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Chapter 4
Emotions and Moods
Chapter Overview
This chapter examines the effect of moods and emotions on the
workplace. Humans are emotional creatures, and to ignore this fact during work hours is
Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Differentiate emotions from moods and list the basic emotions
and moods.
3. Show the impact emotional labor has on employees.
5. Apply concepts of emotions and moods to OB issues.
6. Contrast the experience, interpretation, and the expression of emotions across
cultures.
Suggested Lecture Outline
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Emotions do have an effect on behavior. Nevertheless, until recently OB has not
given much research attention to the subject. There are two primary reasons for
this inattention.
2. Wide-standing belief that emotions of any kind were disruptive in the work
environment.
B. Certainly some emotions, particularly when exhibited at the wrong time, can
hinder employee performance.
1. This doesn’t change the fact that employees bring their emotional sides with
them to work every day and that no study of OB would be comprehensive
without considering the role of emotions in workplace behavior.
II. WHAT ARE EMOTIONS AND MOODS?
1. Three closely related terms must be defined before we can
explore the subject.
Exhibit 4.1
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a. Affect: the generic term that covers a broad range of
feelings that people experience. It’s an umbrella concept
1) Emotions are more fleeting than moods.
2) Emotions tend to be clearly revealed through facial expressions and are
often action-oriented.
3) Emotions are reactions to a person (seeing a friend at work may make
4) You show your emotions when you’re “happy about something, angry at
someone, afraid of something.”
c. Moods: the feelings that tend to be less intense than
emotions and often lack a contextual stimulus.
2) Moods are more cognitive, meaning they cause us to think or brood
about a subject for a while.
3) Moods aren’t usually directed at a person or an event.
d. Emotions can turn into moods when you lose focus on the event or object
that started the feeling.
2) So when a colleague criticizes how you spoke to a client, you might show
emotion (anger) toward a specific object (your colleague).
3) This affect state describes a mood. Exhibit 4-1 shows the relationships
among affect, emotions, and mood.
2. Exhibit 4-1 shows important relationships.
1) Some of these differences—that emotions are more likely to be caused
2) Other differences are subtler.
a) For example, unlike moods, emotions like anger and disgust tend to
be more clearly revealed by facial expressions.
PPT 4.4
PPT 4.5
1) Getting your dream job may generate the emotion of joy, which can put
you in a good mood for several days.
2) Similarly, if you’re in a good or bad mood, it might make you experience
a more intense positive or negative emotion than otherwise.
3. Affect, emotions, and moods are separable in theory; in practice the distinction
isn’t always crystal clear.
a. In some areas, researchers have studied mostly moods, in other areas
mainly emotions.
b. So, when we review the OB topics on emotions and moods, you may see
more information on emotions in one area and on moods in another.
B. The Basic Emotions.
1. There are dozens of emotions
a. Include anger, contempt, enthusiasm, envy, fear, frustration,
1) But some argue that it makes no sense to think in terms of “basic”
2. It’s unlikely psychologists or philosophers will ever completely agree on a set of
basic emotions, or even on whether there is such a thing.
3. Many researchers have agreed on six essentially universal emotions.
2) We sometimes mistake happiness for surprise, but rarely do we confuse
happiness and disgust.
C. The Basic Moods: Positive and Negative Affect.
1. One way to classify emotions is whether they are positive or negative.
a. Positive Emotions. Express a favorable evaluation or feeling, such as joy and
gratitude.
1) Positive Affect. The mood dimension consisting of positive emotions
2) Positivity Offset. At zero input, when no stimulus is provided, most
people experience a mildly positive mood. In fact, positive moods tend
to be more common than negative ones.
b. Negative Emotions. Express the opposite, such as anger or guilt.
1) Negative Affect. The mood dimension consisting of nervousness, stress,
2. By grouping emotions into positive and negative categories,
Exhibit 4.2
1) No matter what time a person goes to bed or gets up in the morning, the
2) Negative affect however, shows little fluctuation throughout the day.
3. Weather. When do you think you would be in a better mood—when it’s 70
degrees and sunny or on a gloomy, cold, rainy day?
a. Many people believe their mood is tied to the weather.
