Navigating Emotional Labor and Social Exchange in Hospitality: A Comparative Study of Food and Beverage Workers in Tel Aviv and New Orleans During COVID-19

Noa Lavie () and Vicki Mayer
Additional contact information
Noa Lavie: School of Government and Society, The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Yaffo 6818211, Israel
Vicki Mayer: School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional management and social exchanges in the hospitality industry, focusing on food and beverage workers in Tel Aviv and New Orleans. Through 66 in-depth interviews conducted between 2021 and 2022, we explore how workers navigated altered social dynamics, heightened emotional labor, and moral dilemmas. Our analysis, grounded in Social Exchange Theory, dramaturgical theory, and the sociology of emotions, reveals three key themes: social and emotional distancing, crisis-driven emotional management, and the reconceptualization of hospitality between altruism and pragmatism. Despite different cultural contexts, workers in both cities faced similar challenges, highlighting the globalized nature of the industry. The pandemic disrupted traditional reciprocal exchanges, forcing a reevaluation of hospitality practices. Finally, this study stresses how emotional and moral dilemmas became central to social exchanges during the pandemic.

Keywords: emotional labor; social exchange theory; hospitality workers; COVID-19; Tel Aviv-Jaffa; New-Orleans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/143/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/143/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:3:p:143-:d:1600371

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().