Chapter 4 Emotions and Moods Page 35

Chapter 4
Emotions and Moods
Chapter Overview

This chapter examines the effect of moods and emotions on the workplace. Humans are
emotional creatures, and to ignore this fact during work hours is inappropriate in the
study of organizational behavior. This chapter examines the causes of, and influences on,
emotion. Emotional intelligence is explored, as are the various ways emotions play out in
the work environment.

Chapter Objectives
PPT 4.3
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:

1. Differentiate between emotions and moods.

2. Discuss whether emotions are rational and what functions they serve.
3. Describe the validity of potential sources of emotions and moods.
4. Show the impact emotional labor has on employees.
5. Describe affective events theory and its applications.
6. Contrast the evidence for and against the existence of emotional intelligence.
7. Identify strategies for emotion regulation and their likely effects.
8. Apply concepts about emotions and moods to specific OB issues.

Suggested Lecture Outline

I. INTRODUCTION PPT 4.4

A. Emotions do influence behavior. Nevertheless, until recently OB has not given

much research attention to the subject.

1. Wide-standing belief that emotions of any kind were thought to be disruptive

in the work environment.

B. Certainly, some emotions, particularly when exhibited at the wrong time, can
hinder employee performance.

1. This doesn’t change the fact that employees bring their emotional sides with
them to work every day and that no study of OB would be comprehensive
without considering the role of emotions in workplace behavior.

II. WHAT ARE EMOTIONS AND MOODS?

A. Emotional Terminology: Exhibit 4-1

1. Three closely related terms must be defined before
we can explore the subject. PPT 4.5

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a. Affect: the generic term that covers a broad range of feelings that people
experience. It's an umbrella concept that encompasses both emotions and
moods.

b. Emotion: the intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.

1) Emotions are more fleeting than moods.

2) Emotions tend to be clearly revealed through facial expressions and
are often action oriented.
3) Emotions are reactions to a person (seeing a friend at work may make
you feel glad) or an event (dealing with a rude client may make you
feel angry).
4) You show your emotions when you’re “happy about something, angry
at someone, afraid of something.”

c. Moods: the feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and often
lack a contextual stimulus.

1) Longer lasting than emotions, moods are not usually directed at a

person or event.
2) Moods are more cognitive, meaning they cause us to think or brood
about a subject for a while.
3) Moods aren’t usually directed at a person or an event.

d. Emotions can turn into moods when you lose focus on the event or object
that started the feeling.

1) And, by the same token, good or bad moods can make you more
emotional in response to an event.

2) So, when a colleague criticizes how you spoke to a client, you might
show emotion (anger) toward a specific object (your colleague).

a) But as the specific emotion dissipates, you might just feel generally
dispirited.
b) You can’t attribute this feeling to any single event; you’re just not
your normal self.
c) You might then overreact to other events.

3) This affect state describes a mood. Exhibit 4-1 shows the relationships
among affect, emotions, and mood.

2. Exhibit 4-1 shows important relationships.

a. First, it shows that affect is a broad term that encompasses emotions and
moods.

b. Second, it shows differences between emotions and moods.

1) Some of these differences—those emotions are more likely to be

caused by a specific event, and emotions are more fleeting than
moods—we just discussed.

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2) Other differences are more subtle.

a) For example, unlike moods, emotions like anger and disgust tend
to be more clearly revealed by facial expressions.
b) Also, some researchers speculate that emotions may be more
action oriented—they may lead us to some immediate action—
while moods may be more cognitive, meaning they may cause us
to think or brood for a while.

c. Finally, the exhibit shows that emotions and moods are closely
connected and can influence each other.

1) Getting your dream job may generate the emotion of joy, which can
put you in a good mood for several days.
2) Similarly, if you’re in a good or bad mood, it might make you
experience a more intense positive or negative emotion than
otherwise.
3) In a bad mood, you might blow up in response to a co-worker’s
comment that would normally have generated only a mild reaction.

3. Affect, emotions, and moods are separable in theory; in practice the

distinction isn’t always crystal clear.

a. In some areas, researchers have studied mostly moods, in other areas

mainly emotions.
b. So, when we review the OB topics on emotions and moods, you may see
more information on emotions in one area and on moods in another.

