10: The emotion regulation of performance work

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter explores performances of emotion regulation through a dramaturgical lens, focusing on occupations with high performative demands. In our review of research and theory, we demonstrate key intersections between sociological studies on emotion management and psychological studies on emotion regulation. First, we focus on the scaffolding of performance, how the script and the staging of scripts influence emotion regulation and places performance in a socially and hierarchically structured setting. Second, we examine the collective micro-interactions of performance, employing the basics of theater acting: empathic attuning, the balancing of flow and control, and how the managing of emotional performances are temporally adapted. Finally, we discuss how a dramaturgical perspective on performing emotion regulation can be developed in future research by comparing emotional cultures across occupations and countries, exploring changes in performance within digital spheres, and through methodological developments that account for a wider range of emotional processes.