21 Emotions and Emotional Intelligence
Dr. Pooja Mehta
1. Learning Outcome
2. Introduction
3. Definitions of emotions and moods
4. Difference between moods and emotions
5. Basic moods and emotions
6. Source of emotions and moods
7. Emotional labour
8. Affective events theory
9. Emotional intelligence
10. Arguments for and against emotional intelligence
11. Applications of moods and emotions in OB
12. Summary
1. Learning Outcome:
- After completing this module the students will be able to: Understand the meaning of moods and emotions.
- Differentiate between moods and emotions.
- Understand types and source of emotions and moods Illustrate the concept of emotional intelligenc
- Explain the applications of emotions and moods in OB
2. Introduction
With increased focus on human processes in organisations, emotions and feelings have received considerable importance. It is well known to all that emotions are universal. However, in order to communicate with others more effectively, different emotions are experienced and expressed differently. In an organisational setting, the concept of emotions did not receive much attention before 1990s. The focus of workplace emotions was confined only to the feeling of job satisfaction. But, due to growing service industry and growing number of frontline workers who are expected to display desired emotions all the time, the concept of emotions has been placed on the top of every organisation’s agenda.
3. Definitions of Emotions and Moods
Emotions are intense feelings directed at someone or something. They are neural impulses that move an individual to certain action. Emotion includes three components:
It involves physiological arousal. Expressive behaviours
Conscious experience.
Emotions are of two types primary and secondary.
Primary emotions are those which we experience first. For example, if we are threatened, we will firstly feel fear. If we hear some good news, firstly we will feel happy. These are primary emotions.
Secondary emotions are those which appear after primary emotions. For example, if a person feels fear, that fear may turns to anger and stimulate that person to fight or the fear may turn to depression and stimulate the person to quit. Secondary emotions reveal the picture of a person’s mental processes.
Moods are less intense feelings that often lack contextual stimulus. It means that moods are not directed at someone or something. Experts believe that emotions are more fleeting than moods. For example, when you are angry with someone, that feeling probably fades away more quickly, may be in seconds. But, when you are in a bad mood you may feel bad for several hours. Emotions are reactions of an individual for a person, an object or an event but, moods are usually not directed at someone. Prolonged emotions can be converted into moods especially when you lose the focus on the event, object or person.
4. Difference between emotions and moods
Difference between emotions and moods can be understood from the following points:
5. Basic emotions and moods
a) Basic emotions: In our daily life, we experience so many types of emotions. There are dozens of emotions which are usually felt by individuals in different situations. Some common emotions are anger, contempt, enthusiasm, envy, fear, frustration, jealousy, disappointment, embarrassment, disgust, happiness, hate, hope, joy, love, pride, surprise and sadness etc. Many researchers and psychologists attempted to generalise them in order to identify basic sets of emotions.
Rene Descartes who is known as founder of modern philosophy advocated that there are six
“simple and primitive passions” viz. wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy and sadness. He also said that all other emotions are composed of these six emotions or are related to them in one or another way. Though, many psychologists tried to determine basic set of emotions, but it is very hard to reach on a common set of emotions which is agreed by all. However, many researchers have agreed on six universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust and surprise.
Plutchik’s psycho-evolutionary theory of basic emotions gave 10 assumptions about emotions:
1. Concept of emotions is universal and hence applicable to all evolutionary levels. It is also applicable to animals.
2. Emotions have history of evolution. They have evolved from different expressions in different species.
3. Emotions play an adaptive role.
4. Despite different forms of expressions of emotions, there are certain common patterns of expressing emotions.
5. Basic or primary emotions are relatively smaller in number.
6. All other emotions are mixed, they occur as a combination of primary emotions.
7. Primary emotions are hypothetical states whose characteristics can be inferred from various evidences.
8. Primary emotions can be conceptualised in terms of pairs of polar opposites.
9. All emotions vary in their degree of similarity to one another.
10. Each emotion can exist in varied degree of intensity.
b) Basic moods: As discussed above, classification of emotions is not easy. One possible alternative to classify emotions is to determine whether they are associated with positive feelings or negative feelings. Positive emotions such as joy and happiness express favourable feelings and negative emotions such as anger and sadness express unfavourable feelings. When we categorise emotions as positive and negative they become moods. The structure of moods is given in the exhibit given below.
