The Emotional Labour of College Student Activism: An Interview-Based Study.

This article examines the emotional dimensions of college student activism, focusing on how emotions drive engagement, contribute to burnout, and shape coping strategies among 67 student activists in the mid-Atlantic United States. Building on Hochschild’s theory of emotional labour—which involves managing emotions to meet social expectations—the study reveals that personal experiences and morally charged emotions such as anger, frustration, and hope motivate activism, while institutional barriers often exacerbate emotional exhaustion. Participants employed both individual self-care and collective community support to manage the emotional toll of activism, highlighting the dual role of activist communities as sources of resilience and potential strain. The findings underscore the need for higher education institutions to recognize and support the complex emotional labour of student activists to sustain their well-being and the broader social movements they advance.