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PROJECT: RESEARCH on EMOTIONS & MOODS

Group members: Khadija Tariq, Mahnoor Niaz, Bismah Nazir

Reg no: 788 ,765, 795
Submitted to: Dr. Fauzia
Date: 29 May 2023
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TABLE of CONTENTS

Pg no.
Abstract 1
What are emotions and moods? 2
Research review 5
2.1 Economic stress in the workplace 5
2.2 FEAR OF DEPORTATION 5
2.3 FEAR AMONG AIRLINE 6
6
2.3 FUTURE VIOLENCE
2.3.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:
2.3.1.1 WITH IN-PERSON RELATIONSHIP
2.4 FEAR EXPERIENCED 8
2.4.1 FEAR IN THE WORKPLACE
2.4.1.1 FEAR of REPRISAL
2.4.1.2 FEAR OF FAILURE
2.4.1.4 FEAR of CHANGE

Theories 10

Future Research 11
Measurement 12
References 12
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ABSTRACT

The workplace elicits a wide range of emotions and, likewise, emotions change our
experience of the workplace. This article reviews the scientific field of emotion in
organizations, drawing from classic theories and cutting-edge advances to integrate a
disparate body of research. The review is organized around the definition of emotion as an
unfolding sequence of processes: We interpret the world around us for its subjective
meaning, which results in emotional experience. Emotional experience, in turn, has
consequences for behaviors, attitudes, and cognition. Emotional experience also elicits
expressive cues that can be recognized by others. Each process in the emotion sequence
can be regulated. Processes can also iterate until emotion is shared throughout
workgroups and even entire organizations. A distinct body of organizationally relevant
research exists for each process, and emotional intelligence refers to effectiveness across
all. Differences across culture and gender, future research directions, and practical
implications are discussed.

Fear is a problem of people and its existence in the workplace could cause a lot of
damage to the organisation because of failure to acknowledge its presence. This study
seeks to determine the types of fear experienced by workers or prevalent in public and
private Nigerian work environments. The results showed that: there are different types of
fear prevalent in the workplace and the most common types are fear of failure, fear of
having disagreements that might lead to damaged relationships and fear of not meeting
one’s expected targets; Evidence from study revealed that fear exists in the workplace and
the types of fear prevalent in the workplace are different in the public and private sector
organisations. In view of our findings, we recommend that organisations can deploy the
use of trust, shared vision, effective leadership and delegation of authority to reduce fear
and to create win-win dynamics throughout the organisation.
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1- INTRODUCTION
Before we can proceed with our analysis, we need to clarify three terms that are
closely intertwined: affect, emotions, and moods. Affect is a generic term that covers a
broad range of feelings that people experience. It’s an umbrella concept that encompasses
both emotions and moods.
What are emotions and moods?
Emotions are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something. Moods are
feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that often (though not always) lack a
contextual stimulus. Most experts believe that emotions are more fleeting than moods. For
example, if someone is rude to you, you’ll feel angry. That intense feeling of anger probably
comes and goes quickly, maybe even in a matter of seconds. When you’re in a bad mood,
though, you can feel bad for several hours. Emotions are reactions to a person (seeing a
friend at work may make you feel glad) or event (dealing with a rude client may make you
feel angry). You show your emotions when you’re “happy about something, angry at
someone, afraid of something.”
Moods, in contrast, aren’t usually directed at a person or event. But emotions can turn into
moods when you lose focus on the event or object that started the feeling. And, by the
same token, good or bad moods can make you more emotional in response to an event. So,
when a colleague criticizes how you spoke to a client, you might become angry at him. That
is, you show emotion (anger) toward a specific object (your colleague). But as the specific
emotion dissipates, you might just feel generally dispirited. You can’t attribute this feeling to
any single event; you’re just not your normal self. You might then overreact to other events.
This affect state describes a mood.
EMOTIONS IN AN ORGANIZATION

