Maintaining norms about expressed emotions: the case of bill collectors.
A qualitative study of a bill-collection organization was undertaken to identify norms about the emotions that collectors are expected to convey to debtors and the means used by the organization to maintain such norms given that collectors' expressed emotions are simultaneously influenced by their i...
| Published in: | Administrative Science Quarterly Vol. 36; pp. 245 - 269 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Administrative Science Quarterly
June 1991
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | A qualitative study of a bill-collection organization was undertaken to identify norms about the emotions that collectors are expected to convey to debtors and the means used by the organization to maintain such norms given that collectors' expressed emotions are simultaneously influenced by their inner feelings. The study was conducted through site visits and telephone conversations with employees at a collection facility that specializes in procuring overdue credit card payments. The data show that collectors are selected, socialized, and rewarded for following the general norm of conveying urgency to debtors. Collectors are also socialized and rewarded to adjust their expressed emotions in response to variations in debtor demeanor. These contingent norms sometimes conflict with collectors' feelings toward debtors. Collectors are taught to cope with such problems by using certain cognitive appraisals and by releasing unpleasant feelings unbeknownst to debtors. |
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