B. The Basic Emotions.

PPT 4.6
1. There are dozens of emotions.

a. Include anger, contempt, enthusiasm, envy, fear, frustration,

disappointment, embarrassment, disgust, happiness, hate, hope, jealousy,
joy, love, pride, surprise, and sadness.

b. Numerous researchers have tried to limit them to a fundamental set.

1) But some argue that it makes no sense to think in terms of “basic”
emotions because even emotions we rarely experience, such as shock,
can have a powerful effect on us.

2. It’s unlikely psychologists or philosophers will ever completely agree on a set

of basic emotions, or even on whether there is such a thing.

3. Many researchers have agreed on six essentially universal emotions.

a. They include anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and surprise. Some
even plot them along a continuum: happiness—surprise—fear—
sadness—anger—disgust.

1) The closer two emotions are to each other on this continuum, the more
likely people will confuse them.
2) We sometimes mistake happiness for surprise, but rarely do we
confuse happiness and disgust.

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C. The Basic Moods: Positive and Negative Affect.

PPT 4.7
1. One way to classify emotions is whether they are
positive or negative.

a. Positive Emotions. Express a favorable evaluation or feeling, such as joy

and gratitude.
1) Positive Affect. The mood dimension consisting of positive emotions
such as excitement, self-assurance, and cheerfulness at the high end
with boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the low end.

b. Negative Emotions. Express the opposite, such as anger or guilt.

1) Negative Affect. The mood dimension consisting of nervousness,
stress, and anxiety at the high end with relaxation, tranquility, and
poise at the low end.

c. Positivity Offset. At zero input, when no

stimulus is provided, most people experience a PPT 4.8
mildly positive mood. In fact, positive moods
tend to be more common than negative ones.
1) The degree to which people experience positive and negative
emotions can vary across cultures.

D. The Function of Emotions and Moods. PPT 4.9

1. Do Emotions Make Us Irrational? How often have you heard someone say “Oh,
you’re just being emotional”? You might have been offended.

a. These observations suggest rationality and emotion are in conflict, and

that if you exhibit emotion, you are likely to act irrationally.
b. One team of authors argues that displaying emotions such as sadness to
the point of crying is so toxic to a career that we should leave the room
rather than allow others to witness it.

c. These perspectives suggest the demonstration or even experience of

emotions can make us seem weak, brittle, or irrational.
d. However, research is increasingly showing that emotions are critical to
rational thinking. There has been evidence of such a link for a long time.

2. We must have the ability to experience emotions to be rational.

a. Our emotions provide important information about how we understand

the world around us.
b. The key to good decision making is to employ both thinking and feeling in
our decisions.
c. Do Emotions Make Us Ethical? People who are behaving ethically are at
least partially making decisions based upon their emotions and feelings.

E. Sources of Emotions and Moods.

PPT 4.10
1. Personality. Moods and emotions have a trait
component: most people have built-in tendencies to experience certain moods
and emotions more frequently than others do.

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a. People also experience the same emotions with different intensities.

b. People also differ in affect intensity, or how strongly they experience
their emotions.
c. Affectively intense people experience both positive and negative emotions
more deeply: when they’re sad, they’re sad, and when they’re happy,
they’re happy.
PPT 4.11
2. Day of the Week and Time of the Day. Mood and
emotion can be affected by the timing of the
stimulus. Exhibit 4-2

a. Time. (See Exhibit 4-2) While we commonly

think of “morning” or “evening” people, most of the population tends to
exhibit a similar pattern: moods start out low in the morning, peak during
the day, and then decline in the evening.

1) No matter what time a person goes to bed or gets up in the morning,

the peak of a positive mood effect typically occurs midway between
waking and sleeping times.
2) Negative affect, however, shows little fluctuation throughout the day.

b. Day. People tend to be in their worst moods PPT 4.12

(highest negative affect and lowest positive
affect) early in the week and in their best
moods later in the week. Exhibit 4-3

1) This trend appears to be true in several other cultures as well (see

Exhibit 4-3).

3. Weather. When do you think you would be in a

better mood—when it’s 70 degrees and sunny or PPT 4.13
on a gloomy, cold, rainy day?

a. Many people believe their mood is tied to the weather. However, a large
and detailed body of evidence conducted by multiple researchers suggests
weather has little effect on mood.
b. Illusory correlation explains why people tend to think nice weather
improves their mood. It occurs when people associate two events that in
reality have no connection.

