Managing the Emotions of Competition and Recognition in Academia

Abstract

In the sociology of science, social relations have been discussed in terms of competition and recognition. The purpose of this chapter is to enlarge our understanding of the social relations of Academia by incorporating the emotional dimensions of these relations into our discussion. To this purpose the results of an empirical study of emotions and emotional culture in Academia is presented. These results are based on analytical distinctions between the structural conditions of emotions, the emotional culture of Academia, lived or felt emotions and the management of emotions. Within this analytical framework different ways of managing the emotions of uncertainty, shame, anger and pride are identified and presented. It is shown how these feelings emerged from the structural conditions of the social relations and it is shown how persons try to manage the mentioned emotions according to the tacit rules of feelings of Academia. The study shows how these emotions are managed according to the representative feelings of Academia. It is also shown, however, how these emotions and their management relate to damaged social bonds. These unintended consequences of the emotions and the emotional culture of Academia are interpreted as emotional fuel to the prevalent basic moods of academic departments and their research environment.