Emotions and Behavior at Work

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The role of emotions has been of great interest to business administrators who try to make employees more motivated and committed to organizational goals.

This paper will be aimed at discussing the differences between felt and displayed emotions. Moreover, it is necessary to examine their impact on workers’ well-being. Overall, it is possible to say the ability to express felt emotions is important for every worker.

A person, who has to suppress or conceal them, is more likely to feel dissatisfied with the quality of ones life or work.

Moreover, the task of managers is to maker sure that employees can see the positive aspects of their experiences in the workplace. This is how they can improve emotional wellbeing of their subordinates.

Overall, this term emotion can be defined as a short-term mental state that can be caused by any external or internal event (Fink 2009, p. 3). This mental state is based on cognitive assessment of any particular situation.

Moreover, emotions are normally accompanied by certain verbal and behavioral responses, for instance, excitement, sadness, interest, or anger. By understanding the emotions of workers, managers can better understand their needs, goals, or problems.

First, it should be noted that employees have to be skilled in managing their emotions in the workplace. They are not supposed to display those feelings or emotions that can be associated with negative experiences. (Pugh, Groth & Hennig-Thurau 2011, p. 377).

Such situation is very widespread in service organizations employees have attach much importance to their behavior or physical appearance (Pugh, Groth & Hennig-Thurau 2011, p. 377).

The felt emotions can be shaped by everyday experiences of the employees, their relations with others, their job satisfaction, the degree of empowerment, compensation, and so forth (Bono et al 2007 p. 1357).

Cognitive appraisal of the situation can give rise to a specific response, for instance, pride, enthusiasm, pleasure, boredom, and so forth. Positive emotions enhance the sense of wellbeing and increase an employee’s satisfaction with his/her work (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled 1994, p. 52).

Apart, from that they lead to such outcomes as greater motivation, willingness to take part in the teamwork, and better productivity (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled 1994, p. 52). In contrast, negative emotions often result in absenteeism, low productivity, rudeness, or lack of commitment to organizational goals.

They are associated with depression, lack of motivation, or even aggression. The thing is that emotions can be accompanied by self-reflection when a person tries to determine the cause of a particular sensation.

In particular, he/she can pay attention to those things as family relations, compensation, the nature of work, the position in the workplace hierarchy, and so forth. Overall, it is possible to say that the felt emotions reflect the well-being of an individual.

In contrast, displayed emotions can be understood only as a set of bodily and behavioral responses that a person has to display during work. From a psychological point of view one cannot even say that these responses can always be called emotions.

The thing is that emotions have to be based on the assessment of events or situation. Very often displayed emotions run contrary to the actual experiences of an employee (Lapointe et al 2012, p. 3). They do not always correspond to a person’s views, sensations, attitudes, or values.

Employees often have to fake the emotions that they display. This issue should be taken into account by managers who try to motivate their employees. For instance, they should remember that in many cases such emotions as excitement or enthusiasm can be faked.

The expression of felt emotions helps a person because in this way he/she can better understand ones experiences. More importantly, other people can detect that this individual can have some psychological problems and assist him/her if it is necessary.

Therefore, displayed emotions can be viewed as a positive phenomenon when they really reflect the well-being of a person.

Nevertheless, behavioral norms established in many organizations prohibit the display of felt emotions, especially if they are negative ones. Psychologists argue that employees have to be skilled in emotional labor or surface acting (Scott & Barnes 2011, p. 116).

In many cases, people have to display positive emotions such as optimism, interest, admiration, enthusiasm, and so forth. Unfortunately, they are often faked. The researchers often try to examine the effects of this surface acting on an individual.

The study carried out by Pugh, Groth and Hennig-Thurau (2007) suggests that a person who is engaged in such surface acting, often experiences the so-called emotional dissonance (p. 377).

In other words, this individual sees that his/her experiences and feelings do not correspond to those behavioral or verbal responses that he/she has to give (Pugh, Groth & Hennig-Thurau 2007, p. 377).

It is assumed that such behavior can lead to mood disorders, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and lack of motivation (Pugh, Groth & Hennig-Thurau 2007, p. 386). Overall, employees, who have to be engaged in surface acting, feel this lack of authenticity, and their wellbeing usually deteriorates.

