Faking and suppressing emotions with customers was related to drinking beyond the stress of the job or feeling negatively."
"It wasn't just feeling badly that makes them reach for a drink," Grandey explained. "Instead, the more they have to control negative emotions at work, the less they are able to control their alcohol intake after work."
"The relationship between surface acting and drinking after work was stronger for people who are impulsive or who lack personal control over behavior at work," she said.
"If you're impulsive or constantly told how to do your job, it may be harder to rein in your emotions all day, and when you get home, you don't have that self-control to stop after one drink."
Those who work in jobs where they might only encounter a particular customer once, like at a coffee shop or call center, showed a stronger connection between surface acting and drinking than those who had ongoing relationships with those they serve, like in health care or education.
"Nurses, for example, may amplify or fake their emotions for clear reasons," Grandey said. "They're trying to comfort a patient or build a strong relationship."
"Someone who is faking emotions for a customer they may never see again, that may not be as rewarding, and may ultimately be more draining or demanding."
"Employers may want to consider allowing employees to have a little more autonomy at work, like they have some kind of choice on the job," she said. "And when the emotional effort is clearly linked to financial or relational rewards, the effects aren't so bad."
h/t ScienceDaily
