This document discusses emotions and moods. It defines affect, emotions, and moods, noting that emotions are intense feelings directed at something, while moods tend to be less intense and lack a stimulus. It explores aspects of emotions like biology, intensity, frequency and duration. It discusses basic positive and negative moods and various sources that can influence emotions and moods, such as personality, time of day, stress, social activities, sleep, exercise, age, and gender. It also covers external constraints like organizational and cultural influences. The document concludes with applications of emotions and moods in organizational behavior, such as selection, decision making, creativity, motivation, leadership, and customer service.
3. What are Emotions and Moods
Affect
– a generic term that encompasses
both emotions and moods
Emotions – intense feelings that are
directed at someone or something
Moods – feelings that tend to be less
intense than emotions and often lack a
contextual stimulus
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5. Aspects of Emotions
Biology
of Emotions – emotions originate in the
brain’s limbic system, which is different for each
person
Intensity – different people give different
responses to identical emotion-provoking
stimuli
Frequency and Duration – some emotions
occur more frequently and emotions differ in
how long they last
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6. Aspects of Emotions (cont.)
Emotions
and Rationality – Our emotions
provide important information about how
we understand the world around us.
Evolutionary Psychology – states that we
must experience emotions because they
serve a purpose; hard to know if this is
valid all the time
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7. Basic Moods: Positive and Negative Affects
Emotions cannot be neutral.
Emotions (“markers”) are grouped into general mood states.
Mood states affect perception and therefore perceived reality.
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8. Sources of Emotions and Moods
Personality
– predisposes people to
experience certain moods and emotions.
Affect intensity affects the strength of the
emotion
Day of week and Time of day – more
positive interactions will likely occur from
mid-morning onwards and also later in
the week
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10. More Sources
Weather
– not an impact according to
research
Stress – increased stress worsens moods
Social Activities – usually increase
positive mood and have little effect on
negative mood
Sleep – less sleep or poor quality sleep
increases negative emotions
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11. More Sources
Exercise
– enhances positive mood
Age – older people experience negative
emotions less frequently
Gender – women show greater
emotional expression, experience
emotions more intensely and display
more frequent expressions of emotions
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12. External Constraints on Emotions
Organizational
Influences – most
American organizations strive to be
emotion-free
Cultural Influences – cultures vary
in:
◦ Degree to which people experience
emotions
◦ Interpretation of emotions
◦ Norms for the expression of emotions
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13. Emotional Labor
An
employee’s expression of
organizationally desired
emotions during interpersonal
transactions at work
Emotional dissonance is when
an employee has to project
one emotion while feeling
another one
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14. Felt vs. Displayed Emotions
Felt
emotions are the individual’s actual
emotions
Displayed emotions are those that the
organization requires workers to show
Surface acting is hiding our true emotions
Deep acting is trying to change one’s
feelings based on display rules
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15. Emotional Intelligence
One’s
ability to detect and manage
emotional cues and information
Five dimensions:
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Self-awareness
Self-management
Self-motivation
Empathy
Social skills
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16. The case for EI
Intuitive
appeal – it makes sense
Evidence suggests that a high level of EI
predicts high job performance
Study suggests that EI is
neurologically based
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17. The case against EI
EI
is too vague a concept
EI can’t be measured
EI is so closely related to intelligence and
personality that it is not unique when
those factors are controlled
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18. OB Applications of
Emotions and Moods
Selection
– employers should consider EI
a factor in hiring employees, especially for
jobs that demand a high degree of social
interaction.
Decision Making – Positive emotions can
increase problem-solving skills and so
positive people find better solution to
problems.
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19. OB Applications of
Emotions and Moods
Creativity – Positive moods increase
creativity.
Motivation – Organizations that promote
positive moods are likely to have a more
motivated workforce.
Leadership – Emotions help
convey messages more
effectively
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20. OB Applications of
Emotions and Moods
Customer Service – customers “catch”
emotions from employees, called
emotional contagion.
Emotional
contagion is important
because when customer catch positive
moods or emotions of employees they
shop longer.
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21. OB Applications of
Emotions and Moods
Job
Attitudes – emotions at work get
carried home but rarely carry over to the
next day.
Deviant Workplace Behaviors – those
who feel negative emotions are more
likely to engage in deviant behavior at
work.
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22. How Can Managers Influence
Moods?
Use humor to lighten the
moment.
Give small tokens of
appreciation.
Stay in a good mood themselves
– lead by example.
Hire positive people.
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