1. Emotions, Moods and Stress

2. Why Were Emotions Ignored in OB?
• The “Myth of Rationality”
– Emotions were seen as irrational
– Managers worked to make emotion-
free environments
• View of Emotionality
– Emotions were believed to be
disruptive
– Emotions interfered with productivity
– Only negative emotions were
observed
• Now it has been accepted that
emotions can’t be separated from
the workplace

3. What are Emotions and Moods?

4. The Basic Emotions
• While not universally accepted, there appear
to be six basic emotions:
1. Anger
2. Fear
3. Sadness
4. Happiness
5. Disgust
6. Surprise
• All other emotions are subsumed under these
six
• May even be placed in a spectrum of emotion:
– Happiness – surprise – fear – sadness – anger -
disgust

5. Basic Moods: Positive and Negative Affect
• Emotions cannot be neutral.
• Emotions (“markers”) are grouped into general
mood states.
• Mood states affect perception and therefore
perceived reality.

6. What Is the Function of Emotion?
• Do Emotions Make Us Irrational?
– Expressing emotions publicly may be damaging
to social status
– Emotions are critical to rational decision-making
– Emotions help us understand the world around
us
• What Functions Do Emotions Serve?
– Darwin argued they help in survival problem-
solving
– Evolutionary psychology: people must experience
emotions as there is a purpose behind them
– Not all researchers agree with this assessment

7. Sources of Emotion and Mood
• Personality
– There is a trait component – affect intensity
• Day and Time of the Week
– There is a common pattern for all of us
• Happier in the midpoint of the daily awake period
• Happier toward the end of the week
• Weather
– Illusory correlation – no effect
• Stress
– Even low levels of constant stress can worsen moods
• Social Activities
– Physical, informal, and dining activities increase positive
moods

8. More Sources of Emotion and Mood
• Sleep
– Poor sleep quality increases negative affect
• Exercise
– Does somewhat improve mood, especially for
depressed people
• Age
– Older folks experience fewer negative emotions
• Gender
– Women tend to be more emotionally expressive,
feel emotions more intensely, have longer-lasting
moods, and express emotions more frequently than
do men

9. Emotional Labor- An employee’s expression of
organizationally desired emotions during
interpersonal transactions at work- people
striving to ensure display of appropriate
emotions.
•Emotional Dissonance: Employees have to
project one emotion while simultaneously feeling
another. Can be very damaging, cause stress and
lead to burnout
•Types of Emotions:
– Felt: the individual’s actual emotions
– Displayed: required or appropriate emotions
• Surface Acting: displaying appropriately but not feeling
those emotions internally
• Deep Acting: changing internal feelings to match display
rules - very stressful

10. • BURNOUT- is a state of emotional, mental, and physical
exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Occurs
when a person feels overwhelmed and unable to meet constant
demands. As the stress continues, one begins to lose interest or
motivation that can lead one to take on a certain role.
• Reduces productivity and saps energy, leaves a person feeling
increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually,
the person may feel like they have nothing more to give.
• More common than depression, almost exclusively associated
with work-related stressors
• Symptoms include
– Emotional and physical exhaustion
– Disturbed sleep
– Absence of any positive feelings about work
– futility
– A cynical perspective associated with work

11. The Development of Burnout
(from Cordes & Dougherty, 1993)
STRESSORS ORIGINATING
IN THE INDIVIDUAL FEELINGS OF LACK OF
• high expectations of achievement PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• high expectations of the organisation
• high involvement in job
DEPERSONALISATION
Callousness towards and withdrawal
EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION from colleagues and clients
BURNOUT SYMPTOMS
STRESSORS ORIGINATING • frustration
IN THE ORGANISATION • physical exhaustion
• role overload • negative feelings about job
• role conflict • feelings of helplessness and futility
• necessity for frequent interpersonal • cynicism about work
interactions with clients • withdrawal from social interaction

12. Affective Events Theory (AET)
• An event in the work environment triggers
positive or negative emotional reactions
– Personality and mood determine response intensity
– Emotions can influence a broad range of work variables

13. Implications of AET
1. An emotional episode is actually the result of a series of
emotional experiences triggered by a single event
2. Current and past emotions affect job satisfaction
3. Emotional fluctuations over time create variations in job
performance
4. Emotion-driven behaviors are typically brief and variable
5. Both negative and positive emotions can distract workers
and reduce job performance
• Emotions provide valuable insights about behavior
• Emotions, and the minor events that cause them,
should not be ignored at work: they accumulate

14. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
• A person’s ability to:
– Be self-aware
• Recognizing own emotions when experienced
– Detect emotions in others
– Manage emotional cues and information
• EI plays an important role in job performance
• EI is controversial and not wholly accepted
– Case for EI:
• Intuitive appeal; predicts criteria that matter; is
biologically-based.
– Case against EI:
• Too vague a concept; can’t be measured; its validity is
suspect.
• NEW WAYS OF ASSESSING EI HAVE BEEN
DEVELOPED AND BEING USED SUCCESSFULLY

15. Components of Emotional Intelligence
Definition Hallmark
The ability to recognize and understand your Self-confidence
Self moods, emotions and drives as well as their Realistic Self development
Awareness effects on others Self-deprecating sense of
humor
The ability to control or redirect disruptive Trustworthiness & integrity
Self- impulses and moods. The propensity to suspend Comfort with ambiguity
Regulation judgment to think before acting Openness to change
A passion to work for reasons that go beyond Strong drive to achieve
Motivation money or status Optimism, even in the face of
The propensity to suspend judgement –to think failure
before acting Organizational commitment
The ability to understand the emotional makeup Expertise in building and
Empathy of other people retaining talent
Skill in treating people according to their Cross-cultural sensitivity
emotional reactions Service to clients and customers
Proficiency in managing relationships and Effectiveness in leading change
Social Skills building networks Persuasiveness
An ability to find common group & build rapport Expertise in building & leading
teams