In exhibit, excited reflects high positive affect whereas boredom express low positive affect. Nervous reflect pure high negative affect and relaxed express low negative affect. Other emotions such as contentment and sadness are mixture of low and high positive and negative affect.
Therefore, we can say that positive affect is a dimension of moods which includes positive emotions such as excitement, elated and happy at the high end and depressed, bored and fatigued at the low end. On the other hand, negative affect is a dimension of moods which includes negative emotions such as nervous, stressed and tensed at the high end and relaxed, calm and poise at the low end.
Source: Robbins, S., Judge and Vohra, “Organisational behaviour”, Prentice, pp. 95.
6. Sources of emotions and moods
How do we acquire emotions? How do emotions change so frequently? Answer to these questions can be given by understanding following sources of emotions:
a) Personality: Most of the people have the in-built tendency to experience certain moods and emotions. These people also change their moods and emotions more frequently than others. The intensity of emotions also differs from individual to individual. Some individuals experience emotions more strongly than others. This is called affect intensity. The individuals who are affectively intense experience positive and negative emotions deeply than those who are less intense.
b) Day of the week and time of the day: A particular day of the week or particular time of the day may also influence your moods and emotions. Research has indicated that generally people experience positive emotions and moods in the last days of week and they experience worst moods and emotions during starting days of the week. In addition to this, time of day also determine our emotions. Generally people experience peak levels of positive emotions at during middle part of the day.
c) Weather: Many people believe that their mood is associated with weather. Do we experience positive emotions on a sunny day or a rainy day? Many researchers have found that weather has very little effect on the moods and emotions of people.
d) Stress: Stress lead to negative emotions. Stressful events at work affect our moods negatively. As the level of stress increases, our moods get worsen and we start experiencing negative emotions.
e) Social activities: Generally social activities increase the positive moods and have very weak effect on negative emotions. The people who go out with their friends frequently tend to be happier than those who stay in isolation. Such people have more social interactions. Social interactions usually lead to good moods. Research has indicated that social activities such as skiing or hiking, going to parties or eating out with friends increase the positive emotions more strongly than formal events like attending meetings, seminars and presentations etc.
f) Sleep: Sleep does affect moods and emotions. Workers who work during night shifts, students who study during late night hours and other people who are deprived of sleep usually experience negative moods like fatigue, anger and hostility. This is because poor sleep weakens mental ability, decision making and therefore also affect job satisfaction.
g) Exercise: Research studies have showed that exercises improves the moods. This is because exercise helps in muscle relaxation and feeling good. Therefore, exercise is better alternative for those who are strongly depressed.
h) Age: Young people tend to be emotionally weaker than older people. Research studies have pointed out that young people experience negative emotions more frequently. As the age of an individual grows, negative emotions occur less and positive emotions occur more frequently. Studies have revealed that emotional experiences improve with the age of individual.
i) Gender: There are some gender differences in the experience and expression of emotions. Females experience the emotions more intensely than males. They are also more emotionally expressive than men because, they express both positive and negative emotions more frequently.
7. Emotional labour
The concept of emotional labour was originated from service jobs like, air flights, customer care, BPOs etc. Every service sector organisation expects its employees to be cheerful while interacting with the customers. Emotional labour is particularly the situation when an employee is bound to express organisationally desirable emotions during interpersonal transactions at work. Every job demands physical and mental labour, but jobs also require emotional labour. For example, jobs of frontline executives in hotels, hospitals and call centers etc need to smile and express positive emotions while interacting with the customers. The complexity arises when employees feel some other emotion but, they have to project another emotion because their job demands so. This disparity is called emotional dissonance. Emotional dissonance can be defined as the inconsistency between felt emotions and displayed emotions.
Felt emotions are the emotions which an employee actual feels at a given point of time.
Displayed emotions are the emotions which an employee is expected to project on the job. For example, a customer care employee who is feeling very sad because of some personal issues, has to express the emotions which are considered as appropriate for the job while answering the inquiry call of a customer. Therefore, it is not necessary that emotions are displayed in the same way they are experienced. There are two possible ways of expressing one’s emotions:
Surface acting: Surface acting refers to hiding the inner feelings and doing without expressing the emotions in order to observe the display rules.