4. Stress. As you might imagine, stressful daily events at work (a nasty e-mail,
an impending deadline, the loss of a big sale, a reprimand from the boss)
negatively affect moods.

a. The effects of stress also build over time. As the authors of one study note,
“a constant diet of even low-level stressful events has the potential to
cause workers to experience gradually increasing levels of strain over
time.”
b. Mounting levels of stress can worsen our moods, and we experience more
negative emotions.
c. Although sometimes we thrive on stress, most of us, like this blogger, find
stress takes a toll on our mood.

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5. Social Activities. Social activities can have a dramatic effect on mood and
longevity.

a. People in good moods tend to seek out social activities and interacting
socially tends to cause people to be in good moods.
b. The type of social activity also has an impact on mood.
c. Physical, informal, and epicurean activities tend to increase mood more
than formal or sedentary events.

6. Sleep. Sleep does affect mood.

a. Sleep-deprived people report greater feelings of fatigue, anger, and

hostility.
b. Lack of sleep also impairs decision making, makes it difficult to control
emotions, and can affect job satisfaction the next day.

7. Exercise. Research has shown that exercise does

enhance people's positive mood. PPT 4.14

a. This effect is strongest in people who are depressed.

b. However, while consistent, the effect of exercise on mood is not very
strong.

8. Age. Negative emotions tend to occur less often as people get older.

a. Positive moods last longer for older individuals and bad moods tend to
fade more quickly.
b. This may be due to the increased emotional experience given by age.

9. Sex. Many believe women are more emotional than men. Is there any truth to
this?

a. Evidence does confirm women are more emotionally expressive than

men; they experience emotions more intensely, they tend to “hold onto”
emotions longer than men, and they display more frequent expressions of
both positive and negative emotions, except anger.
b. Thus, there are some gender differences in the experience and expression
of emotions.
c. These gender differences may be caused more by socialization than by
innate generic abilities.

III. EMOTIONAL LABOR PPT 4.15

A. Jobs require emotional labor, an employee’s expression of organizationally

desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work.

1. The concept of emotional labor emerged from studies of service jobs.

2. But emotional labor is relevant to almost every job.
3. The true challenge arises when employees must project one emotion while
feeling another.

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B. This disparity is emotional dissonance, and it can take a heavy toll.

1. Bottled-up feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment can eventually lead

to emotional exhaustion and burnout. It’s from the increasing importance of
emotional labor as a key component of effective job performance that we have
come to understand the relevance of emotion within the field of OB.

C. It can help you, on the job especially, if you separate

emotions into felt or displayed emotions. PPT 4.16

1. Felt emotions are an individual’s actual emotions.

2. In contrast, displayed emotions are those that the organization requires

workers to show and considers appropriate in each job.

a. They’re not innate; they’re learned.

b. Effective managers have learned to be serious when giving an employee a
negative performance evaluation and to hide their anger when they’ve
been passed over for promotion.

1) A salesperson who hasn’t learned to smile and appear friendly, despite

his or her true feelings now, typically won’t last long in the job.
2) How we experience an emotion isn’t always the same as how we show
it.

3. Displaying fake emotions requires us to suppress real ones.

a. Surface acting is hiding feelings and forgoing emotional expressions in

response to display rules.

1) A worker who smiles at a customer even when he doesn’t feel like it is

surface acting.
2) Surface acting deals with displayed emotions, and deep acting deals
with felt emotions.
3) Research shows surface acting is more stressful to employees because
it entails feigning their true emotions.

b. Deep acting is trying to modify our true feelings based on display rules.

1) A health care provider trying to genuinely feel more empathy for her
patients is deep acting.
2) Displaying emotions, we don’t really feel is exhausting, so it is
important to give employees who engage in surface displays a chance
to relax and recharge.
PPT 4.17
IV. AFFECTIVE EVENTS THEORY

A. We’ve seen that emotions and moods are important parts of our personal lives
and our work lives. But how do they influence our job performance and
satisfaction?

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B. A model called affective events theory (AET) demonstrates that employees

react emotionally to things that happen to them at work, and this reaction
influences their job performance and satisfaction (see Exhibit 4-4).

