Beyond Positivity: A Review of Functional Outcomes of Negative Emotions at Work

Organizational scholars examining the effects of emotions on employees generally assume that negative emotions produce negative outcomes. However, a nascent body of research challenges this view, suggesting that negative emotions can help employees navigate work demands arising from disruptive external events. We draw on the COVID-19 pandemic—a salient, prolonged event that stimulated widespread negative emotions—as a theoretically meaningful context to explore when and why negative emotions may yield beneficial outcomes. Specifically, we identify two pathways through which negative emotions produce functional individual-level outcomes at work. Our findings challenge and extend discrete emotion and affective shift theories by detailing how and under what conditions negative emotions from disruptive events can have functional outcomes.

When job performance is all relative: How family motivation energizes effort and compensates for intrinsic motivation

Supporting one’s family is a major reason why many people work, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of family motivation. Drawing on theories of prosocial motivation and action identification, we propose that family motivation increases job performance by enhancing energy and reducing stress, and it is especially important when intrinsic motivation is lacking. Survey and diary data collected across multiple time points in a Mexican maquiladora generally support our model. Specifically, we find that family motivation enhances job performance when intrinsic motivation is low—in part by providing energy, but not by reducing stress. We conclude that supporting a family provides a powerful source of motivation that can boost performance in the workplace, offering meaningful implications for research on motivation and the dynamics of work and family engagement.

The microfoundations of organizational social networks: A review and an agenda for future research

This paper focuses on an emergent debate about the microfoundations of organizational social networks. We consider three theoretical positions: an individual agency perspective suggesting that people, through their individual characteristics and cognitions, shape networks; a network patterning perspective suggesting that networks, through their structural configuration, form people; and a coevolution perspective suggesting that people, in their idiosyncrasies, and networks, in their differentiated structures, coevolve. We conclude that individual attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes cannot be fully understood without considering the structuring of organizational contexts in which people are embedded, and that social network structuring and change in organizations cannot be fully understood without considering the psychology of purposive individuals.

Strategic use of emotional intelligence in organizational settings: Exploring the dark side

Emotional intelligence (EI) comprises a set of abilities related to detecting, using, understanding and managing emotion. Research and discussion of EI has neglected the possibility that individuals high in EI may use their skills to advance their own interests, even at the expense of others. The emotionally intelligent person may be able to assess and control emotions to facilitate the accomplishment of various goals, including the one of getting ahead. We suggest that high-EI people (relative to those low on EI) are likely to benefit from several strategic behaviors in organizations including: focusing emotion detection on important others, disguising and expressing emotions for personal gain, using misattribution to stir and shape emotions, and controlling the flow of emotion-laden communication. In addressing self-serving benefits, we reveal the dark side of EI and open new areas for research.

Getting Explicit About the Implicit: A Taxonomy of Implicit Measures and Guide for Their Use in Organizational Research

Accumulated evidence from social and cognitive psychology suggests that many behaviors are driven by processes operating outside of awareness, and an array of implicit measures to capture such processes have been developed. Implicit measures have received relatively modest attention within the organizational sciences, due in part to barriers to entry and uncertainty about appropriate use of available measures. The current article is intended to serve as an implicit measurement ‘‘toolkit’’ for organizational scholars, and as such our goals are fourfold. First, we present theory critical to implicit measures, highlighting advantages of capturing implicit processes in organizational research. Second, we present a functional taxonomy of implicit measures and explicate assumptions and appropriate use of each. Third, we discuss key criteria to help researchers identify specific implicit measures most appropriate for their own work. Fourth, we conclude by identifying avenues for impactful ‘‘next-generation’’ research within the organizational sciences that would benefit from the use of implicit measures.