However, a fairly large and detailed body of evidence
conducted by multiple researchers suggests weather has little effect on
4. Stress. As you might imagine, stressful daily events at work (a nasty e-mail, an
impending deadline, the loss of a big sale, a reprimand from the boss) negatively
affect moods.
5. Social Activities. Social activities can have a dramatic effect on mood and
longevity.
6. Sleep. Sleep does affect mood.
7. Exercise. Research has shown that exercise does enhance
people’s positive mood.
8. Age. Negative emotions tend to occur less often as people get older.
9. Sex. Many believe women are more emotional than men. Is there any truth to
this?
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a. Evidence does confirm women are more emotionally expressive than men;
they experience emotions more intensely, they tend to “hold onto” emotions
III. EMOTIONAL LABOR
A. Jobs require emotional labor, an employee’s expression of
organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal
transactions at work.
1. The concept of emotional labor emerged from studies of service jobs.
B. This disparity is emotional dissonance, and it can take a heavy toll.
1. Bottled-up feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment can eventually lead to
emotional exhaustion and burnout. It’s from the increasing importance of
1. Felt emotions are an individual’s actual emotions.
2. In contrast, displayed emotions are those that the organization requires
workers to show and considers appropriate in a given job.
1) A salesperson who hasn’t learned to smile and appear friendly, despite
his or her true feelings at the moment, typically won’t last long in the job.
2) How we experience an emotion isn’t always the same as how we show it.
3. Displaying fake emotions requires us to suppress real ones.
1) A worker who smiles at a customer even when he doesn’t feel like it is
surface acting.
3) Research shows surface acting is more stressful to employees because it
1) A health care provider trying to genuinely feel more empathy for her
patients is deep acting.
2) Displaying emotions we don’t really feel is exhausting, so it is important
to give employees who engage in surface displays a chance to relax and
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2. Despite some evidence to the contrary, people experiencing bad moods or
negative emotions are more likely to take a significant amount of time to make a
decision and may not come up with a better solution than would people in good
moods.
D. Creativity. People in good moods tend to be more creative than people in bad
moods.
1. They produce more ideas and more options, and others think their ideas are
2. Supervisors should actively try to keep employees happy because doing so
3. Some researchers, however, do not believe a positive mood makes people more
creative.
1) Rather than looking at positive or negative affect, it’s possible to
2) All the activating moods, whether positive or negative, seem to lead to
more creativity, whereas deactivating moods lead to less.
E. Motivation. Several studies have highlighted the importance
of moods and emotions on motivation.
1. One study set two groups of people to solving word
puzzles.
2. The second study found that giving people performance feedback—whether real
or fake—influenced their mood, which then influenced their motivation.
3. Another study looked at the moods of insurance sales agents in Taiwan.
a. Agents in a good mood were more helpful toward their co-workers and also
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F. Leadership.
1. Effective leaders rely on emotional appeals to help convey their messages.
a. In fact, the expression of emotions in speeches is often the critical element
2. Corporate executives know emotional content is critical if employees are to buy
into their vision of the company’s future and accept change.
a. When higher-ups offer new visions, especially with vague or distant goals, it
is often difficult for employees to accept the changes they’ll bring.
G. Negotiation.
1. Negotiation is an emotional process; however, we often say a skilled negotiator
has a “poker face.”
a. Several studies have shown that a negotiator who feigns anger has an
2. Displaying a negative emotion (such as anger) can be effective, but feeling bad
about your performance appears to impair future negotiations. Individuals who
3. Interestingly, then, while moods and emotions have benefits at work, in
negotiation—unless we’re putting up a false front like feigning anger—emotions
may impair negotiator performance.
H. Customer Service.
1. A worker’s emotional state influences customer service, which influences levels
of repeat business and of customer satisfaction.
3. Over time, this state can lead to job burnout, declines in job performance, and
lower job satisfaction.
5. Studies indicate a matching effect between employee and customer emotions
called emotional contagion—the “catching” of emotions from others.
a. Emotional contagion is important because customers who catch the positive
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moods or emotions of employees shop longer.
b. When an employee feels unfairly treated by a customer, for example, it’s
harder for him to display the positive emotions his organization expects of
him.