The workplace is emotional. Conventional wisdom suggests we should distinguish

personal lives from professional lives, and yet our full humanity inhabits us even as we
open the office door (or Zoom window). Given that emotions are central to the human
experience and that full-time employees spend about one-third of their waking hours at
work, work and emotion naturally intertwine. Scientists have studied this topic for nearly
a century—for example, in the 1930s exploring productivity under positive versus negative
mood—with attention waxing and waning over the decades (Ashkanasy & Dorris 2017).
This article reviews and integrates what we know and do not know about emotion in the
workplace, drawing from classic theories and modern advances, and discusses how the
science can move forward. Although some might argue that the best way to handle
emotion in the workplace is not to have any, this review emphasizes how emotions
facilitate functional behaviors to navigate environmental demands.
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Psychologists define emotion as an adaptive response to demands from the environment, which
directs our attention to the most pressing concerns and prepares us to act (Scherer & Moors 2019).
The term “mood” indicates a longer and more diffuse experience than emotion, typically without
awareness of what elicited it. Affect is a general term encompassing both emotion and mood
(Ashkanasy & Dorris 2017). Emotions are meant to move us: Feeling states can bring out action
tendencies, or behaviors that attempt to address the pressing concerns that first elicited the
emotion. Together with behaviors, post-emotional responses also include attitudes and cognitions
influenced by feeling states. Emotions also communicate: Outward expressive cues become stimuli
for others to recognize.

➢ This research paper emphasizes on emotion _ FEAR

In every organization, individual members have the potential to speak up about important
issues, but a growing body of research suggests that they often remain silent instead, out of
fear of negative personal and professional consequences. This paper aims to understand
workplace violence by exploring if fluctuating fear of violence relates to burnout levels,
using a diary design. Additionally, the study examines if this connection is more notable for
those lacking job control. Psychological violence moderates fear of future violence and
burnout.

2- RESEARCH REVIEW
In this section I highlight research specific to fear faced at workplace settings and are
multidimensional.

2.1 Economic stress in the workplace

Since 2008, a global financial crisis triggered by the US has led to increased job loss and
difficulty finding new employment due to rising unemployment rates. Studies indicate that
crisis and recession lead to higher mortality and suicide rates and mental health issues
resulting from wage reductions and unemployment, leading to increased use of mental
health services. Financial security is crucial for mental and physical well-being but can lead
to negative consequences like depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Uncertainty in the
workplace and changes to work may also contribute to mental health issues. During tough
times, companies may prioritize survival over a healthy work environment

The study found that poor social support and job stress mediate the relationship between
fear of crisis and health. Social support and job stress completely mediate the relationship
between fear of crisis and health, with statistically significant path coefficients (p < 0).Poor
social support at work can lead to job stress, which in turn can cause mental health
problems. Fear during crises reduces social support and increases stress among employees
who feel unsupported and less proud of their work. It is identified that certain departments
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and employee categories, such as women, full-time workers, and temps, as vulnerable to
crisis-related fear. The crisis may cause more fear for vulnerable workers like women and
temporary employees in Italy. Companies should positively address the crisis to maintain
social support for employees.

2.2 FEAR OF DEPORTATION

Participants who report higher fear of deportation were more likely to have trouble finding
and keeping a job, being asked for immigration papers, friends and family suffering, and
have lower confidence in police and court treatment, and their future.
Deportation fear is linked to harmful social and mental health effects. Undocumented
immigrants face health risks and exploitation due to deportation fears and workplace raids.
They are less likely to report abuses from employers. Employers exploit undocumented
immigrants' fear of deportation for longer work hours and less or no pay. Undocumented
people face more sexual harassment and immigrants may not report crimes for fear of
deportation. Fear of deportation puts immigrants at higher risk of partner abuse. Studies in
2014 found that Latinas are less likely to report violent crimes if they fear deportation of
themselves or their partner. Based on existing research, it was expected that foreign-born
with higher deportation fears would have trouble finding and keeping jobs, as well as
negative impacts on their families and friends. Additionally, they would have less faith in fair
treatment from police and the courts and feel less confident about their family and
children's future.

