"We live in a busy world: Juggling work, family, and life means our cognitive and emotional capacity is constantly stretched. Especially for those working in professions such as teaching, social work, clinical care, or even people management, emotional labor -the act of managing both our own and others' feelings and expressions as part of a professional role-requires significant psychological energy."
"Compounding this is decision fatigue, a concept described by Baumeister et al. (1998), which refers to the mental exhaustion that accumulates after making decisions all day. At the end of a long day, receiving even a welcome text from a good friend or family member requires both emotional care and decisions to be made: What tone should I use? How much should I say? Am I ready to engage in a way that's sincere? Can I emotionally be there for my friend?"
Many people experience stress and avoidance around texting, with roughly a third reporting daily texting-related stress and significant minorities struggling to keep up or ignoring messages. Cognitive and emotional overload reduces the capacity to respond, especially for those performing emotional labor in their jobs. Decision fatigue after a day of choices makes composing sincere, appropriately toned replies feel taxing. Depleted mental and emotional resources lead to delayed or avoided replies that stem from limited capacity rather than indifference. Burnout, guilt, and perceived emotional expense increase the difficulty of replying, while late responses often reflect doing one's best, not lost connection.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]