New psychology research suggests “deep acting” can reduce fatigue and improve your work life

“Turns out I was right! Whether it’s for prosocial or impression management reasons, people decide how to regulate their emotions with their coworkers, and these choices can carry profound effects for their well-being and how they are then treated,” said Gabriel, who is also an associate editor at Journal of Applied Psychology. …

In other words, employees who agreed with statements such as “I try to actually experience the emotions that I show to my coworkers” but disagreed with statement such as “I fake a good mood when interacting with my coworkers” were less likely to agree with statements such as “I feel emotionally drained” while at work.

Non-actors also reported similarly low levels of emotional exhaustion. But the researchers also found that, unlike non-acting, deep acting was associated with improved interpersonal work relationships and work goal progress.

By Erin Dolan, PsyPost.org