Hochschild draws on the work of sociologist Erving Goffman as well as labor scholar Harry Braverman to discuss the dramaturgical demands and emotional labor entailed by jobs in the service sector, in which workers must "perform" certain roles that entail abiding by certain feeling rules (e.g. "friendly and dependable").
She notes that women are more likely to have such jobs than men, and that analysis of feeling rules may therefore be especially relevant to understanding the gendered dimensions of labor.
All human beings learn certain feeling rules, but these feeling rules may differ widely depending on the society in which one grows up and one's social position and social identity, including gender and ethnic identity and socio-economic status.
Harlow's research showed that white college students viewed their professors as "unintelligent" and "inferior" simply because of the color of their skin and not the measurement of their knowledge.
In spite of this baseless challenge to their authority, the black professor maintained their composure and adhered to the feeling rules demanded by the setting.
People of higher standings respond back by giving that individual of lower status clothes, food, and money.
Feeling rules gives people the expectancy that individuals of lower status should act in a pitiful and ashamed manner just because of their standing.
Since the individual who was angry about being in poverty broke the feeling rule of what is expected our people of lower class, little to none donations were received in their favor.
People of lower status that displayed no sense of self-pity or dissatisfaction gave people of higher status a harder time to sympathize with them thus proving that expressing shame was more effective and when anger was expressed there was little to no help being provided.
Since people generally associate males with being tough and associate females with being sweet, feeling rules makes them feel appalled when a woman behaves in a tough manner, but when a male behaves in the same way, it is seen as acceptable.
[6] A large portion of workers have jobs or careers that requires them to use their feelings, or "emotional labor" as Hochschild calls it, in the workplace.
[6] Hochschild gives a clear example on how companies maximize their profits through the use of feeling rules by viewing the job of a flight attendant.