Deep acting: Deep acting is modifying the inner feelings on the basis of display rules.
8. Affective events theory
We have already discussed that emotions and moods are important parts of our daily life. But, do they affect our performance and satisfaction. This phenomenon is explained by a model called Affective events theory (AET). Affective events theory proposes that employees tend to react emotionally to whatever happens to them at work and this emotional reaction influence their job performance and satisfaction.
The exhibit given below explains the affective events theory. The theory explains that daily events which are determined by work environment elicit emotional responses of employees. The work environment including characteristics of the job, job demands and emotional labour required on the job generate daily events which may be full of hassles or uplifts or both. Examples of hassles at work are excess of time pressure, conflicts with managers and lack of sharing work load with the colleagues. Uplifting events includes achievement of goal, getting support from colleagues and receiving rewards from supervisors. These work events activate positive or negative emotions of individual. Emotions are further influenced by personality and moods of a person. People who are emotionally weak are more likely to respond to negative events more intensely and people who are emotionally stable are likely to react to negative events in a composed way. Finally emotions affect performance and satisfaction variables such as organisational citizenship behaviour, level of effort, organisational commitment, intention to quit, workplace deviance.
Source: Robbins, S., Judge and Vohra, “Organisational behaviour”, Prentice, pp. 104.
Affective events theory, suggest the following:
An emotional event is the result of so many emotional experiences which is accelerated by a single event.
Current emotions influence satisfaction at a given time but they are influenced by surrounding work events and environment.
As moods and emotions change with time, their effect on performance and satisfaction also change.
Emotionally driven behaviours sustain for a shorter period of time.
9. Emotional intelligence
The concept of emotional intelligence became popular since 1995 through a book ‘Emotional Intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ’ published by Daniel Goleman. Emotional intelligence is a cognitive ability of a person to detect and manage emotional cues and information.
It can be defined as “ability of a person to deal with his or her emotions, specifically to perceive and express emotions and to regulate emotions in oneself and others.” There are four basic dimensions of emotional intelligence:
a) Self-awareness: It refers to an individual’s ability to understand his emotions and to express them naturally.
b) Social-awareness: It refers to an individual’s ability to understand the emotions of people around him.
c) Self-management: It is an individual’s ability to regulate and control his emotions and to prevent himself from being depressed.
d) Relationship management: It is an individual’s ability to make use of his emotions and directing them towards constructive activities.
10. Arguments for and against emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence has been in the controversies since it came into picture. Some researchers supported the concept and some were against it. The arguments in favour of emotional intelligence and against emotional intelligence are discussed as below:
A. Arguments in favour of emotional intelligence
Intuitive appeal: Intuition is an inner feeling which suggests people how can they detect emotions in other, control their own emotions and manage social interactions. The people who have good intuitive appeal can rise up in the business faster than others.
Emotional intelligence predicts the criteria that matters: past research studies suggest that a person who has high level of emotional intelligence will perform well on the job. Individuals with high level of EI also recognise the emotions of others through facial expressions.
B. Arguments against emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is a vague concept: Many researchers consider emotional intelligence as a vague concept as they don’t think that being self aware or self managed or socially aware is a matter of having intellectual skill.
Emotional intelligence cannot be measured: the concept of emotional intelligence has been criticised on the grounds that there are no valid tools for measuring it. As it is a form of intelligence, the questions measuring emotional intelligence must be having right or wrong answers.
11. Applications of Moods and emotions in OB
The study of moods and emotions is very useful in organisational behaviour. Understanding moods and emotions improves ability of the mangers to explain and predict selection of new employees, decision making, creativity, leadership, customer service and safety at workplace.
a) Selection: One of the most important implications of emotions and moods in the organisation is its relevance in selecting and hiring new employees. Managers should consider emotional intelligence as an important attribute while hiring new employees especially in the jobs that include high degree of social interactions. Many of the good organisations have started measuring emotional intelligence of prospective candidates. A research study on executives working in BHEL in Haridwar found that people who exhibited high levels of EI were better performers than those who had low levels of EI.
b) Decision making: Moods and emotions have important effects on the decision making. People when experience positive emotions or moods tend to use heuristics and thumb rules for making good decisions. Positive moods also enhance problem solving skills and stimulate people to find better solutions.
