Chapter 4 Emotions and Moods Emotions can be an important part of the way people behave at work What are emotions and moods Affect a broad range of feelings that people experience Emotions intense feelings that are directed at someone or something Reactions to a person or an event More action oriented Moods feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus More cognitive May cause us to think or brood for a while If you re in a good or bad mood it might make you experience a more intense positive or negative emotion than otherwise Basic Emotions I e anger contempt enthusiasm envy fear frustration disappointment embarrassment disgust hate happiness hope jealousy joy etc 6 simple and primitive passions Continuum 1 Happiness 2 Surprise 3 Fear 4 Sadness 5 Anger 6 Disgust Positive and Negative affect The way we experience an emotion isn t always the same as the way we show it Positive affect mood a mood dimension that consists of specific positive emotions such as excitement self assurance and cheerfulness at the high end and boredom sluggishness and tiredness at the low end Negative affect mood a mood dimension that consists of emotions such as nervousness stress and anxiety at the high end and relaxation tranquility and poise at the low end People think about events that created strong negative emotions 5x as long as they do about positive ones Negative experiences are more unusual Positivity offset the tendency of most individuals to experience a mildly positive mood at zero input when nothing in particular is going on Positive moods are somewhat more common People in most cultures appear to experience certain positive and negative emotions but the frequency and intensity varies to some degree Function of Emotions Demonstration or experience of emotions can make us seem weak brittle or irrational around us our decisions Emotions are critical to rational thinking Our emotions provide information about how we understand the world The key to good decision making is to employ both thinking and feeling in People who behave ethically are partially making decisions based on their emotions and feelings emotional reaction often will be a good thing Sources of Emotions and Moods Moods and emotions have a trait component People experience the same emotions but with different intensities Affect intensity individual differences in the strength with which individuals experience their emotions o Week and time of day People tend to be in their worst moods early in the week Best moods late in the week Levels of positive affect tend to peak at around the halfway point between waking and sleeping Negative affect shows little fluctuation throughout the day Work place interactions will be more positive fro midmorning onward and later in the week Weather has little effect on mood Illusory correlation the tendency of people to associate two events when in reality there is no connection o Weather o Stress The effect of stress build over time High levels of stress can worsen our moods Experience more negative emotions o Social activities Increase positive mood Little effect on negative mood Type of social activity matters Increase in positive mood physical informal epicurean eating Increase in negative mood formal sedentary o Sleep Quality affects mood Sleep deprived greater feelings of fatigue anger and hostility Poor or reduced sleep impairs decision making and makes it difficult to control emotions Impairs job satisfaction people feel fatigued irritable and less alert o Exercise Improve moods Sweat therapy Enhances peoples positive mood o Age o Sex Negative emotions occur less as people get older Periods of positive moods lasted longer for older individuals and bad moods faded more quickly Emotional experience improves with age As we get older we experience fewer negative emotions Women are more emotionally expressive than men Experience emotions more intensely Hold onto emotions longer Display more frequent expressions of both positive and negative emotions except anger Men report higher levels of power emotions anger Women report more powerless emotions sadness fear Emotional Labor a situation in which an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work Creates dilemmas for employees Can help on the job if you separate emotions in felt or displayed emotions Felt emotions an individuals actual emotions Displayed emotions emotions that are organizationally required and considered appropriate in a give job How we experience and emotion isn t always the same as how we show it Displaying fake emotions requires us to suppress the real ones Surface acting hiding one s inner feelings and forgoing emotional expressions in response to display rules o Displayed emotions o More stressful to employees denying true emotions and displaying emotions we don t really feel is exhausting Deep acting trying to modify one s true inner feelings based on display rules o Felt emotions Affective Events Theory Emotions and moods influence our job performance and satisfaction o Affective events theory AET a model that suggests that workplace events cause emotional reactions on the part of employees which then influence workplace attitudes and behaviors o Emotions are a response to an event in the work environment o The work environment creates work events that can be hassles or uplifting reactions These work events trigger positive or negative emotional Employees personalities and moods predispose them to respond with greater or lesser intensity Low scores on emotional stability are more likely to react strongly to negative events Emotional response to a given event can change depending on mood Test of affective events theory suggest the following 1 An emotional episode is actually a series of emotional experiences precipitated by a single event and containing elements of both emotions and mood cycles 2 Current emotions influence job satisfaction at any given time along with the history of emotions surrounding the event 3 Because moods and emotions fluctuate over time their effect on performance also fluctuates 4 Emotion driven behaviors are typically short in duration and of high variability 5 Because emotions even positive ones tend to be incompatible with behaviors required to do a job they typically have a negative influence on job performance AET two important messages Emotions provide valuable insights into how workplace hassles and