The Basics - Emotions and Moods
Name the six basic emotions recognized by many researchers.
Anger, Fear, Sadness, Happiness, Disgust, and Surprise.
What is the difference between felt emotions and displayed emotions?
Felt emotions are what employees genuinely feel while displayed emotions are what they show or are expected to show at work.
What does emotional intelligence (EI) mean?
The ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions in oneself and others.
What is emotion regulation?
The process of controlling or changing emotional reactions to situations so that a person can respond appropriately.
How can positive emotions and moods influence employee motivation?
They can increase confidence, willingness to put in effort, and enthusiasm for achieving work goals.
What is the term used to describe the broad range of feelings people experience, including emotions and moods?
Affect.
What is emotional labour?
The effort employees make to display the emotions their organization expects during workplace interactions.
What theory explains how everyday workplace events trigger emotional reactions that influence employee attitudes and behaviour?
Affective Events Theory (AET).
What is emotional suppression?
Holding back or preventing the outward expression of an emotional reaction. It can be useful temporarily during a crisis but may be harmful if used constantly.
A cheerful customer service employee makes customers feel happier during their interaction. What OB concept does this illustrate?
Emotional contagion, in which one person's emotions influence another person's emotions.
What is the main difference between an emotion and a mood?
Emotions are usually intense, short-lived feelings triggered by a specific event, while moods last longer, are generally less intense, and may lack a specific cause.
An employee reminds themselves that an angry customer may be having a difficult day and genuinely becomes more patient. What is this called?
Deep acting, because the employee tries to change their genuine feelings to match the required emotional display.
According to the cascading model of EI, what are the three personal characteristics?
Conscientiousness, Cognitive Ability, and Emotional Stability.
An employee discusses a difficult experience with a trusted colleague to express feelings and gain perspective. What strategy is this, and why might it help?
Social sharing. It can help the employee process emotions, reflect on the event, and understand the situation more clearly, especially when the listener is supportive.
An employee has a stressful day at work and goes home feeling irritable, becoming less patient with their family. Which OB application does this demonstrate?
Workâlife conflict, specifically the spillover of negative work emotions into personal and family life.
An employee feels disgust after hearing a coworker make a racist remark. What type of emotion is this, and why?
A moral emotion, because the employee's reaction is based on a judgment about right and wrong.
What is emotional dissonance, and name one possible consequence of experiencing it repeatedly.
Emotional dissonance is the conflict between what an employee feels and what they must display. Repeated dissonance may lead to stress, emotional exhaustion, burnout, or lower job satisfaction.
A supervisor praises an employee for completing a difficult task. The employee feels appreciated and becomes more motivated. Explain this using Affective Events Theory.
A positive workplace event (praise) triggers a positive emotional reaction (feeling appreciated), which can improve job attitudes and motivate future work behaviour.
An employee receives criticism and changes their thinking from "My manager thinks I'm incapable" to "This feedback can help me improve." Which emotion regulation strategy are they using?
Cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing how a situation is interpreted.
A frustrated manager makes a disciplinary decision without considering all the facts. Which OB application is involved, and what should the manager do?
Decision-making. The manager should recognize and regulate their emotions, consider the evidence, and evaluate the circumstances before deciding.
What is the positivity offset?
The tendency for most people to experience a mildly positive mood when nothing particularly significant is happening.
A team has been sleeping poorly, working under tight deadlines, and dealing with rude customers. Identify two factors that may affect the employees moods and explain two ways management could help.
Factors include poor sleep, stress, and negative social interactions. Management could provide reasonable workloads, supportive supervision, emotional skills training, and adequate breaks or recovery time.
Name two ways a person can develop emotional intelligence and one test or tool used to measure it.
Development methods include self-awareness, empathy, active listening, and practicing emotional regulation. A measure could be the MSCEIT, TEIQue, or an EI situational judgment test.
During a workplace emergency, an employee temporarily controls their emotional reaction to focus on safety. Afterward, they reconsider the experience and discuss it with a trusted colleague. Identify the three strategies used.
Temporary emotional suppression during the emergency, cognitive reappraisal afterward, and supportive social sharing. The employee adapts their strategy to the situation.
An employee becomes jealous after a coworker receives a promotion and begins spreading rumours about them. Which OB application does this illustrate, and how can the behaviour affect the workplace?
Unethical workplace behaviour. It can damage trust, harm the coworker's reputation, reduce cooperation, and increase workplace conflict.