Transformational leadership climate: Performance linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions at the organizational level

Transformational leadership (TFL) climate describes the degree to which leaders throughout an organization engage in TFL behaviors. In this study, we investigate performance linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions of TFL climate at the organizational level of analysis. In a sample of 158 independent organizations, 18,094 employees provided data on TFL climate, positive affective climate, trust climate, and employees' task performance behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, human resource managers rated overall employee productivity. Study results yielded a pattern of moderated mediation for overall employee productivity and employees' aggregate task performance behavior, in that an organization's TFL climate was indirectly related with these outcome variables under conditions of high trust climate, but not under conditions of low trust climate. Further, we found an organization's TFL climate to indirectly relate with employees' aggregate organizational citizenship behavior through positive affective climate, largely independent of the level of trust climate.

Group emotions: Cutting the Gordian knots concerning terms, levels of analysis, and processes

Research has established that groups are pervaded by feelings. But group emotion research within organizational science has suffered from a lack of terminological clarity, a narrow focus on small groups, and an overemphasis on micro-processes of emotion transmission. We address those problems by reviewing and systematically integrating relevant work conducted in organizational science, psychology and sociology. We offer a definition of group emotions and sort the conceptual space along four dimensions: group emotion responses, recognition, regulation, and reiteration. We provide evidence that group emotions occur at all levels of analysis, including levels beyond small work groups. The accounts of group emotion emergence at higher levels of analysis differ substantially between organizational science, psychology and sociology. We review these accounts and then synthesize them into one parsimonious model. The consequences of different group emotions are reviewed and further constructs are discussed. We end with a call for future research on several neglected topics including the study of discrete shared emotions and effects on group functioning.

Charisma and organizational change: A multilevel study of perceived charisma, commitment to change, and team performance

What makes people perceive a leader as charismatic, and how do team leaders obtain performance outcomes from their followers? We examine leaders in times of organizational change and investigate the mechanisms through which leaders' change-promoting behaviors are associated with team performance. In a multilevel mediation model, we propose that the indirect relationship between change-promoting behaviors and team performance is sequentially transmitted through followers' perceptions of charisma and followers' commitment to change. A study of 33 leaders and 142 followers provides empirical support for the model, using multilevel structural equation modeling to analyze top-down relationships between leaders and followers and bottom-up relationships between followers and team outcomes. Results suggest that team leaders are perceived as more charismatic when they engage in change-promoting behaviors. These behaviors facilitate team performance through individual followers' perceived charisma and commitment to change.

The meaning of my feelings depends on who I am: Work-related identifications shape emotion effects in organizations

Theory and research on affect in organizations has mostly approached emotions from a valence perspective, suggesting that positive emotions lead to positive outcomes and negative emotions to negative outcomes for organizations. We propose that cognition resulting from emotional experiences at work cannot be assumed based on emotion valence alone. Instead, building on appraisal theory and social identity theory, we propose that individual responses to discrete emotions in organizations are shaped by, and thus depend on, work-related identifications. We elaborate on this proposition specifically with respect to turnover intentions, theorizing how three discrete emotions—anger, guilt, and pride—differentially affect turnover intentions, depending on two work-related identifications: organizational and occupational. A longitudinal study involving 135 pilot instructors reporting emotions, work-related identifications, and turnover intentions over the course of one year provides general support for our proposition. Our theory and findings advance emotion and identity theories by explaining how the effects of emotions are dependent on the psychological context in which they are experienced.

Younger supervisors, older subordinates: An organizational-level study of age differences, emotions, and performance

Younger employees are often promoted into supervisory positions in which they then manage older subordinates. Do companies benefit or suffer when supervisors and subordinates have inverse age differences? In this study, we examine how average age differences between younger supervisors and older subordinates are linked to the emotions that prevail in the workforce, and to company performance. We propose that average age differences determine how frequently older subordinates and their coworkers experience negative emotions, and that these emotion frequency levels relate to company performance. The indirect relationship between age differences and performance occurs only if subordinates express their feelings toward their supervisor, but the association is neutralized if emotions are suppressed. We find consistent evidence for this theoretical model in a study of 61 companies with multiple respondents.

