ABSTRACT
This chapter considers what enables some people to cope with the dark side of emotional labour while others cannot. Through analysis of spoken accounts of emotion at work, three key factors in the development of emotional capital are identified: exposure, experience and praxis. Drawing on Bourdieu's typology of capital, the chapter examines how an additional category that centralises the emotions might usefully inform understanding of why each people have different capacities and abilities to perform emotional labour and cope in different emotional contexts, particularly those that are dark, uncomfortable and challenging. The chapter also considers how emotional capital is accumulated through exposure, experience and praxis. Emotional capital generated through occupational praxis can become a powerful resource to be drawn upon in a personal context. The chapter serves as a wellspring of ideas and further research into the nature, methods of acquisition and consequences of emotional capital as a factor in the capacity to perform certain types of emotional labour.