c) Creativity: Creativity is also considered to be linked with moods and emotions. People tend to be more creative when they experience good moods and emotions than when they experience bad moods and emotions. They produce more original ideas during good moods.
d) Leadership: Effective leadership depends upon how well a leader expresses his emotions and understand the emotions of his subordinates. The expression of emotions in speeches is the important element which makes the people accept or reject the message of leader. When leaders feel enthusiastic, active and excited they may motivate their subordinates, spread enjoyment and optimism in their subordinates in a better way.
e) Customer service: An employee’s emotional state determines how he provides service to the customer, which further determines the repeat of business and finally customer satisfaction. Emotions of an employee are transferred from him to the customer he is dealing with. It has been proved by the studies that one person catches the emotions from other. When an employee experiences positive emotions and smiles, customer also will more likely respond positively.
f) Safety and injury at work: Negative emotions are usually associated with increase in accidents and injuries at work place. This is because people who experience negative emotions tend to be more anxious, ignore safety rules and are more likely to be involved in the accidents. It is always suggested that rate of accidents in the organisations can be reduced by ensuring that employees are not allowed to handle dangerous activities when they are in bad moods.
Usually managers can influence moods of their employees by sharing funny videos, giving them motivational talks, appreciating their work and offering a small tea party. Moreover, when managers themselves are in good mood they can transfer their good moods to their employees. Managers who understand the role of emotions and moods significantly improve their ability of predicting and explaining the behaviour of their subordinates and colleagues.
- Summary
It is well known to all that emotions are universal. However, in order to communicate with others more effectively, different emotions are experienced and expressed differently. In an organisational setting the concept of emotions did not receive much attention before 1990s. The focus of workplace emotions was confined only to the feeling of job satisfaction. But, due to growing service industry and growing number of frontline workers who are expected to display desired emotions all the time, the concept of emotions has been place on the top of every organisation’s agenda. Emotions are intense feelings directed at someone or something. Emotion includes three components physiological arousal, expressive behaviours and conscious experience. Moods are less intense feelings that often lack contextual stimulus. It means that moods are not directed at someone or something. In our daily life, we experience so many types of emotions. There are dozens of emotions which are usually felt by individuals in different situations. Some common emotions are anger, contempt, enthusiasm, envy, fear, frustration, jealousy, disappointment, embarrassment, disgust, happiness, hate, hope, joy, love, pride, surprise and sadness etc. Classification of emotions is not easy. One possible alternative to classify emotions is to determine whether they are associated with positive feelings or negative feelings. Positive emotions such as joy and happiness express favourable feelings and negative emotions such as anger and sadness express unfavourable feelings. When we categorise emotions as positive and negative they become moods. Personality, time of the day and day of the week, stressful activities, exercise, sleep patterns are the common sources of emotions and moods.
Emotional intelligence is a cognitive ability of a person to detect and manage emotional cues and information. It can be defined as “ability of a person to deal with his or her emotions, specifically to perceive and express emotions and to regulate emotions in oneself and others.” There are four basic dimensions of emotional intelligence viz. self-awareness, social-awareness, self management and relationship management. Usually managers can influence moods of their employees by sharing funny videos, giving them motivational talks, appreciating their work and offering a small tea party. Moreover when managers themselves are in good mood they can transfer their good moods to their employees. Managers who understand the role of emotions and moods significantly improve their ability of predicting and explaining the behaviour of their subordinates and colleagues.
Learn More:
1. Stephen Robins (2012). Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi-110092: Prentice Hall publications.
2. Nair, S. R. (2010). Organisational Behaviour (text & Cases). Himalaya Publishing House.
3. Prasad, L. M. (2014). Organizational Behaviour. Sultan Chand & Sons.
4. Greenberg, J. (2003). Organizational Behavior: The State of the Science. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
5. Miner, J. B. (2002). Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses. Oxford University Press.
6. Pareek, U. (2014), Understanding Organisational Behaviour, Oxford University Press (Revised and Updated by Sushama Khanna)
7. Kalliath, T. and Brough, P. (2011), Organisational Behaviour, McGraw Hill.
8. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books.
9. www.helpguide.org/articles/emotional…/emotional–intelligence-eq.htm
10. psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-emotional–intelligence-eq
11. www.slideshare.net/dwilliams29/emotional–intelligence-master-v3