BUS-201-202: TUTORIAL 4
CLASS EXERCISE
1. Divide the class into groups of three to five students.
2. Have students access the youku videos at:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTY2MzE1NjMy.html
(视频: [变态假面]<疯狂假面>台湾 15 秒预告片) – Watch this first
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTc2NjQ4MjQ0.html
(视频: 少女头戴内裤身着暴露装扮变态假面上线现实版钢铁侠）
3. The students should watch each other’s facial expressions and write down
what they believe is expressed.
4. Compare the responses. If there are differences, what cultural influence
can be identified as a source of difference?
5. Have the groups compare their results to determine if there are any
divergent interpretations based on culture or subculture influences.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Differentiate emotions from moods and list the basic emotions and moods.
Answer: Emotions are intense feelings directed at someone or something.
Moods are feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and often
lack a contextual stimulus. Thus the similarities are the “feelings”
component but the differences lie in the intensity and context. The basic
emotions are happiness – surprise – fear – sadness – anger – and disgust.
The basic emotions are classified as those with a positive affect such as
joy and gratitude and those with a negative affect such as anger or guilt.
(Learning Objectives: Show the impact emotional labor has on employees, Apply concept
about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning Outcomes: Discuss the
importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace; and AACSB Learning
Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
2. Discuss whether emotions are rational and what functions they serve.
Answer: Emotions can be rational or irrational. Expressing emotions publicly
may be damaging to social status. Emotions are critical to rational decisionmaking and they help us understand the world around us. Emotions and moods
serve a number of functions. Darwin argued they help in survival problemsolving. In evolutionary psychology: people must experience emotions, as
there is a purpose behind them. However, not all researchers agree with this
assessment. (Learning Objectives: Show the impact emotional labor has on
employees, Apply concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning
Outcomes: Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the
workplace; and AACSB Learning Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking
skills.)
3. Identify the sources of emotions and moods.
Answer: The primary sources of emotions and moods are:
a. Personality -There is a trait component – affect intensity
b. Day and Time of the Week - There is a common pattern for all of us
c. Happier in the midpoint of the daily awake period
d. Happier toward the end of the week
e. Weather - Illusory correlation – no effect
f. Stress - even low levels of constant stress can worsen moods
g. Social Activities - Physical, informal, and dining activities increase
positive moods
h. Other factors are sleep, age, gender, etc.
(Learning Objectives: Show the impact emotional labor has on employees, Apply
concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning Outcomes:
Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace; and
AACSB Learning Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
4. Show the impact emotional labor has on employees.
Answer: Emotional labor is when an employee expresses organizationally
desired emotions during interpersonal transactions. Originally developed in
relation to service jobs, but now seems to apply to every job. For example, you
are expected to be courteous and not hostile in interactions with coworkers.
(Learning Objectives: Show the impact emotional labor has on employees, Apply
concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning Outcomes:
Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace; and
AACSB Learning Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
5. Describe affective events theory and identify its applications.
Answer: Affective events theory states that an event in the work environment
triggers positive or negative emotional reactions. AET recognizes that
emotions are a response to an event in the individual work environment. The
environment creates work events that can be hassles, uplifts, or both. These
work events trigger positive or negative emotional reactions that are
moderated by the employee’s personality and mood. AET offers two
important messages. First, emotions provide valuable insights into
understanding employee behavior. Second, emotions in organizations and the
events that cause them shouldn’t be ignored, even when they appear to be
minor. This is because they accumulate. It’s not the intensity of hassles and
uplifts that leads to emotional reactions, but more the frequency with which
they occur. Current and past emotions can affect job satisfaction. Emotional
fluctuations over time can create variations in job performance. Both negative
and positive emotions can distract workers and reduce job performance.
(Learning Objectives: Show the impact emotional labor has on employees, Apply concept
about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning Outcomes: Discuss the
importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace; and AACSB Learning Goals
Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
6.
Contrast the evidence for and against the existence of emotional intelligence.
Answer: Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to an assortment of non-cognitive skills,
capabilities, and competencies that influence a person’s ability to succeed in coping with
environmental demands and pressures.
a. Self-awareness: Being aware of what you are feeling.
b. Self-management: The ability to manage one’s own emotions and
impulses.
c. Social skills: The ability to handle or detect the emotions of others.
d. Several studies suggest EI may play an important role in job
performance.
e. EI is controversial and the pros and cons are as follows:
f. Case for EI: - Intuitive appeal; predicts criteria that matter; is
biologically based.
g. Case against EI: - Too vague a concept; can’t be measured; its validity
is suspect.
(Learning Objectives: Contrast the evidence for and against the existence of emotional
intelligence, Apply concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning
Outcomes: Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace;
and AACSB Learning Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
7. Identify strategies for emotion regulation and their likely effects.
Answer: Emotion regulation, which is part of the EI literature but has also
been studied as an independent concept. The central ideal behind
emotion regulation is to identify and modify the emotions you feel.
Strategies to change your emotions include thinking about more pleasant
things, suppressing negative thoughts, distracting yourself, reappraising
the situation, or engaging in relaxation techniques. Changing your
emotions takes effort, and this effort can be exhausting. Emotion
suppression appears to be especially difficult to do effectively and can
lead to more negative emotions; reappraising situations is usually more
effective in increasing positive emotions and limiting negative emotions.
(Learning Objectives: Be able to identify strategies for emotional regulation and their
likely effects, Apply concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues; Learning
Outcomes: Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the workplace;
and AACSB Learning Goals Communication abilities, Reflective thinking skills.)
8. Apply concepts about emotions and moods to specific OB issues.
Answer: Emotions and moods have proven relevant for virtually every
OB topic we study, and they have implications for managerial practice.
Increasingly, organizations are selecting employees they believe have
high levels of emotional intelligence. Research has helped to refine theory
related to emotional intelligence in recent years, which should lead to
superior tools for assessing ability-based EI. Emotions and positive
moods appear to facilitate effective decision-making and creativity in
organizations, making them superior skills for all employees.
Recent research suggests mood is linked to motivation, especially through
feedback. Leaders rely on emotions to increase their effectiveness. The
display of emotions is important to social behavior like negotiation and
customer service. The experience of emotions is closely linked to job
attitudes and behaviors that follow from attitudes, such as deviant
workplace behavior.
A final question is, “Can managers control colleagues’ and employees’
emotions and moods?” Certainly there are limits, practical and ethical.
Emotions and moods are a natural part of an individual’s makeup. Where
managers err is in ignoring co-workers’ and employees’ emotions and
assessing others’ behavior as if it were completely rational. Managers
who understand the role of emotions and moods will significantly
improve their ability to explain and predict their co-workers’ and
employees’ behavior.
(Learning Objectives Apply concept about emotions and moods to specific OB issues;
Learning Outcomes: Discuss the importance of individual moods and emotions in the
workplace; and AACSB Learning Goals: Reflective thinking skills.)