1. The theory begins by recognizing that emotions are PPT 4.18

a response to an event in the work environment.
2. Work events trigger positive or negative emotional
Exhibit 4-4
reactions, to which employees’ personalities and
moods predispose them to respond with greater or
lesser intensity.
3. AET provides us with valuable insights into the role emotions play in primary
organizational outcomes of job satisfaction and job performance. Employees
and managers therefore shouldn’t ignore emotions or the events that cause
them.

V. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
PPT 4.19
A. Introduction

1. People who know their own emotions and are good at reading others' emotions may
be more effective in their jobs. The concept of EI is controversial in OB.
2. Emotional Intelligence (EI): a person’s ability to
(1) perceive emotions in the self and others, (2) PPT 4.20
understand the meaning of these emotions, and (3)
regulate one’s emotions accordingly in a cascading
model (Exhibit 4-5). Self-aware people tend to be Exhibit 4-5
good at reading emotion cues. High EI is
moderately associated with high job performance.

B. The Case for EI. Supporters of the concept of EI

present the following arguments. PPT 4.21

1. Intuitive Appeal. It seems apparent that it would be a positive thing to have

street smarts and social intelligence. The ability to detect emotions in others,
controlling your own emotions, and handling social interactions well seems
obvious to business success.
2. EI Predicts Criteria That Matter. Research evidence is increasing that high EI
is positively correlated to job performance.
3. EI Is Biologically Based. When people are physically unable to process
emotions, they score significantly lower on EI tests, which suggests that EI is
neurologically based and is unrelated to standard measures of intelligence.

C. The Case against EI. Detractors of EI present these arguments.

1. EI Researchers Do Not Agree on Definitions. The research definition of EI is

too broad and varied to be helpful.
2. EI Can't Be Measured. As a form of intelligence, EI should be able to be
measured on tests. But most EI testing instruments are self-reporting surveys
in which there are no verifiable answers.
3. EI Is Nothing but Personality with a Different Label. Some argue that because
EI is so closely related to intelligence and personality, once these factors are
controlled for, EI has nothing unique to offer. EI does appear to be highly
correlated with measures of personality, especially emotional stability.

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D. Emotion Regulation: identifying and modifying the

emotions you feel. PPT 4.22

1. Emotions can be changed using strategies like

suppressing negative thoughts, distraction, or engaging in relation
techniques.
2. However, the effort to change emotions can be exhausting, and could result in
a stronger emotion.

VI. OB APPLICATIONS OF EMOTIONS AND MOODS PPT 4.23

A. Introduction. It is important for managers to understand emotions and moods so

they can improve their ability to explain and predict several OB applications.
B. Selection. Employers should consider EI as a factor in the hiring process,
especially in jobs that demand a high degree of social interaction.
C. Decision Making. OB researchers are increasingly finding that moods and
emotions have important effects on decision making.

1. People in good moods or experiencing positive emotions are more likely to

use heuristics, or rules of thumb, to help them make good decisions quickly.
2. Despite some evidence to the contrary, people experiencing bad moods or
negative emotions are more likely to take a significant amount of time to
decide and may not come up with a better solution than would people in good
moods.

D. Creativity. People in good moods tend to be more creative than people in bad
moods.

1. They produce more ideas and more options, and others think their ideas are
original. It seems people experiencing positive moods or emotions are more
flexible and open in their thinking, which may explain why they’re more
creative.
2. Supervisors should actively try to keep employees happy because doing so
creates more good moods (employees like their leaders to encourage them
and provide positive feedback on a job well done), which in turn leads people
to be more creative.
3. Some researchers, however, do not believe a positive mood makes people
more creative.

a. They argue that when people are in positive moods, they may relax (“If I’m
in a good mood, things must be going okay, and I must not need to think
of new ideas”) and not engage in the critical thinking necessary for some
forms of creativity.
b. The answer may lie in thinking of moods somewhat differently.

1) Rather than looking at positive or negative affect, it’s possible to

conceptualize moods as active feelings like anger, fear, or elation, and
contrast these with deactivating moods like sorrow, depression, or
serenity.
2) All the activating moods, whether positive or negative, seem to lead to
more creativity, whereas deactivating moods lead to less.