Admittedly, such effects do not manifest themselves in every case. Some people are quite capable to work under such circumstances, and emotional dissonance does not usually impact their well-being. Nevertheless, one should take into account that the effects of emotional dissonance can be rather dangerous.

The thing is that a person, who has to display unfelt emotions, can actually behave aggressively at home. It should be noted that the most concealed emotion is anger (Mann 2009, p. 32). Sooner or later a person can give vent to this emotion, and very often the relatives of this individual have to suffer because they may not even know what caused this anger.

These are possible effects of displaying or suppressing emotions. In most cases, they adversely affect the wellbeing of an individual.

Researchers believe that the task of business administrators is to address emotional dissonance of employees. Their goal is to make sure that work experiences of employees are positive ones (Schmisseur 2003, p. 2). There are several things that managers should do.

First, they should recognize and reward the successful performance of their workers. Secondly, they have to empower workers and allow them to take initiatives. These people have to feel that their experience and skills are valued by the management.

This is how one can improve the wellbeing of workers and avoid emotional dissonance. They should remember that positive emotions displayed by an employee can correspond to his inner experiences.

Yet, it is positive when a worker feels that he/she is an important part of a company. These people should associate their work with some positive experiences such as professional fulfillment, success, or empowerment. Therefore, their felt and displayed emotions will be positive.

Secondly, managers should take into account that some external environment can affect the emotions of a worker.

For instance, family problems can be a very powerful stressor and it may be difficult for an employee to display happiness or willingness to assist a customer at any cost. It will be difficult for him/her to control displayed emotions.

Thus, managers should provide their employees with an opportunity for displaying the emotions that they really experience. Some companies prefer to hire a counselor who is able to discuss various issues with employees, in particular, they can speak about workplace conflicts, family quarrels, job dissatisfaction, and so forth.

The very discussion of such problems can contribute to emotional wellbeing of an employee. Psychologists believe that social support received from peers or supervisors is important for emotional well-being of an employee (Schmisseur 2003, p. 7). The thing is that it can mitigate the negative effects of emotional dissonance.

On the whole, these examples show that successful performance in the modern workplace requires the ability to control ones emotions. These mental states affect people’s attitude toward their work, their relations with others, and their overall wellbeing.

Managers should know that felt and displayed emotions do not always coincide and their task is to reconcile them. In many cases, workers suffer from the so-called emotional dissonance which is the difference between felt and displayed emotions.

In many cases, it leads to work dissatisfaction, aggression, or lack of motivation. Positive work experiences and social support of managers can prevent such problems because workers will not have to fake or suppress emotions.

References

Bono, J, Foldes, H, Vinson, G, & Muros, J 2007, ‘Workplace Emotions: The Role of Supervision and Leadership’, Journal Of Applied Psychology, vol. 92 no. 5, pp. 1357-1367.

Fink, G 2009, Stress Consequences: Mental, Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic, Academic Press, New York.

Lapointe, É, Morin, A, Courcy, F, Boilard, A, & Payette, D 2012, ‘Workplace Affective Commitment, Emotional Labor and Burnout: A Multiple Mediator Model’, International Journal Of Business & Management, vol. 7 no. 1, pp. 3-21.

Mann, S 2009, ‘Toll of emotional labour behind the frontline’, Professional Manager, vol. 18 no. 6, pp. 32-34.

Pugh, S, Groth, M, & Hennig-Thurau, T 2011, ‘Willing and able to fake emotions: A closer examination of the link between emotional dissonance and employee well-being’, Journal Of Applied Psychology, vol. 96 no. 2, pp. 377-390.

Schmisseur, A 2003, ‘The Art of Well-Being: Managing Emotional Dissonance in the Workplace*’, Conference Papers — International Communication Association, pp. 1-40.

Scott, B, & Barnes, C 2011, ‘A Multilevel Field Investigation of Emotional Labor, Affect, Work Withdrawal, and Gender’, Academy Of Management Journal, vol. 54 no. 1, pp. 116-136.

Staw, B, Sutton, R, & Pelled, L 1994, ‘Employee Positive Emotion and Favorable Outcomes at the Workplace’, Organization Science, vol. 5 no. 1, pp. 51-71.

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Emotions and Behavior at Work

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