OB

Summary
Chapter 4

OB Chapter 4 - Emotions & Moods

What are emotions & moods
Affect : a broad range of feelings that people experience
Emotions : intense feelings that are directed at someone or something; clearly revealed by facial
expressions; more action oriented
Moods: feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions & that lack a contextual stimulus; may be
more cognitive; cause to think/brood.
but emotions can turn into moods when you lose focus

The Basic moods Positive & Negative affect

Positive affect/positive moods : a mood dimension that consists of specific positive emotions such as
excitement, self-assurance, & cheerfulness at high end, and boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at
low end.
Negative affect/negative moods : a mood dimension that consists of specific negative emotions such
as nervousness, stress & anxiety at high end, and relaxation, tranquility, & poise at low end.
people to recall negative experiences more rapidly

Positivity offset : when nothing in particular is going on, most individuals experience a mildly positive
mood.

Function of emotions -> our emotions provide important information about how we understand the
world around us & helps our thinking process.
Sources of Emotions & moods

Personality affect intensity (individual differences in the strength which individuals

experience their moods)
Day of the week & time of the day negative moods mostly highest on Sundays & Mondays,
positive moods are highest at the end of the week; morning / evening people.
Weather illusory correlation (The tendency of people to associate 2 events when in reality
theres no connection); people tend to think nice weather improves their mood, and vice
versa.
Stress mounting levels of stress can worsen our moods, & we experience more negative
emotions.
Social activities for most people, social activities increase positive mood & have little affect
on negative mood.
Sleep sleep quality does affect mood; poor / reduced sleep impairs decision making &
makes it difficult to control our emotions
Exercise exercise enchances peoples positive mood
Age negative emotions seem to occur less as people get older
Gender women are more emotionally expressive than men

Emotional Labor

Emotional Labor : a situation in which an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions

during interpersonal transactions at work
Emotional Dissonance : inconsistencies between the emotions people feel and the emotions they
project
Felt emotions : an individuals actual emotions
Displayed emotions : those that the organization requires workers to show
Surface acting : hiding ones inner feeling & forgoing emotional expressions in response to display
rules
Deep acting : trying to modify ones true inner feelings based on display rules.
Affective Events Theory
Affective Events Theory (AET) : a model that suggests that workplace events cause emotional
reactions on the part of employees, which then influence workplace attitudes & behaviors
Test of affective events theory suggest the following:

An emotional episode is actually a series of emotional experiences

Current emotions influence job satisfaction at any given time
Moods & emotions fluctuate over time -> affect on performance also fluctuates
Emotion-driven behavior are typically short in duration & high of variability
Emotions (even the positive ones) tend to be incompatible with behaviors required to a job,
they typically have a negative influence on job performance

Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence : the ability to detect & to manage emotional cues & information; an
assortment of non-cognitive skills, capabilities, and competencies that influence a persons ability to
succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.

Emotional Intelligence includes:

Self-awareness
Self-management
Self-motivation
Empathy
Social skills

Based on Research: High EI scores, not high IQ scores, characterize high performers.
OB Applications of Emotions & Moods

Selection more employers are starting to use EI measures to hire people

Decision Making people in good moods are more likely than others to use heuristics or rules
of thumb to help make good decisions quickly; depressed people are slower at processing
information.
Creativity people in good moods tend to be more creative than people in bad moods.
Motivation - positive moods tend to be more creative -> positive feedback from those
observing their work -> perform better.
Leadership expressions of emotions in speeches is often the critical element that makes us
accept / reject a leaders message
Negotiation a skilled negotiator has a poker face; anger should be used selectively in
negotiation
Customer service employees emotions can transfer to the customer; emotional contagion
(the process by which peoples emotions are caused by the emotions of others.
Job attitudes people who had a good day at work tend to be in a better mood at home that
evening, and vice versa
Deviant workplace behaviors people who feel negative emotions are more likely than
others to engage in deviant behavior at work.
Safety & injury at work negative moods also make people more distractable -> distractions
can obviously lead to careless behaviors
How managers can influence moods managers can use humors & give their employees
small tokens of appreciation for work well done.