In hierarchically ordered settings, such as the workplace, individuals who are at the top

In hierarchically ordered settings, such as the workplace, individuals who are at the top (e.g., doctors, owners, customers) tend to have their expectations met more often than those at the bottom (e.g., nurses, secretaries, face-to-face services workers, and customer service).

Thus, individuals occupying higher-status positions are more likely to experience positive emotions than their lower-status counterparts.

This is because of the norms and expectations that tend to protect higher status individuals from the displaced negative emotions of others.

Moreover, higher status individuals are often sheltered from the expectations and demands of engaging in emotional labor.

For example, franchise owners have stronger status shields than sales employees; thus, they have more freedom to express negative emotions.

Franchise owners also have the ability to demand emotional labor – often in the form of groveling, flattery, cheerleading, and even caretaking, with little or no expectation to reciprocate.

Although franchise owners are expected to act in a professional manner in their interactions with clients, they are seldom called upon to do the more strenuous type of emotional labor, such as stifling anger or irritation, that is routinely demanded from managers and sales employees.

Question:

Consider a situation in which you were in a lower status position than others in a group (e.g., in the workplace, on a sports team, in a social club, in a volunteer organization, etc.). Describe the situation, your position, how those of higher status than you had more freedom to freely express their emotions, as well as the extent of emotional labor you had to exert compared to those of a higher status. Additionally, were there situations when you had to stifle negative emotions as a result of your st