Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living's Emotion Hack Research Project and Osaka University Conduct Survey on Emotions in the Workplace

The 'Emotion Hack Research Project' under the umbrella of the 'Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living' (hereinafter 'Hakuhodo ILL'), a specialized organization of Hakuhodo Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director & President: Kenji Nagura), in collaboration with Professor Yoko Yamada (Sociology) of Osaka University, conducted a 'Survey on the Reality of Emotions in the Workplace' targeting 661 employed men and women aged 20-59 nationwide.

In modern society, behaviors such as mindfulness, where consumers themselves try to control or efficiently manage their own emotions, are spreading. In this study, we defined this trend as 'Emotion Hack' and conducted a survey jointly by Hakuhodo ILL and Osaka University to clarify its background. Based on the concept of 'Emotional Capitalism', which is Professor Yamada's area of expertise, we quantitatively verified the reality of the dynamics of 'Capitalization of Emotions'—where companies, society, or consumers themselves try to utilize human emotions as capital with economic and cultural value. In particular, we analyzed emotions in the workplace in a way that allows comparison between urban areas (*1) and other regions (*2), and we report the main results.

*1 Urban areas: Tokyo/Kanagawa/Saitama/Chiba/Osaka/Kyoto/Hyogo/Aichi

*2 Other regions: 39 prefectures excluding the above areas

[Survey Results Summary]

Among men and women aged 20-59 nationwide, even if they harbor negative emotions in the workplace, 'controlling' those emotions is standardized (an implicit rule).

Nearly 70% want to work with 'people who are good at expressing positive emotions in the workplace'.

On the other hand, 60% of people are 'tired of expressing only positive emotions' or feel 'there is no place to vent negative emotions in the workplace'.

The thoughts 'I don't want to bring emotions in' and 'I think there are jobs that cannot be done without emotions' coexist. There is an intent not only to manage emotions but also to utilize them.

In urban areas, the tendency to utilize emotions in the workplace is stronger compared to other regions.

[Main Survey Results]

1. Among men and women aged 20-59 nationwide, even if they harbor negative emotions in the workplace, 'controlling' those emotions is standardized (an implicit rule)

Among the employed, 72.2% answered that 'controlling emotions is also part of the job' in the workplace, and 63.4% answered that 'people who are good at suppressing negative emotions and expressing positive emotions are evaluated highly'. Both exceeded 60%.

Furthermore, both results were higher in urban areas. In particular, it was found that there are more people in urban areas who feel that 'people who are good at suppressing negative emotions and expressing positive emotions are evaluated highly' (Urban areas: +6.4pt).

2. Nearly 70% want to work with 'people who are good at expressing positive emotions in the workplace'

Also, among the employed, 66% of people in both urban and other regions want to 'work with people who are good at expressing positive emotions in the workplace'. This result shows that not only do they feel the demand from the workplace that 'acting positively is evaluated highly,' but consumers themselves also want to work with people who can act positively.

3. On the other hand, 60% of people are 'tired of expressing only positive emotions' or feel 'there is no place to vent negative emotions in the workplace'

On the other hand, a majority of 58.3% of all employed people are 'honestly tired of suppressing negative emotions and expressing positive emotions in the workplace', with this being particularly high in urban areas (Urban areas: +6.8pt).

In addition, 'there is no place to vent or resolve negative emotions felt during work in the workplace' was around 56% in all regions. It suggests that while there is a need to act positively to be evaluated in the workplace, and they themselves want to work with such people, many people are required to process negative emotions on their own personal responsibility.

4. 'I don't want to bring emotions in' and 'I think there are jobs that cannot be done without emotions' coexist. There is an intent not only to suppress emotions but also to utilize them

The seemingly contradictory items, 'I don't want to bring emotions into the workplace' and 'there are jobs that cannot be done without emotions,' both resulted in a high 64%. It suggests that quite a few people fluctuate between the disadvantages of bringing emotions into work and the idea that there are jobs that can be realized by utilizing them.

Additionally, 'I don't want to bring emotions into the workplace' was higher in other regions (Other regions: +3.2pt), while 'there are jobs that cannot be done without emotions' was higher in urban areas (Urban areas: +4.0pt), indicating a slight regional difference in consciousness regarding whether they want to utilize emotions in work.

5. In urban areas, a tendency to try to utilize emotions in the workplace