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E. Motivation. Several studies have highlighted the

importance of moods and emotions on motivation. PPT 4.24

1. One study set two groups of people to solving word puzzles.

a. The first group saw a funny video clip, intended to put the subjects in a
good mood first.
b. The other group was not shown the clip and started working on the
puzzles right away.
c. The positive-mood group reported higher expectations of being able to
solve the puzzles, worked harder at them, and solved more puzzles as a
result.

2. The second study found that giving people performance feedback—whether

real or fake—influenced their mood, which then influenced their motivation.

a. So, a cycle can exist in which positive moods cause people to be more
creative, which leads to positive feedback from those observing their
work.
b. This positive feedback further reinforces their positive mood, which may
make them perform even better, and so on.

3. Another study looked at the moods of insurance sales agents in Taiwan.

a. Agents in a good mood were more helpful toward their co-workers and
felt better about themselves.
b. These factors in turn led to superior performance in the form of higher
sales and better supervisor reports of performance.

F. Leadership.

1. Effective leaders rely on emotional appeals to help convey their messages.

a. In fact, the expression of emotions in speeches is often the critical element

that makes us accept or reject a leader’s message.
b. Politicians, as a case in point, have learned to show enthusiasm when
talking about their chances of winning an election, even when polls
suggest otherwise.

2. Corporate executives know emotional content is critical if employees are to

buy into their vision of the company’s future and accept change.

a. When higher-ups offer new visions, especially with vague or distant goals,
it is often difficult for employees to accept the changes they’ll bring.
b. By arousing emotions and linking them to an appealing vision, leaders
increase the likelihood that managers and employees alike will accept
change.
c. Leaders who focus on inspirational goals also generate greater optimism
and enthusiasm in employees, leading to more positive social interactions
with co-workers and customers.

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G. Negotiation.

1. Negotiation is an emotional process; however, we often say a skilled

negotiator has a “poker face.”
a. Several studies have shown that a negotiator who feigns anger has an
advantage over the opponent.
b. When a negotiator shows anger, the opponent concludes the negotiator
has conceded all she can and so gives in.
c. Anger should be used selectively in negotiation: angry negotiators who
have less information or less power than their opponents have
significantly worse outcomes.
d. It appears that a powerful, better-informed individual will be less willing
to share information or meet an angry opponent halfway.

2. Displaying a negative emotion (such as anger) can be effective but feeling bad about
your performance appears to impair future negotiations. Individuals who do poorly
in a negotiation experience negative emotion, develop negative perceptions of their
counterpart, and are less willing to share information or be cooperative in future
negotiations.
3. Interestingly, then, while moods and emotions have benefits at work, in
negotiation—unless we’re putting up a false front like feigning anger—
emotions may impair negotiator performance.

H. Customer Service.

1. A worker’s emotional state influences customer service, which influences

levels of repeat business and of customer satisfaction.
2. Providing quality customer service makes demands on employees because it
often puts them in a state of emotional dissonance.
3. Over time, this state can lead to job burnout, declines in job performance, and
lower job satisfaction.
4. Employees’ emotions can transfer to the customer.
5. Studies indicate a matching effect between employee and customer emotions
called emotional contagion—the “catching” of emotions from others.

a. Emotional contagion is important because customers who catch the

positive moods or emotions of employees shop longer.
b. When an employee feels unfairly treated by a customer, for example, it’s
harder for him to display the positive emotions his organization expects
of him.

I. Job Attitudes. Ever hear the advice “Never take your

work home with you,” meaning you should forget about PPT 4.25
work once you go home?

1. Several studies have shown people who had a good day at work tend to be in a better
mood at home that evening, and vice versa.
2. People who have a stressful day at work also have trouble relaxing after they get off
work.
3. As most married readers might suspect, if one member of the couple was in a negative
mood during the workday, that mood spilled over to the spouse at night.
4. In other words, if you’ve had a bad day at work, your spouse is likely to have an
unpleasant evening. Even though people do emotionally take their work home with
them, however, by the next day the effect is usually gone.

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J. Deviant Workplace Behaviors.

1. Anyone who has spent much time in an organization realizes people often
behave in ways that violate established norms and threaten the organization,
its members, or both.

a. As we saw in Chapter 1, these actions are called workplace deviant

behaviors.

