The hazards of fake smiles

[lexin]

The 'have a nice day' fixed grin required of many hospitality and other service staff could be seriously bad for their health.

A study published in the Academy of Management Journal has discovered that fake smiles can actually depress mood and hurt health. The researchers examined a group of bus drivers who often have to display a positive, courteous demeanour as part of their job description.

Lead author Brent Scott, an assistant professor of management at Michigan State University, said the findings suggest customer service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. 'Employers may think that simply getting their employees to smile is good for the organisation, but that's not necessarily the case,' he said. 'Smiling for the sake of smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and withdrawal, and that's bad for the organisation.'

The study is one of the first of its kind to examine emotional displays over a period of time while also delving into gender differences, Scott said. The results were stronger for the women bus drivers. 'Women were harmed more by surface acting, meaning their mood worsened even more than the men and they withdrew more from work,' Scott said.

The fake smile is an employment pre-requisite for many in the service sector, particularly retail and hospitality staff. The practice is more widespread than you might think. Many call centres require a fixed smile when dealing with callers, despite the penned-in workforce being visible only to their supervisors.

• Brent A Scott, Christopher M Barnes. A multilevel field investigation of emotional labor, affect, work withdrawal, and gender, Academy of Management Journal, volume 54, number 1, February 2011

(I always had a suspicion that the fixed grin of shop workers was bad for them as well as annoying for me.)

Comments

[watervole]

I note that the study also says that the negative effect doesn't happen if the drivers focused on something positive in their lives to give them a reason for the smile.

The reason for call centre smiles is that people on the end of the phone line can tell though your voice if you're smiling or not.

(I always try and be nice to people in call centres - unless they cold-called me - it's a horrible job)

[lexin]

I know why they do it, I'm just not sure it's healthy to (as zellieh below says) not express a range of emotions. Focusing on something positive can be very hard if you're, for example, depressed.