KEY POINTS:
A "daunting" emotional journey awaits new MPs when the 49th New Zealand Parliament sits for the first time next week, says a sociologist.
Dr Kathy Stuart, who has researched the experiences of newly-elected parliamentarians, said today that becoming an MP meant people had to develop a new "occupational identity" and learn to understand emotions differently.
"Parliament is not an ordinary workplace," she said. "There is a central tension between the persona required to do the job and the actual person."
Dr Stuart said many of the 35 new MPs would at first find the action played out in the debating chamber objectionable.
"However, many come to understand that this behaviour has its place and is an important part of the process," she said.
"They talk about really being thrown in the deep end and it's sink or swim.
"It's a different world from what they may have been doing previously and many said there wasn't always a lot of support from colleagues in dealing with the emotional aspects of the job."
MPs were also public property and defined by their new role.
"One MP spoke of the change in the way people perceived them, of how people would jump on the fact they were a Member of Parliament, over everything else they'd done," Dr Stuart said.
"They thought that was the most exhausting thing, the stress of how they were going to be perceived."
Dr Stuart identified three main ways MPs managed their emotions, and labelled them: The Game, The Performance and The Crusade.
"They'll often talk about winning, defending and the rules, using the imagery of competition, or about taking hits and the shots fired as a way to frame their world," she said.
MPs were required to be both passionate and rational - traits usually regarded as mutually exclusive.
"It's that passionate rationality which enables them to feel they are doing a good job as a parliamentarian and to retain a sense of integrity and personal authenticity."
- NZPA