1) Many can be traced to negative emotions.

2) For instance, envy is an emotion that occurs when you resent someone
for having something you don’t have but strongly desire—such as a
better work assignment, larger office, or higher salary. It can lead to
malicious deviant behaviors.
3) An envious employee could backstab another employee, negatively
distort others’ successes, and positively distort his own
accomplishments.
4) Angry people look for other people to blame for their bad mood,
interpret other people’s behavior as hostile, and have trouble
considering others’ point of view.

b. Evidence suggests people who feel negative emotions, particularly anger

or hostility, are more likely than others to engage in deviant behavior at
work.

1) Once aggression starts, it’s likely that other people will become angry
and aggressive, so the stage is set for a serious escalation of negative
behavior.

K. Safety and Injury at Work.

1. Bad moods can contribute to injury at work in several ways.

a. Individuals in negative moods tend to be more anxious, which can make

them less able to cope effectively with hazards.
b. A person who is always scared will be more pessimistic about the
effectiveness of safety precautions because she feels she’ll just get hurt
anyway, or she might panic or freeze up when confronted with a
threatening situation.
c. Negative moods also make people more distractible, and distractions can
obviously lead to careless behaviors.

VII. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS PPT 4.26

A. Emotions and moods are relevant for virtually every OB topic.

1. Recognize that emotions are a natural part of the workplace and good management
does not mean creating an emotion-free environment.
2. To foster creative decision making, creativity, and motivation in employees, model
positive emotions and moods as much as is authentically possible.
3. In the service sector, encourage positive displays of emotion, which make customers
feel more positive and thus improve customer service interactions and negotiations.
4. Managers who understand the role of emotions and moods will significantly improve
their ability to explain and predict their coworkers’ and employees’ behavior.

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B. Summary
PPT 4.27
1. Differentiated between emotions and moods.
2. Discussed whether emotions are rational and what functions they serve.
3. Described the validity of potential sources of emotions and moods.
4. Showed the impact emotional labor has on employees.
5. Described affective events theory and its applications.
6. Contrasted the evidence for and against the existence of emotional intelligence.
7. Identified strategies for emotion regulation and their likely effects.
8. Applied concepts about emotions and moods to specific OB issues.

Discussion Questions

1. Describe the three major emotional terms. How are they related and how do they differ?
Answer: (1) Affect: the generic term that covers a broad range of feelings that people experience.
It's an umbrella concept that encompasses both emotions and moods. (2) Emotion: the intense
feelings that are directed at someone or something. Emotions are more fleeting than moods.
Emotions tend to be clearly revealed through facial expressions and are often action oriented. (3)
Moods: the feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and often lack a contextual stimulus.
Longer lasting than emotions, moods are not usually directed at a person or event. Moods are more
hidden and cognitive, meaning they cause us to think or brood about a subject for a while.
Moods and emotions are related to each other and exhibit a mutual influence. An emotion, once it
dissipates, can turn into a mood. Moods can affect the intensity of an emotional experience; that is,
the degree to which an emotion is expressed in each situation. The distinction between moods and
emotions is often difficult to make.

2. List the basic emotions along a continuum. What are the difficulties of using this continuum?
Answer: The continuum is happiness—surprise—fear—sadness—anger—disgust. Emotions that
are close to each other on the continuum are difficult to distinguish, culture influences
interpretation, and some universal emotions (such as surprise) do not neatly fit into the positive
and negative continuum.

3. Of the eight sources of emotions and moods identified in your text, which do you feel is the most
critical and why? Answer: Answers will vary, but one of the following sources must be identified:
day/time, weather, stress, social activities, sleep, exercise, age, or gender.

4. What are the sources of stress and emotional labor for employees?
Answer: Emotional dissonance: a situation in which employees have to project an emotion, while
simultaneously feeling another. This dissonance between felt and displayed emotions can take a
heavy toll on employees, resulting in emotional exhaustion and burnout. Surface acting (the hiding
of one's feelings and foregoing emotional expressions based on display rules) especially tends to be
very stressful for employees.

5. How valid do you consider the concept of emotional intelligence to be? Rationalize your answer.
Answer: Answers will vary but should align with the major arguments presented in the textbook.