Supervisor Emotionally Intelligent Behavior and Employee Creativity

In a national study of employees across industries (N = 14,645), we examined the role of supervisor emotionally intelligent behavior for employee opportunity to grow, their affect at work, and creativity/innovation at work. Employees reported on their supervisors’ emotionally intelligent behavior (perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions), and self-reported about their job experiences and creativity/innovation at work. Supervisor emotionally intelligent behavior was related to employee affect at work assessed using both open-ended questions and emotion rating scales. Furthermore, supervisor emotionally intelligent behavior was linked to employee creativity/innovation through its effect on employee opportunity to grow and higher experience of positive affect (supporting a serial mediation model). We discuss the implications of the results for creativity/innovation research and innovation management.

Remote work mindsets predict emotions and productivity in home office: A longitudinal study of knowledge workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

This study examines how individuals’ mindsets about remote work shape emotions and productivity during home-based work. Focusing on whether employees view remote work as a learnable skill (growth mindset) or as a fixed ability, the study shows that these beliefs have meaningful consequences over time. Using longitudinal data from knowledge workers working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, results indicate that individuals with a growth mindset toward remote work experience more positive emotions and higher productivity than those with a more fixed mindset. The findings highlight the psychological dimension of remote work and suggest that supporting mindset development may help organizations enhance employee well-being and performance in increasingly remote work contexts.

Between Home and Work: Commuting as an Opportunity for Role Transitions

Across the globe, people commute an average of 38 minutes each way, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of this daily routine for work-related outcomes. We propose that the commute to work serves as a liminal role transition between home and work roles, prompting employees to engage in boundary management strategies. Across three field studies, we find that lengthy morning commutes are more aversive for employees with lower trait self-control and greater work-family conflict, leading to decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover. In addition, we find that employees who engage in a specific boundary management strategy we term role-clarifying prospection, are less likely to be negatively affected by lengthy commutes to work. Results further show that employees with higher levels of trait self-control are more likely to engage in role-clarifying prospection, and employees who experience higher levels of work-family conflict are more likely to benefit from role-clarifying prospection.

Gender and Emotions at Work: Organizational Rank Has Greater Emotional Benefits for Men than Women

The way people feel is important for how they behave and perform in the workplace. Experiencing more positive−and less negative−emotions at work is often associated with greater status and power. But there may be differences in how men and women feel at work, particularly at different levels in their organizations. Using data from a nation-wide sample of working adults, we examine differences in the emotions that men and women experience at work, how gender interacts with rank to predict emotions, if the association between gender and emotions is accounted for by emotional labor demands, and if this relationship differs according to the proportion of women in an industry or organizational rank. Results demonstrate that women experience emotions associated with disvalue and strain at work more frequently than men and that organizational rank moderates the relationship between gender and several discrete emotions. Some of the effects are partially accounted for by occupational emotion demands, differing by organizational rank and/or the proportion of women employed in an industry.

How family CEOs affect employees’ feelings and behaviors: A study on positive emotions

Research suggests that firms with family CEOs differ from other types of businesses, yet surprisingly little is known about how employees in these firms feel and behave compared to those working in other firms. We draw from family science and management research to suggest that family CEOs, because of their emotion-evoking double role as family members and business leaders, are, on average, more likely to infuse employees with positive emotions, such as enthusiasm and excitement, than hired professional CEOs. We suggest that these emotions spread through firms by way of emotional contagion during interactions with employees, thereby setting the organizational affective tone. In turn, we hypothesize that in firms with family CEOs the voluntary turnover rate is lower. In considering structural features as boundary conditions, we propose that family CEOs have stronger effects in smaller and centralized firms, and weaker effects in formalized firms. Multilevel data from 497 firms with and without family CEOs provide support for our model. This research suggests that firms managed by family CEOs tend to offer pleasant work environments.