Emotions

Some of the key aspects of emotions identified in the movie were Authentic pride, surface acting
and emotional intelligence.

Chris Gardner exhibits authentic pride in the scene where he tries to convince the firm executives
that he is a good performer by recalling his academic achievements at his school

Chris Gardner engages in surface acting during numerous instances of the movie, during his meeting
with doctors as well as investment clients. He has to put on a smile and politely thank them after his
unsuccessful meetings, though he is feeling stressed. Research shows that surface acting occurs
most regularly among sales people and has been shown to improve sales performance as well.
However, surface acting has also been shown to adversely influence a salesperson’s attitudes and
behaviours causing reduced job satisfaction and reduced organizational commitment. But we see
that this did not affect Chris as he ended up getting the job offer from the firm. Research has shown
that higher emotional intelligence attenuated the positive relationship between surface acting and
bad mood at work and somatic complaints 1. Though Chris has some breakdowns in the film like
when Linda left without notice with their son Christopher and when his friend did not return the
money owed etc. but understandably so given his situation, we can see many instances in the movie
where Chris exhibited a high degree of emotional intelligence, for example even under great
pressure he balances his role as a father and a stock broker trainee and even makes his son
comfortable in the railway station, by finding a “cave” to sleep in for the night. On the other hand,
Linda maybe demonstrating low emotional-intelligence, when under distress she left the city and not
put enough emotional labour to work through the situation as a family unit.

Though Chris successfully managed to overcome his adversity through the above emotional
qualities, Chris did not have anyone to share his emotional experiences (social sharing) which would
have been a good emotional regulation strategy, given his circumstances.

References

1. MIKESKA J, HAMWI GA, FRIEND SB, RUTHERFORD BN, JUNGKUN PARK. Artificial Emotions
among Salespeople: Understanding the Impact of Surface Acting. Marketing Management
Journal. 2015;25(2):54-70