6. Consider the impact of emotions on customer service. What is the effect of emotions and moods on
customer satisfaction, and how does the concept of emotional contagion enter this?
Answer: A worker's emotional state influences customer service, which influences levels of repeat
business and customer satisfaction. Service situations may put employees in the state of emotional
dissonance, which can prove stressful, leading to burnout and higher turnover.
Additionally, the employee’s emotions may be transferred to the customer through “emotional
contagion.” This may be a positive thing, as when customer service contact personnel are expressing
positive moods, which are reflected in their customers. When personnel are exhibiting negative
emotions, the opposite is true. So, employee bad moods cause customer bad moods, which cause a
lack of repeat business due to lowered customer satisfaction.

7. Are emotions universal? Why or why not? Give examples in your answer.
Answer: While emotions themselves may be universal, the expression and interpretation of them
are culturally bound. Managers must be aware of local cultural norms of expression and
interpretation in order to avoid sending the wrong signals to locals or misinterpreting their
responses. The examples will vary.

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Chapter 4 Emotions and Moods Page 48

Exercises

1. Self-analysis. Using the three components of Emotional Intelligence, rate yourself on your ability to
successfully interact with others. Choose your weakest area and provide three suggestions for
improving that dimension of EI.
2. Web Crawling. Using your favorite search engine, search on the term "emotions in the workplace"
and find five webpages related to this chapter. Read the webpages and write up a two-page analysis
of what you learned regarding the proper expression of emotions and moods in the workplace.
Ensure you note if the webpages conflicted with the guidance given in the textbook or agreed with
it. Exceptional students will seek out cultural differences as well.
3. Teamwork. As a small group, search for articles and webpages on workplace violence and emotion
(try a search term of “going postal workplace”). Discuss the commonalities of the cases and
examples. Try to determine what sorts of behaviors and emotions were evidenced before the
deviant behavior, without falling into the perceptual distortion of hindsight. Be prepared to present
your findings in the class.
4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). What is the prevalent mood of your workplace?
Spend a week carefully observing three employees at your place of work. Attempt to assess their
moods and the impact these moods have on behavior throughout the day. How well did their initial
mood predict their behaviors later in the day? What could you have done, if you were the manager,
to change these moods and behaviors in a positive way?

Suggested Assignment

EI Debate. For this activity, divide the class into two equal groups: one of which will be for the concept
of Emotional Intelligence, while the other group will be against it. Select two students who will be the
spokesperson for each half. Either select three students to act as a panel of judges or bring in three
outside individuals to act as neutral judges. The instructor will act as the debate moderator.
• The purpose of this debate is to explore the ramifications of mood and emotion in the workplace as
expressed in the concept of emotional intelligence.

Setup.
a. Each half of the class has 30 minutes to prepare their initial points regarding their position.
The instructor may choose to give the pro and con positions to either half of the class or
the instructor may let the class decide which position each half takes.
b. The proposition before the floor is "Should Emotional Intelligence, as a concept, be
removed from the study of organizational behavior?"
c. The spokespeople should be prepared to present their five-minute arguments regarding
their position on the proposition.
d. The moderator should explain the rules in front of the class to the judges: the judges are to
make their final decision based solely on the arguments presented during the session and
the strength of those arguments.
e. The moderator will keep time during each presentation and will stop the spokesperson
when time is up. Pro position should start first. Each side will be allowed to give their
arguments without interruption. Notes and written suggestions may be passed from the
group to the spokesperson.
f. For the rebuttal, there are several options:

i. Allow a second person from each side to rebut the arguments first given by the
other side. Length of rebuttal should be two minutes.
ii. Keep the same spokespersons and still limit the rebuttal to two minutes, or
iii. Open the rebuttal to the two large groups: to do this effectively, allow five
questions per side. Moderator selects questions by recognizing one of the
members of a large group. A volunteer from the opposing group is allowed to
answer the question. The volunteer may be aided verbally or with notes by his
or her group.

Allow the con party to ask the first question, and then the pro party to ask their first
question after they've responded. Rotate the questions, side by side, until all 10 have
been answered.

g. At the conclusion of the rebuttal, have the judges award the debate to the appropriate side.
Have the judges explain why that side won the debate by recapping the strengths and
weaknesses of the arguments on both sides.

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