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C H A P T E R F O U R
Coping with
Organizational Life:
Emotions and Stress 4
Lecture Outline
Understanding Emotions and Mood
Properties of Emotions
Types of Emotions
The Basic Nature of Mood
The Role of Emotions and Mood in
Organizations
Are Happier People More Successful
in Their Jobs?
Why Are Happier Workers More
Successful?
A*ective Events Theory
Managing Emotions in Organizations
Developing Emotional Intelligence
Coping with Emotional Dissonance
Controlling Anger Before it Control
You
The Basic Nature of Stress
Stressors in Organizations
Cognitive Appraisal Process
Bodily Responses to Stressors
Major Causes of Stress in the Workplace
Occupational Demands
Con0ict Between Work and
Non-work
Role Ambiguity: Stress from
Uncertainty
Overload: So Much Work, So Little
Time
Responsibility for Others: A Heavy
Burden
Lack of Social Support: The Costs
of Isolation
Adverse E*ects of Organizational Stress
Lowered Task Performance
Desk Rage
Stress and Health
Reducing Stress: What Can Be Done?
Employee Assistance Programs
Stress Management Programs
Wellness Programs
Managing Your Own Stress
The 3rst part of the chapter describes the
problematic nature of stress in organizations. The
chapter begins with a discussion of the nature of
emotions and moods and their role in organizations.
The question of whether happier people are more
e*ective on the job is raised. Managing emotions in
the workplace and speci3cally the development of
emotional intelligence is explored. The discussion of
key stressors identi3es both cognitive and physical
response to stress in organizational life. Stress
reactions can have damaging behavioral,
psychological, and/or medical e*ects. Major causes
of stress in the workplace include occupational
demands, con0ict between work and non-work, role
ambiguity, and overload. Stress reduction programs
in organizations include employee assistance
programs (EAPs), wellness programs, and stress
management programs.
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 16
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 17
ANNOTATED OUTLINE
1. UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS AND MOOD
A. Properties of emotions
1. Emotions are overt reactions that express feelings about events
a. Emotions always have an object – someone or something
triggers emotions.
b. The spread of spread of emotions is contagious – emotional
contagion – the tendency to mimic others’ emotional
expressions, converging with them emotionally.
c. Expression of emotions is universal – the same facial
expressions are used throughout the world.
d. Culture determines how and when people express emotions –
display rules - the degree to which it is considered acceptable
to express emotions.
B. Types of Emotions
1. Self-conscious emotions versus social emotions
a. Self-conscious emotions refer to feelings that stem from
within while social emotions refer to people’s feelings based
on information external to themselves.
2. The circumplex model of a*ect summarizes emotions in terms of two
key dimensions: activated-unactivated and pleasant-unpleasant.
C. The basic nature of mood
1. Scientists de3ne mood as an unfocused, relatively mild feeling that
exists as background to our daily experiences.
2. THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS AND MOOD IN ORGANIZATIONS
A. Are happier people more successful on their jobs?
1. Job performance
2. Income
B. Why are happier people more successful?
1. Decision quality
2. Evaluation
3. Cooperation
C. A*ective events theory
1. A%ective events theory identi3es various factors that lead to
people’s emotional reactions on the job and how these reactions a*ect
those individuals.
2. Emotional labor - the degree to which people have to work hard to
display what they believe are appropriate emotions on the job.
3. Daily hassles – unpleasant or undesirable events that put people in
bad moods.
4. Daily uplifts - pleasant or desirable events that put people in good
moods.
3. MANAGING EMOTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS
A. Developing emotional intelligence
1. Emotional intelligence – consists of four components:
a. Self-awareness
b. Self management
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 18
c. Social awareness
d. Relationship management
2. Two dimensions
a. Focus of attention
b. Form of response
B. Coping with emotional dissonance
1. Emotional dissonance – refers to the con0ict between the emotion
you feel and the one you are required to express.
a. Felt emotions – emotions people actually experience
b. Displayed emotions – emotions people actually show
C. Controlling anger (Before it Controls You)
1. Anger – a heightened state of emotional arousal
2. Anger management - systematic e*orts to reduce people’s
emotional feelings of anger and the physiological arousal it causes
4. THE BASIC NATURE OF STRESS
Ninety percent of American workers report feeling stressed at least once a
week and 40 percent describe their jobs as very stressful most of the time.
Stress is the pattern of emotional and physiological reactions occurring in
response to demands from within or outside organizations.
Stressors ― demands, either physical or psychological in nature,
encountered during the course of living.