I. Job Attitudes. Ever hear the advice “Never take your work home
with you,” meaning you should forget about work once you go
home?
1. Several studies have shown people who had a good day at work tend to be in a
better mood at home that evening, and vice versa.
3. As most married readers might suspect, if one member of the couple was in a
4. In other words, if you’ve had a bad day at work, your spouse is likely to have an
unpleasant evening. Even though people do emotionally take their work home
with them, however, by the next day the effect is usually gone.
J. Deviant Workplace Behaviors.
1. Anyone who has spent much time in an organization realizes people often
behave in ways that violate established norms and threaten the organization, its
1) Many can be traced to negative emotions.
2) For instance, envy is an emotion that occurs when you resent someone
3) An envious employee could backstab another employee, negatively
4) Angry people look for other people to blame for their bad mood,
interpret other people’s behavior as hostile, and have trouble
1) Once aggression starts, it’s likely that other people will become angry
and aggressive, so the stage is set for a serious escalation of negative
behavior.
K. Safety and Injury at Work.
1. Bad moods can contribute to injury at work in several ways.
a. Individuals in negative moods tend to be more anxious, which can make
them less able to cope effectively with hazards.
c. Negative moods also make people more distractible, and distractions can
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obviously lead to careless behaviors.
L. How Managers Can Influence Moods? You can usually
2. When leaders are in good moods, group members are more positive, and as a
result they cooperate more.
3. Finally, selecting positive team members can have a contagion effect as positive
moods transmit from team member to team member.
VI. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
A. Emotions and moods are relevant for virtually every OB topic.
2. Emotions and positive moods appear to facilitate effective decision making and
creativity.
4. Leaders rely on emotions to increase their effectiveness.
6. The experience of emotions is closely linked to job attitudes and behaviors that
follow from attitudes.
7. Managers who understand the role of emotions and moods will significantly
improve their ability to explain and predict co-workers’ and employees’
behavior.
B. Keep in Mind…
2. Positive emotions can increase problem-solving skills, and
help us understand and analyze new information.
Discussion Questions
1. Describe the three major emotional terms. How are they related and how do they
differ?
Answer: (1) Affect: the generic term that covers a broad range of feelings that
people experience. It’s an umbrella concept that encompasses both emotions and
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2. Web Crawling. Using your favorite search engine. Search on the term “emotions in
the workplace” and find five webpages related to this chapter. Read the webpages
3. Teamwork. As a small group, search for articles and webpages on workplace
violence and emotion (try a search term of “going postal workplace”). Discuss the
4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). What is the prevalent mood of
your workplace? Spend a week carefully observing three employees at your place of
work. Attempt to assess their moods and the impact these moods have on behavior
throughout the day. How well did their initial mood predict their behaviors later in
the day? What could you have done, if you were the manager, to change these
moods and behaviors in a positive way?
Suggested Assignments
EI Debate. For this activity, divide the class into two equal groups: one of which will be
for the concept of Emotional Intelligence, while the other group will be against it. Select
two students who will be the spokesperson for each half. Either select three students to
act as a panel of judges or bring in three outside individuals to act as neutral judges.
The instructor will act as the debate moderator.
The purpose of this debate is to explore the ramifications of mood and emotion in
the workplace has expressed in the concept of emotional intelligence.
Setup.
a. Each half of the class has 30 minutes to prepare their initial points regarding
their position. The instructor may choose to give the pro and con positions
to either half of the class or the instructor may let the class decide which
position each half takes.
b. The proposition before the floor is “Should Emotional Intelligence, as a
concept, be removed from the study of organizational behavior?”
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iii. Open the rebuttal to the two large groups: to do this effectively,
allow five questions per side. Moderator selects questions by
recognizing one of the members of a large group. A volunteer from
the opposing group is allowed to answer the question. The
volunteer may be aided verbally or with notes by his or her group.
Allow the con party to ask the first question, and then the pro-party to ask
their first question after they’ve responded. Rotate the questions, side by
side, until all 10 have been answered.
g. At the conclusion of the rebuttal, have the judges award the debate to the
appropriate side. Have the judges explain why that side won the debate by
recapping the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments on both sides.