EMOTIONS AND MOODS Why emotions were ignored in

EMOTIONS AND MOODS

Why emotions were ignored in organisations? • Emotions were considered as irrational • Emotions are difficult to measure

Phineas Gage

What are emotions? • Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something (Robbins and Judge, 2013)

Features of emotions • Strong feelings directed towards some specific target • Reactions to an event • Fleeting (come and go quickly) • Action oriented (energize a person to act)

What are moods? • Feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.

Features of moods • No specific reason for the occurrence of moods • Long lasting than emotions • More experienced at the cognitive level

What is affect? • A broad range of feelings that people experience

The basic emotions • Rene Descartes identified six basic emotions 1) Wonder 2) Love 3) Hatred 4) Desire 5) Joy 6) Sadness

Studying emotions through facial expressions is not an easy task. Why? • Some emotions are very complex and can’t be expressed through facial expressions • Cultural factors influence emotional expression • Researchers have identified six universal emotions- anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust and surprise

Sources of emotions and moods • • • Personality Day of the week and time of the day Weather Stress Social activities Sleep Exercises Age Sex

Personality • Some people are more prone to certain moods and emotions • Individuals differ in affect intensity – individual differences in the strength with which individuals experience emotions

Day of the week and time of the day • Worst moods in the beginning of the week and good moods late in the week • Some are morning people and some evening • Positive affect peaks around the half point of our sleep wake cycle • Negative affect remains constant throughout the day

Weather • Only little association between mood and weather • Illusory correlationtendency to associate two events when in reality there is no connection

stress • Effect of stressful events build over time and make moods worse

Social activities • Positive mood increases with physical (cycling) or informal activities (parties) • People engage in social interactions more when they are in positive mood

sleep Good sleep has an impact on moods Sleep quality affects mood and increased fatigue puts workers at health risks of disease, injury and depression.

Exercise • Exercise improves moods to a certain extent.

Age • Negative moods decline with age • Positive moods of older people last longer than negative moods

Sex (male v/s female) • Women are more expressive • Women experience intense emotions • Women hold emotions longer • Women express both positive and negative emotions more frequently • Men experience powerful emotions (anger) more frequently than women (fear)

Emotional intelligence • Term coined by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 • Daniel Goleman popularised it

What is EI? • Person’s ability to 1) Perceive emotions in the self and others 2) Understanding the meaning of these emotions 3) Regulate one’s emotions accordingly

Cascading model of emotional intelligence • People with EI exhibit conscientiousness (perceive emotions) • cognitive ability (understand the meaning of emotions) • emotional stability (person to regulate emotions).

Cascading model of emotional intelligence

EI: is it actually important? Supporters of EI 1) Intuitive appeal – makes sense 2) EI is a good predictor of criteria that matter 3) Biologically based Critics of EI 1) Lack of proper definition 2) EI can’t be measured 3) Old wine in a new bottle

Emotion regulation • Refers to the effort put by a person to identify the emotion and modify it

How can you achieve emotion regulation? • Generation of positive thoughts • By distracting oneself • Looking at the situation from a new perspective • Using relaxation techinques such as yoga or meditation

Do people differ in their abilities to control emotions? • High on neuroticism – poor emotional control • Low self- esteem- do not alter emotions

Drawbacks of emotion regulation • Trying to change emotions requires efforts and it can be exhaustive • Trying to change the emotion makes it stronger • Suppressing negative emotion is difficult • Seeking positive emotional experience is a better way to deal with negative emotions

Applications of emotions and moods in the workplace 1) Employee selection 2) Decision making 3) Creativity 4) Motivation 5) Leadership 6) Negotiation 7) Customer service 8) Job attitudes 9) Deviant workplace behaviour 10) Enhancing safety and prevention of injury

1) Employee selection - Emotions play an important role in jobs demanding high social interaction - Many employers make use of Emotional intelligence to recruit people.

2) Decision making - People experiencing positive moods are quicker at decision making and are better problem solvers - Some studies suggest that depressed people reach more accurate judgments, but they make poorer decisions because they are slower at processing information and tend to weigh all possible options rather than the most likely ones.

3) Creativity Good mood boosts creativity It is because people experiencing positive moods are more flexible and open in their thinking Some believe that happy moods interfere with creativity

4) Motivation Positive emotions improve motivation Positive emotions improve the motivation to help coworkers

5) Leadership Leaders are more effective when they are excited, enthusiastic and active. By arousing emotions and linking them to an appealing vision, leaders increase the likelihood that managers and employees alike will accept change.

6) Negotiation Good managers use anger to negotiate (effective only when there is sufficient information about the opponent) Feeling bad about past negotiations can affect future negotiations

7) Customer service Emotions of the employee affect customer service thereby leading to customer satisfaction and retention Employees emotions can be passed on to the customer known as emotional contagion

8) Job attitudes Positive mood at work has a positive impact on personal life and positive personal life has a positive impact on work life.

9) Deviant work place behaviour - Behaviours that violate organisational norms and threaten the organisation and its members - Eg: envy and anger - People who feel negative emotions are more likely than others to engage in short term deviant behaviour such as gossiping. - Negative emotions and moods can escalate negative behaviours

10) Enhancing safety and prevention of injury Bad mood causes accidents Individuals in negative moods tend to be more anxious, which can make them less able to cope effectively with hazards Negative moods distract employees leading to carelessness

What can mangers do to improve the moods of employees? • Use of humor and appreciation • Be in a good mood • Selection of employees with positive moods (helps in contagion)

Thank you