The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study focused on emotional labor and the potential for such labor to influence relationships between secondary teachers and their students, administrators, and influences on personal life. Three research questions investigated the perceptions of teacher workplace emotional labor and any teacher perceived influences on personal relationships, influences on interactions with administrators and influences on empathetic tendencies between teachers and students. Interviews with 13 participants from a somewhat large West Texas community were analyzed to gain an understanding of teacher influences related to experienced emotional labor. The findings suggest that all teachers have experienced emotional labor, to some extent, and that relationship influences with administrators, students and people in their personal life have been endured. Although teachers have exhibited emotional exhaustion and workplace burnout due to workplace emotional labor, they continue to strive to meet the needs of their students both emotionally and academically. Findings revealed that teachers have been uncomfortable sharing emotional experiences with people in their personal lives and with administrators but admit to a newly created awareness of students in their social realm. Based on the conclusions from the study, the researcher suggested the following recommendations and implications for practice: preparatory colleges creation of real world emotional responses within their students possibly from told stories of veteran teachers and their experiences, districts should provide ongoing, meaningful, and encouraging emotional support trainings for students which maintain and enforce the districts compassion toward it's teachers and improve interactions with students that support student learning, and for districts to provide voluntary and confidential surveys to their teachers so as to investigate the teachers' true emotional status and possibly offer teacher assistance. Additional research is recommended for a larger population of teachers, both male and female, comprised of many cultural influences to gain a more reliable validation of emotional labor and its' affects. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]