L4: Emotions and Moods at Work
PSYC011 — Human Behavior in Organizations
Why were emotions excluded from OB study?
- Irrational, make work-emotion free.
- Disruptive to the workplace and therefore a
hindrance to productivity.
Affect, Mood, and Emotion
● Affect
- is a generic term that covers a broad range of
feelings people experience. This includes both
emotions and moods.
- is the various emotional experiences such as
emotions, moods and affective traits. This is the
emotion we express externally: can be a tone of
voice, smile, frown or any facial expression or
body movements that indicates emotion.
● Emotions
- are intense feelings that are directed at someone
or something.
- From the Latin verb “movare” means to move or
be upset or agitated. Defined by Smith (1973)
referring to variations in level of arousal, affective
state or mood, expressive movements, and
attitudes.
● Moods
- are the feelings that tend to be less intense than
emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.
As the brain releases neurotransmitters like
dopamine and oxytocin, these activates your emotions
neurologically
- Neurotransmitter
– a substance in the body that carries a signal
from 1 nerve cell to another.
- Dopamine
– a monoamine that is a decarboxylated form of
dopa and that occurs especially as a
neurotransmitter in the brain
- Oxytocin
– a pituitary octapeptide hormone that stimulates
esp. the contraction of uterine muscle and
secretion of milk
The Basic Emotions
Anger Sadness Disgust
Fear Happiness Surprise
Are feelings and emotions the same?
According to him, Dr. Antonio R. Damasio (2005)
Neurologist, feeling arises from the brain as it interprets an
emotion, which is usually caused by physical sensations
experienced by the body as a reaction to a certain external
stimulus (event). An example of this would be the emotion
of being afraid, which produces a feeling of fear.
The Basic Moods
● Positive affect
- a mood dimension consisting of positive emotions
such as excitement, enthusiasm, and
cheerfulness at the high end (high positive affect)
and boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the
low end (low positive affect).
-
● Negative affect
- a mood dimension consisting of nervousness,
stress, and anxiety at the high end (high negative
affect) and relaxation, tranquility and serenity at
the low end (low negative affect).
Functions of Emotions and Moods
● Emotions and Rationality
- emotions are critical to rational thought: they help
us understand the world around us.
● Emotions and Ethics
- new research suggests that ethical behavior may
be based to some degree on emotions and
feelings.
● Strong emotion
- the person’s physical responses including faster
heartbeat, profuse sweating and dilation of eye
pupils, higher blood pressure, and muscular
tremors affecting the nervous system in general.
Sources of Emotions and Moods
● Personality
- Some people experience certain moods and
emotions more frequently than others. Affect
intensity: experiencing the same emotions with
different intensities.
● Time of day
- People vary in their moods by time of day.
● Day of the week
- People tend to be in their best mood on the
weekend.
- Weather - No impact according to research
- Stress - Increased stress worsens moods
- Social Activities - Physical (hiking), informal
(night party), and epicurean activities (eat out with
friends) increase positive mood
- Sleep - Lack of sleep increases negative
emotions and impairs decision making
- Exercise - Mildly enhances positive mood
- Age - Older people experience negative emotions
less frequently
- Gender - Women show greater emotional
expression, experience emotions more intensely,
and display more frequent expressions of
emotions. Could be due to socialization
Employee Emotions
● Emotional labor
- an employee’s expression of organizationally
desired emotions during interpersonal
transactions at work.
● Emotional dissonance
- when an employee has to project one emotion
while simultaneously feeling another
(inconsistencies between the emotions people
feel and the emotions they project)
Felt vs. Displayed Emotions
● Felt Emotions
- The individual’s actual emotions.
● Displayed Emotions
- The learned emotions that the organization
requires workers to show and considers
appropriate in a given job.
- Surface Acting - hiding one’s true emotions.
Deals with displayed emotions.
- Deep Acting- trying to change one’s feelings
based on display rules. Deals with felt emotions
Theory of Emotions
● Affective Events Theory
- employees react emotionally to things that happen
to them at work, and this reaction influences their
job performance and satisfaction.
- provides us with valuable insights into the role
emotions play in primary organizational outcomes
of job satisfaction and job performance.
- begins by recognizing that emotions are a
response to an event in the work environment.
● Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Intelligence (otherwise known as
emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to
understand, use, and manage your own emotions
in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate
effectively, empathize with others, overcome
challenges and diffuse conflict.
- helps you build stronger relationships, succeed at
school and work, and achieve your career and
personal goals.
- have a strong sense of self-awareness,
recognizing their own emotions when
experienced. By understanding their own
emotions and those of others, they can manage
emotional cues and information to make
decisions.
- It can also help you connect with your feelings,
turn intention into action, and make informed
decisions about what matters most to you.
OB Application of Emotions and Moods
- Selection – Employers should consider EI a
factor in hiring for jobs that demand a high degree
of social interaction.
- Decision Making – Positive emotions can
increase problem-solving skills and help us
understand and analyze new information.
- Creativity – Positive moods and feedback may
increase creativity
- Motivation – Promoting positive moods may give
a more motivated workforce
- Leadership – Emotions help convey messages
more effectively
- Negotiation – Emotions may impair negotiator
performance
- Customer Service – Customers “catch” emotions
from employees, called emotional contagion
- Job Attitudes – Emotions at work get carried
home but rarely carry over to the next day
- Deviant Workplace Behaviors – Those who feel
negative emotions are more likely to engage in
deviant behavior at work
- Safety and Injury at Work – Bad moods can
contribute to injuries on the job
How Managers Can Influence Mood
- Managers can use humor and give their
employees small tokens of appreciation for work
well done.
- When leaders are in good moods, group members
are more positive, and as a result they cooperate
too.
- Selecting positive team members can have a
contagion effect as positive moods transmit from
team member to team member.
Experience, Interpretation, and Expression of
Emotions Across Culture
Emotions vary across cultures. People in most
cultures appear to experience certain positive and negative
emotions but the frequency and intensity varies in some
degrees. People from all over the world interpret negative
and positive emotions in much the same way. Though, it is
easier for people to accurately recognize emotions within
their own culture than in others. Thus, cultural factors
influence what manager’s think is emotionally appropriate.
Managers need to know the emotional norms in each
culture they do business in or they don’t send unintended
signals or misread the reactions of others.