Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions
Expressing emotions has social functions; it provides information, affects social interactions, and shapes relationships with others. Expressing positive emotions could be a strategic tool for improving goal attainment during social interactions at work. Such effects have been found in research on s...
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doaj-20dd73cb35f043b7a56b1a5162db19242020-11-24T21:54:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782013-05-01410.3389/fpsyg.2013.0018833775Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactionsElena eWong0Elena eWong1Franziska eTschan2Franziska eTschan3Laurence eMesserli4Laurence eMesserli5Norbert K. Semmer6Norbert K. Semmer7Université de NeuchâtelNational Center of Competence in Research Affective SciencesUniversité de NeuchâtelNational Center of Competence in Research Affective SciencesUniversité de NeuchâtelNational Center of Competence in Research Affective SciencesNational Center of Competence in Research Affective SciencesUniversität BernExpressing emotions has social functions; it provides information, affects social interactions, and shapes relationships with others. Expressing positive emotions could be a strategic tool for improving goal attainment during social interactions at work. Such effects have been found in research on social contagion, impression management, and emotion work. However, expressing emotions one does not feel entails the risk of being perceived as inauthentic. This risk may well be worth taking when the emotions felt are negative, as expressing negative emotions usually has negative effects. When experiencing positive emotions, however, expressing them authentically promises benefits, and the advantage of amplifying them is not so obvious. We postulated that expressing, and amplifying, positive emotions would foster goal attainment in social interactions at work, particularly when dealing with superiors. Analyses are based on 494 interactions involving the pursuit of a goal by 113 employees. Multilevel analyses, including polynomial analyses, show that authentic display of positive emotions supported goal attainment throughout. However, amplifying felt positive emotions promoted goal attainment only in interactions with superiors, but not with colleagues. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of hierarchy for detecting, and interpreting, signs of strategic display of positive emotions.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00188/fullOrganizationsEmotion Regulationgoalspositive emotiondisplay regulationsocial interactions at work |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Elena eWong Elena eWong Franziska eTschan Franziska eTschan Laurence eMesserli Laurence eMesserli Norbert K. Semmer Norbert K. Semmer |
spellingShingle |
Elena eWong Elena eWong Franziska eTschan Franziska eTschan Laurence eMesserli Laurence eMesserli Norbert K. Semmer Norbert K. Semmer Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions Frontiers in Psychology Organizations Emotion Regulation goals positive emotion display regulation social interactions at work |
author_facet |
Elena eWong Elena eWong Franziska eTschan Franziska eTschan Laurence eMesserli Laurence eMesserli Norbert K. Semmer Norbert K. Semmer |
author_sort |
Elena eWong |
title |
Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
title_short |
Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
title_full |
Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
title_fullStr |
Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
title_sort |
expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2013-05-01 |
description |
Expressing emotions has social functions; it provides information, affects social interactions, and shapes relationships with others. Expressing positive emotions could be a strategic tool for improving goal attainment during social interactions at work. Such effects have been found in research on social contagion, impression management, and emotion work. However, expressing emotions one does not feel entails the risk of being perceived as inauthentic. This risk may well be worth taking when the emotions felt are negative, as expressing negative emotions usually has negative effects. When experiencing positive emotions, however, expressing them authentically promises benefits, and the advantage of amplifying them is not so obvious. We postulated that expressing, and amplifying, positive emotions would foster goal attainment in social interactions at work, particularly when dealing with superiors. Analyses are based on 494 interactions involving the pursuit of a goal by 113 employees. Multilevel analyses, including polynomial analyses, show that authentic display of positive emotions supported goal attainment throughout. However, amplifying felt positive emotions promoted goal attainment only in interactions with superiors, but not with colleagues. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of hierarchy for detecting, and interpreting, signs of strategic display of positive emotions. |
topic |
Organizations Emotion Regulation goals positive emotion display regulation social interactions at work |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00188/full |
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