16. How then can one improve
Emotional intelligence?
• Pay attention to self and other’s body
language
• Listen more; speak less- develops empathy
• Get curious, not furious- Watch what you say
especially when frustrated or annoyed. Reframe
negative emotions into curiosity - " ... this makes
absolutely no sense to me" can be replaced with,
"Do you see something in this that I must be
missing”
• Elicit pride in others – Reason for working
together
• Remember that emotions are contagious - A
dominant person's emotions (negative or positive)
always influences others. Leaders should be careful
to show only those emotions, which they want to
see in others

17. OB Applications of Emotions and Moods
• Selection
– EI should be a hiring factor, especially for social
jobs.
• Decision Making
– Positive emotions can lead to better decisions.
• Creativity
– Positive mood increases flexibility, openness, and
creativity.
• Motivation
– Positive mood affects expectations of success;
feedback amplifies this effect.
• Leadership
– Emotions are important to acceptance of messages
from organizational leaders.

18. More OB Applications of Emotions
and Moods
• Negotiation
– Emotions, skillfully displayed, can affect negotiations
• Customer Services
– Emotions affect service quality delivered to customers
which, in turn, affects customer relationships
– Emotional Contagion: “catching” emotions from others
• Job Attitudes
– Can carry over to home, but dissipate overnight
• Deviant Workplace Behaviors
– Negative emotions lead to employee deviance (actions
that violate norms and threaten the organization)
• Manager’s Influence
– Leaders who are in a good mood, use humor, and praise
employees increase positive moods in the workplace.

19. Work Stress
• Stress
– A dynamic condition in which an individual is
confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or
demand related to what he or she desires and for
which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain
and important
• Types of Stress
– Challenge Stressors
• Stress associated with workload, pressure to complete
tasks, and time urgency
– Hindrance Stressors
• Stress that keeps you from reaching your goals, such
as red tape
• Cause greater harm than challenge stressors

20. Demands-Resources Model of Stress
• Demands
– Responsibilities, pressures, obligations, and
uncertainties in the workplace
• Resources
– Things within an individual’s control that can be
used to resolve demands
• Adequate resources help reduce the stressful
nature of demands

21. Moderators of Stress
These factors affect the way one experiences stress, how
the person reacts to and deals with stress
• Personal Characteristics:
–Self-efficacy: person’s belief in his or her ability to act in a
certain way (to adapt to change)
–Hardiness: psychological characteristics like commitment,
challenge and control that help a person withstand the
effects of stress
–Negative Affectivity: a tendency to focus strongly on the
negative aspects of work and life
• Lifestyle: Type A and Type B behaviours
• Social Support: emotional support received through
interaction with other people
• Appraisal of Stress: a person’s perception of a stressor
• Life Events: significant changes at work or outside that
people undergo

22. A Model of Stress

23. Consequences of Stress
• Stressors are additive: high levels of stress
can lead to the following symptoms
– Physiological
• Blood pressure, headaches, stroke
– Psychological
• Dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety, irritability,
boredom, and procrastination
• Greatest when roles are unclear in the presence of
conflicting demands
– Behavioral
• Changes in job behaviors, increased smoking or
drinking, different eating habits, rapid speech,
fidgeting, sleep disorders

24. Not All Stress Is Bad
• Some level of stress can increase productivity
• Too little or too much stress will reduce
performance
• This model is not empirically supported

25. Coping with stress
• Emotion-focussed: reaction to the situation
by attempting to remove or lower its
emotional effects without actually trying to do
anything about the situation itself
• Problem-focussed: action on the situation by
attempting to tackle the stressors behind the
problem and thereby attempting to change
the situation

26. Managing Stress
• Individual Approaches
– Implementing time management
– Increasing physical exercise
– Relaxation training
– Expanding social support network
• Organizational Approaches
– Improved personnel selection and job placement
– Training
– Use of realistic goal setting
– Redesigning of jobs
– Increased employee involvement
– Improved organizational communication
– Offering employee sabbaticals
– Establishment of corporate wellness programs

27. • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)-provide employees with
assistance for various personal problems (e.g., substance abuse,
career planning, family, financial and legal problems etc.)
Techniques used in EAP include individual level initiatives offered
to employees such as counselling & consulting services, mostly
through a consultant
• Wellness Programs- focus on an employee’s total physical and
mental conditions.
• Areas covered include workshops to quit smoking, control alcohol
use, develop a regular exercise programme, nutrition etc.
• A study of eight Canadian organisations found that every dollar
spent on their wellness programmes generated a return of $ 1.64;
and for high-risk employees like smokers, the return was nearly $ 4
(Brown, 2001)

28. Summary and Managerial Implications
• Emotions and moods impact all areas of OB
• Managers must not ignore the emotions of
their co-workers and employees
• Behavior predictions will be less accurate if
emotions are not taken into account
• Stress can be good or bad for employees
• Despite possible improvements in job
performance caused by stress, such
improvements come at the cost of increased
job dissatisfaction

29. You can buy people’s time; you can buy their physical
presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured
number of muscular motions per hour. But you cannot buy
enthusiasm…you cannot buy loyalty…you cannot buy the
devotion of their hearts. This you must earn!!
EI is being seen as an excellent medium to enhance
the environment, culture, leadership and team
dynamic within an organization.

30. THANK YOU!!
For your time and attention.
And
CONGRATULATIONS!