LECTURE 29
Chapter 8:
Emotions and Moods
Robbins and Judge (2008): Organizational Behavior, Pearson, Prentice Hall
Learning Objectives
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Emotions and Moods
Sources of Emotions and Moods
External constraints on Emotions
Impact of emotional labor on employees
Affective Events Theory
Emotional Intelligence
OB Issues and Emotions
OB Issues and Moods
What are Emotions and Moods?
Affect:
Broad range of feelings that people experience
It covers both emotions and moods
Emotions:
Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something
Moods:
Less intense feelings that often lack contextual stimulus
What are Emotions and Moods?
The Basic Emotions
No consensus and types of emotions. However, most common emotions are:
1. Anger
2. Enthusiasm
3. Fear
4. Frustration
5. Disappointment
6. Disgust
7. Happiness
8. Hate
9. Hope
10. Jealousy
11. Surprise
12. Sadness
Some researcher place six emotions along a continuum
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Happiness – surprise – fear – sadness – anger – disgust
Aspects of Emotions
Frequency and Duration
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Employee can meet the emotional demands of job depends on its frequency and duration
Do Emotions Make us Irrational?
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In general it is said that when you are emotional you are irrational
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It is advised not to express emotions
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Research supports that emotional and rational thinking are interconnected
What Functions Do Emotions Serve?
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Emotions serve purpose: Anger to protect right, Empathy help to serve customer in better way
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Not all researchers agree on
Moos as Positive and Negative Affect
Emotions can be positive or negative but can never be neutral it is state of non emotional
- Grouping emotions into positive and negative category result into mood states in this way look them
in more general way instead on isolating
- Positive Affect (Mood): A mood dimension consisting of specific positive emotions like excitement
elated and happy at the high end and boredom, sluggishness and tiredness at low end
- Negative Affect (Mood): A mood dimension consisting of nervousness, stress, and anxiety at the high
end and relaxation, tranquility and poise at low end
- Negative emotions are recalled more frequently, as people tend to remember events that created
negative emotions.
Positive offset: People in mildly positive mood when nothing particular is going on
Sources of Emotion and Mood
Age
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Research says older people feel positive moods and bad moods faded quickly
Gender
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Women are more emotional
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Upbringing of male (more social activities)
External Constraints on Emotions
Organizational Influences
- In some organizations and jobs it is required to be more friendly and warm always with smiling face
- Difference in management hierarchy (upper management can express negative emotions like anger to
lower staff)
- It is good to show emotions on company success celebrating events
- Otherwise organizations want emotion free environment.
Emotional Labor
Emotional labor is an employee expression of organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal
transaction at work”
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The concept emerged from service industry but in reality applicable on every job
Emotional Dissonance
Challenge when employees have to project one emotions
others
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while simultaneously feeling
Lead to emotional exhaustion and burn out
Felt vs Displayed Emotions
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Felt: Actual emotions
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Displayed: Organization requires worker to show or appropriate for given job
Surface Acting
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Hiding inner feelings in response to desired emotions at work place
Deep Acting: Try to modify inner feelings based on role and
job requirement
Cultural Differences: Smiling at customer good in American culture but not in all countries (may be
interpreted as non serious)
job
French feel less emotional dissonance. They usually
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What about gender? Women to show more positive
display their true feelings on
feelings
Affective Event Theory
How our moods and emotions influence our job performance, AET has answer to this link
Emotions are response to an event in work place
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is one's ability to understand and manage emotional cues and information
EI Composed for five dimensions
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Self awareness
2
Self management
3
Se motivation
4
Empathy
5
Social skills
Case for EI
Intuitive appeal (it is really good), Predict performance
Case Against EI
Too vague concept, Cannot be measured, Validity is not proven.
Implications
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Moods are more general and less contextual
Effective manager know emotions and moods that improve their ability to affect behavior and
performance of colleagues and subordinates
Negative emotions hinder job performance
Positive moods and emotions enhance work performance
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Managers must not unnecessarily force employees to display positive emotions and suppress
negative emotions all the time
Manager must not ignore emotions and moods of employees
Manager with greater understanding of emotions can influence and predict behavior of
employees
OB Applications of Emotions and Moods
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Selection
EI should be a hiring factor, especially for social jobs.
Decision Making
Positive emotions can lead to better decisions.
Creativity
Positive mood increases flexibility, openness, and creativity.
Motivation
Positive mood affects expectations of success; feedback amplifies this effect.
Leadership
Emotions are important to acceptance of messages from organizational leaders.
Negotiation
Emotions , skillfully displayed, can affect negotiations.
Customer Services
Emotions affect service quality delivered to customers which, in turn, affects customer
relationships.
Emotional Contagion: “catching” emotions from others.
Job Attitudes
Can carry over to home but dissipate overnight.
Deviant Workplace Behaviors
Negative emotions lead to employee deviance (actions that violate norms and threaten the
organization).
Manager’s Influence
Leaders who are in a good mood, use humor, and praise employees increase positive moods
in the workplace
Global Implications
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Do people experience emotions equally?
No. Culture can determine type, frequency, and depth of experienced emotions
Do people interpret emotions the same way?
Yes. Negative emotions are seen as undesirable and positive emotions are desirable
However, value of each emotion varies across cultures
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Do norms of emotional expression vary?
Yes. Some cultures have a bias against emotional expression; others demand some display of
emotion
How the emotions are expressed may make interpretation outside of one’s culture difficult
Managerial Implications
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Moods are more general than emotions and less contextual
Emotions and moods impact all areas of OB
Managers cannot and should not attempt to completely control the emotions of their
employees
Managers must not ignore the emotions of their co-workers and employees
Behavior predictions will be less accurate if emotions are not taken into account
Source: Robbins and Judge (2008): Organizational Behavior, Pearson, Prentice Hall