A major pan-European study has found that women face significantly higher emotional demands at work than men, with serious consequences for their mental health.
The research, led by Professor Nikolaos Antonakakis at the University of Nicosia and UNIC Athens, analysed data from nearly 44,000 workers across 35 European countries. Published in Social Science & Medicine, the study provides some of the clearest evidence to date that emotional labour is not only widespread but also deeply gendered.
Emotional labour refers to the need to manage feelings in professional settings - such as suppressing emotions, dealing with difficult clients, or handling distressing situations. The study developed a new index to measure how frequently workers encounter such demands.
Greater emotional strain
The findings show that women consistently report higher levels of emotional labour than men, even when working in the same roles. On a standardised scale, women scored 0.39 compared with 0.32 for men, a gap that persisted after accounting for occupation. Within identical jobs, women experienced emotional demands notably above those of their male colleagues, a difference researchers say can accumulate over time.
The gap was particularly pronounced among professionals and technicians, where women reported substantially greater emotional strain. By contrast, men recorded higher emotional demands in manual roles, such as plant operation and craft work, reflecting different forms of emotional suppression.
Harm to wellbeing
Crucially, the study also examined how these demands affect mental health. It found that work-related stress is the primary pathway through which emotional labour harms wellbeing. Additional analysis showed that end-of-day exhaustion also plays a significant role, suggesting that the impact stems less from the work itself and more from the strain it creates.
The research further explored whether workplace conditions could mitigate these effects. Social support from colleagues and managers emerged as the most effective protective factor, significantly weakening the link between emotional demands and poor mental health. Greater job autonomy, however, did not have the same buffering effect.
In a surprising finding, the study found that precarious employment - including temporary contracts and work in very small firms - did not intensify the mental health impact of emotional labour, although such workers generally reported lower overall wellbeing.
Supportive work environments
Professor Antonakakis said the results highlight an often-overlooked workplace inequality. He argued that emotional labour should be recognised as a measurable occupational demand rather than dismissed as a “soft skill”, and that it requires targeted policy responses.
The study calls for emotional labour to be formally recognised as a psychosocial risk within European occupational health frameworks, particularly in customer-facing sectors. It also urges organisations to address informal workplace norms that place disproportionate emotional expectations on women.
Finally, the research points to the importance of investing in supportive work environments. Measures such as peer support networks, responsive management, and recognition of emotional effort could play a key role in protecting workers’ mental health.
The findings add to growing evidence that workplace wellbeing cannot be addressed through gender-neutral policies alone, and that tackling hidden inequalities in emotional demands will be essential to improving mental health outcomes across Europe.