A. Stressors in organizations
1. Acute stressors ― bring on some sudden change requiring people to
make unwanted adjustments
2. Episodic stressors ― result of experiencing lots of acute stressors in
a short period of time
3. Chronic stressors ― most extreme stressors that are constant and
unrelenting, and have a long-term e*ect on the body, mind, and spirit
B. Cognitive appraisal process
1. Assessment of the dangers associated with any potential stressor
based on cognitive appraisal ― the process of judging the extent to
which an environmental event is a potential source of stress.
2. Flight response ― instant appraisal of condition of danger
a. Managers need to recognize what they can do to ensure that
potential stressors are assessed accurately.
C. Bodily responses to stressors
1. Strain ― deviations from normal states of human function resulting
from exposure to stressful events.
2. Burnout ― a syndrome of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion
coupled with feelings of low self-esteem or low self-eEcacy, resulting
from prolonged exposure to intense stress and the strain reactions
following from them.
5. MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE
A. Occupational demands
1. Several features of the job determine the levels of stress they
generate.
a. Decision making
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 19
b. Constant monitoring of devises or materials
c. Repeatedly exchanging information with others
d. Working in unpleasant physical conditions
e. Performing unstructured rather than structured tasks
B. Con0ict between work and non-work
1. Role con,ict ― incompatibilities in the various sets of obligations
people have within organizations
2. Role juggling ― rapidly switching between demands of work and
family
C. Role ambiguity: stress from uncertainty
1. Role ambiguity ― when people are uncertain about several aspects
of their jobs.
a. Scope of responsibilities
b. What’s expected
c. Time management among various duties
D. Overload: so much work, so little time
1. Quantitative overload ― belief that one is required to do more work
than can possibly be completed in a speci3c period.
2. Qualitative overload ― belief that one lacks the required skills or
abilities to perform a given job.
3. Information anxiety ― pressure to store and process information in
our heads and keep up with it all.
E. Responsibility for others: a heavy burden
1. In general, responsibility for other people is associated with higher
levels of stress.
F. Lack of social support: the costs of isolation
1. Social support ― the friendship and support of others at work.
2. Sources of support help in several ways:
a. Boosting self-esteem
b. Sharing information
c. Providing diversion
d. Giving needed resources
6. ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS
A. Lowered task performance ― but only sometimes
1. Adverse relationship between stress and job performance does not
always hold.
B. Desk rage
1. Desk rage ― lashing out at others in response to stressful encounters
on the job.
C. Stress and health: the silent killer
1. Estimates suggest that stress is a factor in 50 to 70 percent of all forms
of physical illness.
7. REDUCING STRESS: WHAT CAN BE DONE?
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 20
A. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) ― systematic programs within
organizations that provide employees with help for various personal problems
1. Member Assistance Programs (MAPs) are similar programs
administered by trade unions
B. Stress management programs ― training employees in techniques that
they can use to become less adversely a*ected by stress
Winning
Practices
Three Novel Approaches to Fighting the Battle Against Stress
Use Winning Practices Case for class discussion on company investment in e*orts to reduce
the stress of their employees and the bene3ts that are derived from these e*orts.
C. Wellness programs ― systematic e*orts at training employees to promote
healthy lifestyles
D. Managing your own stress
1. Manage your time wisely
a. Time management – the practice of taking control over how
we spend time
2. Eat a healthy diet and be physically 3t
3. Relax and meditate
4. Get a good night’s sleep
5. Avoid inappropriate self-talk
6. Take a time out
Self-Assessment Exercise What Is Your EI?
Students should consider the following upon completion of the exercise.
1. How successful were you at being able to predict the one response in each set of
alternatives that re0ected high emotional intelligence? (In other words, how closely
did your responses to scoring point number 1 match the correct responses indicated
in each scoring point number 2)?
2. How did your EQ compare to what you thought it would be? How did it compare to
those of other people in your class?
3. For item 7, why do you think the high EI answer was alternative “c” instead of “b”?
What does this scoring reveal about standing up for others as an aspect of emotional
intelligence?
You Be the Consultant Suggested Answers
1. Assuming that levels of stress are high in the company, what problems would you
expect to see in individuals, both physiologically and with respect to their job
performance?
Student answers will vary. Key points are presented in bullet form.
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 21
2. What steps can the company take to reduce the levels of stress encountered on the
job?
3. You consider the possibility that the stress stems from having the wrong people in
the job. What could you do to ensure that the people who work in your company are
particularly well-suited to the jobs they perform?
©2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 22