2.3 FEAR AMONG AIRLINE

Fear in the workplace among airline and higher education human service workers. It
highlights fear's diverse meanings, expressions, and effects. The findings demonstrate fear's
potential to facilitate positive outcomes when expressed openly, challenging simplistic
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emotions assessments. Organizational norms for emotional expression can hinder both
positive and negative results. Allowing more emotional expression at work can boost
employee well-being and enhance organizational effectiveness
Fear can be appeared in three forms:
As a vehicle to alert workers to physical danger, such as violations of safety regulations or
other threats to their lives; as a response to social and economic threats, such as job loss,
and loss of social identity; and as a response to personal threats, such as fear of appearing
incompetent or unprofessional.
The emotion of fear is integral to workers` physical safety, social reputation, and personal
efficiency in their job and this chapter contributes valuable evidence to our understanding
of the lived experience of human service workers in relation to perceived fear.
For the human service workers, the goal was to preserve their and other people`s physical
safety, their job, reputation, and autonomy, and to stay faithful to the professional status of
the job.

2.3 FUTURE VIOLENCE

Every day most workers start their work day thinking the workplace is a safe and secure
environment, not expecting to become potential targets of violence. In the last decades,
workplace violence has emerged as a worldwide occupational hazard in both public and
private sector with negative health, safety and legal consequences. Our society is passing
through a broad civility crisis and workplaces are not safe from this crisis.
2.3.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:
fear of future violence is one of the first subjective (cognitive and emotional) reactions to
workplace violence, both direct and indirect stated that fear is the manifestation of a
specific stress appraisal. Specifically, fear could be considered as a stress emotion because
of its deep link to harmful and threatening condition stated that although employees may
not actually experience workplace violence, just perceiving a threat of violence is sufficient
for them to exhibit many of the typical negative consequences of direct violence, such as
anxiety, illness symptoms, and negative occupational outcomes. asserted that when victims
of workplace violence fear the recurrence of violence, the likelihood of being vulnerable to
its negative outcomes is high.
2.3.1.1 WITH IN-PERSON RELATIONSHIP
Considering the health care context, the interactions with patients, such as confrontation
with suffering\demanding patients, may paradoxically expose HCWs to a serious and
dangerous occupational hazard such as violent behaviors against the same professionals
who deliver the care. “Helping customers or clients can have a dark side”. Grandey, Dickter,
and Sin (2004) sustained that ‘the customer is not always right’ and the opposite is at the
root of being a target of aggression (Allan and Gilbert, 2002, Hochschild, 1983).In this sense,
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the workplace environment may become a source of stress if workers believe it may be a
risk for their well-being, and feel that they do not have enough resources to cope with that
threat (Mueller & Tschan, 2011).
2.4 FEAR EXPERIENCED
The increasing demand and pressure on employees to perform to meet set organisational
goals and targets is resulting in organisational stress. While some employees can cope with
it, others are not able to. Organisations that can provide the enabling environment for
employees to manage organisational stress effectively can build trust and create employee-
friendly environment. However, those organisations which have been unable to manage
stress have engaged in behaviors that promote and enhance fear in such organisations.
Although fear has been used as a tool to motivate staff in the workplace, the long-lasting
negative effect of fear on employees far outweighs the motivation it produces.
Goldsmiths believes that

“Fear affects productivity, communication, ability to creative and

emotional wellbeing”.
The seeming challenges and consequences of fear in organizations have
sparked our interest in the study of fear in the Nigerian workplace. The focus
of this work is on the types of fear in the workplace.
2.4.1 FEAR IN THE WORKPLACE
According to Rieger (2011), fear surfaces quietly and subtly, it eats away the fabric of many
organisations, kills enthusiasm, lowers energy and drive, and brings about failure. In
companies, fear can take various forms: fear of not meeting a goal, of not getting a bonus,
of losing decision rights and respect. These fears could induce employees and managers
alike to protect themselves by building outwardly impenetrable barriers fortified by rules
and practices that benefit one group while harming other groups. Following are the types of
fear faced at the workplcae:

