Emotional burden in social professions and its implications – presentation of own research results against a literature review

Abstract

The article presents an overview of emotional burdens that are typical of social professions, along with their causes, protective factors, and health implications. Particular attention is given to the demands associated with social interactions occurring between those helping and those asking for help, which are expressed by interpersonal communication. The subject matter is discussed using examples from the work environment of health care workers and staff at emergency call centres. The results of own research are compared with the findings of other current studies. The introduction presents information on the sources of emotional burden experienced by health care employees, taking into account the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The requirements associated with interpersonal communication are discussed using the concept of emotional labour. In the following part, the adverse consequences of emotional labour ‒ such as occupational burnout syndrome and health problems ‒ are discussed. They are illustrated with the results of our own study. The problems identified fall within two main domains. First, relationships linking emotional labour to the levels of empathy, work engagement, and professional burnout are examined. The second issue encompasses the predictors of job burnout including the demands of the work environment, marital status, and childcare burden, as well as personal resources in the form of the levels of perceived stress, generalised self-efficacy, and active hobbies. Negative changes pertaining to the levels of helplessness, burnout, and overweight and obesity relating to work during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are also presented. The final part includes a summary and conclusions.