a) affect A broad range of feelings that people experience.

b) emotions Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.

c) moods Feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that lack
a contextual stimulus.
d) positive affect A mood dimension that consists of specific positive
emotions such as excitement, self-assurance, and cheerfulness at the high
end and boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the low end.
e) negative affect A mood dimension that consists of emotions such as
nervousness, stress, and anxiety at the high end and relaxation, tranquility,
and poise at the low end.
f) positivity offset The tendency of most individuals to experience a mildly
positive mood at zero input (when nothing in particular is going on).
g) affect intensity Individual differences in the strength with which
individuals experience their emotions.
h) illusory correlation The tendency of people to associate two events when
in reality there is no connection.
i) emotional labor A situation in which an employee expresses
organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work.
j) emotional dissonance Inconsistencies between the emotions people feel
and the emotions they project. felt emotions An individual’s actual
emotions.
k) Surface acting is hiding inner feelings and forgoing emotional expressions in
response to dis- play rules. A worker who smiles at a customer even when he
doesn’t feel like it is surface acting.
l) Deep acting is trying to modify our true inner feelings based on display
rules. A health care provider trying to genuinely feel more empathy for her
patients is deep acting.
m) Surface acting deals with displayed emotions, and deep acting deals
with felt emotions.
n) displayed emotions Emotions that are organizationally required and
considered appropriate in a given job.
affective events theory (AET) A model that suggests that workplace events
cause emotional reactions on the part of employees, which then influence
workplace attitudes and behaviors.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is a person’s ability to (1) perceive emotions in the
self and others, (2) understand the meaning of these emotions, and (3) regulate
one’s emotions accordingly

emotional contagion The process by which peoples’ emotions are

caused by the emotions of others.

Tests of affective events theory suggest the following:

1. An emotional episode is actually a series of emotional experiences,
precipitated by a single event and containing elements of both emotions and
mood cycles.
2. Current emotions influence job satisfaction at any given time, along with the
history of emotions surrounding the event.
3. Because moods and emotions fluctuate over time, their effect on
performance also fluctuates.
4. Emotion-driven behaviors are typically short in duration and of high
variability. 5. Because emotions, even positive ones, tend to be incompatible
with behaviors required to do a job, they typically have a negative influence on
job performance.

Sources of Emotions and Moods

 Stress
 Personality
 Social Activities
 Sleep
 Age
 Sex
 Day of the Week and Time of the Day
 Weather
Personality Moods and emotions have a trait component: most people have built-in tendencies to experience certain
moods and emotions more frequently than others do. People also experience the same emotions with different
intensities. Contrast Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. The first is easily moved to
anger, while the other is relatively distant and unemotional. Knight and Gates probably differ in affect intensity , or
how strongly they experience their emotions. 33 Affectively intense people experience both positive and negative
emotions more deeply: when they’re sad, they’re really sad, and when they’re happy, they’re really happy.

Stress As you might imagine, stressful daily events at work (a nasty e-mail, an im- pending deadline, the loss of a big
sale, a reprimand from the boss) negatively affect moods. The effects of stress also build over time. As the authors of
one study note, “a constant diet of even low-level stressful events has the potential to cause workers to experience
gradually increasing levels of strain over time.” 37 Mounting levels of stress can worsen our moods, and we experience
more negative emotions. Consider the following entry from a worker’s blog: “I’m in a bit of a blah mood today . . .
physically, I feel funky, though, and the weather out combined with the amount of personal and work I need to get done
are getting to me.” Although sometimes we thrive on stress, most of us, like this blogger, find stress takes a toll on our
mood. 38

Social Activities Do you tend to be happiest when out with friends? For most people, social activities increase positive
mood and have little effect on nega- tive mood. But do people in positive moods seek out social interactions, or do social
interactions cause people to be in good moods? It seems both are true. 39 Does the type of social activity matter?
Indeed it does. Research suggests activities that are physical (skiing or hiking with friends), informal (going to a party), or
epicurean (eating with others) are more strongly associated with increases in positive mood than events that are formal
(attending a meeting) or sedentary (watching TV with friends).

Sleep

Exercise You often hear people should exercise to improve their mood. Does “sweat therapy” really work? It appears
so. Research consistently shows exercise enhances peoples’ positive mood. 45 While not terribly strong overall, the
effects are strongest for those who are depressed. So exercise may help put you in a better mood, but don’t expect
miracles.

Age Do young people experience more extreme positive emotions (so-called youthful exuberance) than older people?
If you answered “yes,” you were wrong. One study of people ages 18 to 94 revealed that negative emotions seem to
occur less as people get older. Periods of highly positive moods lasted longer for older in- dividuals, and bad moods
faded more quickly. 46 The study implies emotional expe- rience improves with age; as we get older, we experience
fewer negative emotions.

Sex Many believe women are more emotional than men. Is there any truth to this? Evidence does confirm women are
more emotionally expressive than men; 47 they experience emotions more intensely, they tend to “hold onto”
emotions longer than men, and they display more frequent expressions of both positive and negative emotions, except
anger. 48 Evidence from a study of participants from 37 different countries found that men consistently report higher
levels of powerful emotions like anger, whereas women report more powerless emotions like sadness and fear. Thus,
there are some sex differences in the experience and expression of emotions.