2.4.1.1 FEAR of REPRISAL

Reprisal is the act of getting revenge for a loss or injury or an act of retaliation in any form.
Fear of reprisal is a fear that results when a leader or direct supervisor takes action against
an employee who raises a concern and additionally, it is when many employees shy away
from using the voice strategy to bring unjust acts to the awareness of their superiors for fear
of reprisal from either the manager or the organization. This type of fear causes "please-the-
boss," "look-good-at-any-cost," or "just-do-what you're-told" behavior, at the expense of
others, even customers

2.4.1.2 FEAR OF FAILURE

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Fear of failure is tied to fear of reprisal because reprisal is usually an outcome of failure.
Fear of failure is associated with lack of risk-taking and innovation. The focus here is on
short term goals and because of the organization’s desire to achieve these short-term high
targets, employees are constantly under pressure and threat to meet these set goals. This
creates an atmosphere of tension and fear and this type of fear brings about job insecurity
and unhealthy rivalry amongst employees. It also leads to distrust amongst superiors and
their subordinates as most 95 times the blame of not meeting the set targets is put on the
subordinates who may not necessarily get needed support and guidance from their bosses.
They are also most times deprived of the opportunity of defending themselves. In the
opinion of Atkinson, (1964), the propensity to avoid failure functions to counter and
dampen the inclination to undertake achievement-oriented activities.

2.4.1.3 FEAR OF SUCCESS

Buddhapriya (1999) defined fear of success as the definite intention to avoid success,
because of the negative consequences that come from achieving success. With success
comes a lot of unknown enemies and a good number of people are afraid that when they
become successful, it would lead to a hurtful relationship with their peers. Success could
result in negative consequences such as jealousy, envy, higher expectations, and fear of
failure following a promotion or being cold-shouldered as a “rate buster”. With success
could also come positive consequences such as the additional responsibilities that come
with being successful. With success, comes a whole new set of expectations about how
people will expect you to behave in your new position. When you succeed, people would
look up to you for advice, leadership, as being a model of virtue and you will forever change
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how you see yourself. The fear comes from not wanting to fall short of the new
expectations.

2.4.1.4 FEAR of CHANGE

Organizational change, according to Hutchison (2001) consists of the processes that break
down existing structures and create new ones such as new cultures, business strategies and
new ways of working. In organizations, employees are afraid of change because of the
dangers they believe change entails. Fear brings about resistance to change and the attitude
that, “we have always done things this way, why do we have to change it now?”
Fear of the unknown is a strong reason that would make it difficult for employees to accept
change and resistance to change arises out of the fact that people are usually content with
what they are conversant with. Change is seen as a threat by many to their well-valued
beliefs or security and the uncertainty that comes with change can increase an individual’s
fear of making mistakes.

2.5 FEAR DURING COVID-19

It was found that both job insecurity and infectious risk during pandemic lead to increased
job stress and turnover intentions, while job insecurity alone is a stronger predictor of
turnover intentions.

3- THEORIES
There have been different schools of thought on theories of fear used to explain fear in the
workplace.The various theories propounded by different management scholars are
discussed below.
3.1 CONDITIONING THEORY OF FEAR

The classical conditioning model of specific phobias which started with research laboratories
in animals originated in the second half of the 20th century. Watson and Rayner (1920)
observed that they could teach (i.e., condition) an animal or a child to respond with fear to a
harmless situation by repeatedly linking a harmless conditioned stimulus (CS) with a
frightening unconditioned stimulus (US). This theory was later modified by Mowrer (1960)
who suggested a theory of fear in which the development of avoidance is crucial to the
persistence of conditioned anxiety by preserving the exposure to the CS and preventing the
extinction of fear responses. The conditioning theory of fear assumed that fears are
acquired and that the process of acquisition is a form of conditioning.
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3.2 COGINITIVE MODELS

