Emotional Labor Research in the Korean Public Sector: A Critical Review with Social-Structural Approaches and Case Analysis of Female Civil Servants with Children

Key Points

• The study aims to critically review emotional labor research in the Korean public sector, focusing on the social-structural context.
• Conducted qualitative research using grounded theory methodology.
• Analyzed experiences of female civil servants with children in public service.
• Explored theoretical and methodological expansions in emotional labor research.
• Identified a gendered additional burden of emotional labor among female civil servants with children.
• Revealed the reproduction of inequalities through the allocation of emotional labor tasks.
• Presented a perspective to understand emotional labor as a mechanism of social structural inequality.