Organizational Behavior: Emotions and Moods Chapter 4

Emotions and Moods

• Emotions are intense feelings that are directed towards something or someone, whereas moods are more general feelings that are not directed towards a specific object.
• There are six essentially universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and surprise.
• Moral emotions are emotions that have moral implications because of our instant judgement of the situation that evokes them.

Sources of Emotions and Moods

• Personality: moods and emotions have a trait component, and people experience emotions with varying levels of intensity.
• Time of day: people tend to be happier in the midpoint of the daily awake period.
• Day of the week: people tend to be happier towards the end of the week.
• Weather: there is no correlation between weather and emotions.
• Stress: even low levels of constant stress can worsen moods.
• Social interactions: negative interactions at work can affect emotions and "spill over" into family life.
• Sleep: poor sleep quality increases negative affect.
• Exercise: exercise improves mood, especially for depressed people.
• Gender identity: stereotypical perceptions of women as "emotional" and men as "angry" persist in the workplace.

Emotional Labor

• Emotional labor: an employee's expression of organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work.
• Types of emotions: felt emotions are the individual's actual emotions, while displayed emotions are the required or appropriate emotions.

Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize and understand emotions in oneself and others.
• EI should be a hiring factor, especially for social jobs.

Emotion Regulation

• Emotion regulation involves identifying and modifying the emotions you feel.
• Techniques for emotion regulation include surface acting, deep acting, emotional suppression, cognitive reappraisal, and social sharing.
• Diversity in work groups may help us to regulate our emotions more consciously and effectively.

Strategies for Emotion Regulation

• Ethics of emotion regulation: controlling one's emotions can be seen as unethical, but it can also be necessary for effective decision making and social interactions.
• Recognizing the role of emotions in the workplace: emotions are a natural part of the workplace, and good management does not mean creating an emotion-free environment.

Implications for Managers

• Recognizing emotional responses: managers should anticipate how employees may react to new policies or actions that affect them.
• Effective strategies for managing emotions: deep acting, natural emotional expression, and cognitive reappraisal are more effective than surface acting and emotional suppression.
• Modeling positive emotions: managers should model positive emotions and moods to foster effective decision making, creativity, and motivation.

Assess your understanding of emotions and moods in the workplace, including their sources, emotional labor, emotional intelligence, and regulation strategies. This quiz is based on Chapter 4 of the 19th edition of Organizational Behavior, Global Edition.