This theory was propounded by Thorpe and Salkovskis (1995) who considered that
Seligman’s (1971) work relegated to second place the role of cognitions in phobias.
Conditioning they opined could be conceptualized as a cognitive process, during which the
participant learns that a determined event or stimulus precedes an aversive outcome. Fear
from a cognitive perspective is related not only to a biological preparation or stimulus-
response association but also to the attributions regarding the safety and danger of the
stimulus, the perception of control over the situation and the attribution made about the
bodily alarm warning sign that the stimulus brings forth.
3.3 VICARIOUS/INFORMATIVE MODELS
Pioneer work in vicarious learning was done by Bandura (1965, 1971, 1977) and in line with
his findings, Rachman (1978) suggested vicarious conditioning as an important factor in
phobia acquisition and added that information and instructions from parents and other
family members influenced the acquisition of fear. Also, important contributions to the role
of vicarious conditioning in phobia acquisition come from Mineka and Cook’s (1986)
experiments where the duo assessed 22 rhesus monkeys that observed, on video, other
monkeys of their species reacting with intense fear to relevant stimuli (snakes or artificial
crocodiles) and irrelevant stimuli (flowers or artificial rabbits). The monkeys that watched
the videos had no previous experience with any of the stimuli but the research confirmed
that, whereas observer monkeys did not initially show fear to any of the stimuli, after 12
sessions they had acquired fear of evolutionarily relevant stimuli, but not of none
evolutionarily relevant stimuli.

4- MEASUREMENT
Our results are limited to the extent that our measures are based on perceptions of fear,
rather than actual fear-related behaviors. In this instance, however, this may not be such a
bad thing since it is the perception of a climate of fear that we are interested in. If our
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respondents were reporting that they perceive a fearful working environment, then this is
clearly consistent with the notion of a climate
Baseline questionnaire
The baseline questionnaire included demographic questions (gender, age, education,
working hours per week, tenure, and managerial position) and measures of
participants' general levels of job pressure and dispositional optimism.
Dispositional optimism
To assess the general level of participants' optimism, we used the three items from the
Life Orientation Test‐Revisedwith a general timeframe.
Daily questionnaire
The diary questionnaire consisted of five identical questionnaires, one for each
workday, and included questions about employees' daily fear of COVID‐19, daily job
crafting, and daily work engagement. For the daily multi‐item measures, we calculated
McDonald's omega (ω) coefficient of within subjects change.
Emotional exhaustion For measuring emotional exhaustion, Emotional Exhaustion
Scale (Maslach and Jackson 1981) was utilized. The scale consists of seven items.
Sample questions include: “I feel emotionally drained from my work” and “I feel
burned out from my work”. The Cronbach’s alpha value of this scale was 0.87.

5- FUTURE RESEARCH
This study mainly looked at fear mainly from the employee level analysis. Further research
could be conducted to look at fear from the organisational level analysis. Arising from the
significant differences in the types of fear experienced in the public and private sector, a
study could be carried out to find out factors responsible for these perceived differences.
Also, further research can be used to determine other types of fear that exists in the
Nigerian workplace which this study may not have captured.

6- CONCLUSION
This study has contributed to existing literature by showing the negative effect of fear at
different dimensions. relation of fear and performance via emotional exhaustion, in turn,
depends on the perception of employees about the extent of measures taken by their
respective organization for safeguarding the employee’s health.
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7-REFRENCES
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Out of the crisis. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Deming,
W.E.(1982). Quality, productivity and competitive position. Cambridge M A: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Center for Advanced Engineering Study

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W.E.(1982). Quality, productivity and competitive position. Cambridge M A: Massachusetts
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