Ellen Delvaux

Predicting the duration of emotional experience: Two experience sampling studies.

The authors present 2 studies to explain the variability in the duration of emotional experience. Participants were asked to report the duration of their fear, anger, joy, gratitude, and sadness episodes on a daily basis. Information was further collected with regard to potential predictor variables at 3 levels: trait predictors, episode predictors, and moment predictors. Discrete-time survival analyses revealed that, for all 5 emotions under study, the higher the importance of the emotion-eliciting situation and the higher the intensity of the emotion at onset, the longer the emotional experience lasts. Moreover, a reappearance, either physically or merely mentally, of the eliciting stimulus during the emotional episode extended the duration of the emotional experience as well. These findings display interesting links with predictions within N. H. Frijdas theory of emotion, with the phenomenon of reinstatement (as studied within the domain of learning psychology), and with the literature on rumination.

Emotions are not always contagious: Longitudinal spreading of self-pride and group pride in homogeneous and status-differentiated groups

The members of task groups are emotionally more similar to each other than to others outside the group; yet, little is known about the conditions under which this emotional similarity emerges. In two longitudinal studies, we tested the idea that emotions only spread when they contain information that is relevant to all group members. We compared the spreading of group pride (relevant) with self-pride (not relevant). The first study followed emotions in 68 task groups (N = 295) across 4 moments. Multilevel cross-lagged path analyses showed that group members mutually influenced each others group pride, but not self-pride. The second study followed emotions in 27 task groups (N = 195) across 3 moments in time. Longitudinal social network analyses showed that group members adjusted their group pride, but not their self-pride, to members they perceived to be more influential. Findings from both studies are consistent with a social referencing account of emotion spreading.

Dynamic Interplay Between Norms and Experiences of Anger and Gratitude in Groups

Emotions of task group members tend to be congruent, yet the processes that lead to this congruence are not well understood. In this study, we longitudinally followed the convergence of anger and gratitude in 68 task groups, and investigated the role of emotion norms in achieving this convergence. Over time, individual members’ emotions influenced the group’s emotions, and, conversely, the group’s emotions influenced individual members’ emotions. Moreover, over time the coherence between the emotions of different group members became stronger. This supports the idea that the emotions within groups converge. In addition, we found evidence for the dynamic interplay between norms and experience. Norms guided experience, and experience became normative, both at the individual and group levels. In addition, group norms on a particular emotion predicted individuals’ experience of that emotion over time, and conversely, individual members’ norms about an emotion predicted the group’s experience of that emotion.

Feel like you belong: on the bidirectional link between emotional fit and group identification in task groups.

Three studies investigated the association between members’ group identification and the emotional fit with their group. In the first study, a cross-sectional study in a large organization, we replicated earlier research by showing that group identification and emotional fit are positively associated, using a broader range of emotions and using profile correlations to measure group members’ emotional fit. In addition, in two longitudinal studies, where groups of students were followed at several time points during their collaboration on a project, we tested the directionality of the relationship between group identification and emotional fit. The results showed a bidirectional, positive link between group identification and emotional fit, such that group identification and emotional fit either mutually reinforce or mutually dampen each other over time. We discuss how these findings increase insights in group functioning and how they may be used to change group processes for better or worse.

The Emergence of Shared Leadership in Newly Formed Teams With an Initial Structure of Vertical Leadership: A Longitudinal Analysis:

The importance of high-quality leadership for team effectiveness is widely recognized, with recent viewpoints arguing shared leadership to be a more powerful predictor than vertical leadership. To identify changes in leadership structures over time, we longitudinally tracked the leadership structure of 27 newly formed teams (N = 195), all having an initial structure of vertical leadership. Our findings demonstrated that the average team leadership strengthened over the course of the 24-week project and leadership tended to become more distributed among team members. Regarding the antecedents of these changes, we found evidence that the more team members are perceived as warm or competent, the higher their perceived influence. Finally, examining the consequences of these changes, the leadership structure was found to be related with team performance in that teams with higher average leadership perceptions performed better. These findings underpin the importance of shared leadership, thereby suggesting leaders to empower their team members.

142 All employees resilient through aggression aftercare’: the development of a digital platform supporting aggression aftercare in health care teams

Introduction Health care workers are often confronted with aggression, impairing their well-being at work. Aggression aftercare, adjusted to the personal needs of victims, may facilitate their recovery, return to and well-being at work. Methods We used three methodologies to identify the most important needs for employees confronted with workplace aggression. First, fictive aggression incidents were reenacted in four organisations. After each scene, actors and audience discussed about impact and needs after encountering such incidents. Second, aggression experts (n=10) were interviewed about existing and ideal aggression procedures within their institutions. Third, a diary questionnaire (of two weeks) was administered to employees (n=11) that recently encountered workplace aggression. Results Bringing together the input from the different methodologies by defining common and frequently re-occurring themes, we identified the most central needs of aggression victims: the need for acknowledgement, the need for support by colleagues and supervisor and the need for openness about aggression. Based on these needs, we conceptualised a program to facilitate aggression aftercare in teams. More specifically, on a digital platform, aggression victims can report that they encountered aggression, what impact this has on them and which colleague should contact them to talk about it. After saving the incident on the platform, an e-mail cascade will be set in motion to notify different actors about their responsibilities in the process of providing aftercare. The ‘aftercare’-colleague will be most central to the aftercare process, supporting the victim both emotionally and practically. Depending on the rated impact, the supervisor will also play a central role in the aftercare process. Conclusion Because aggression victims can personalise their incident report (by choosing the incident’s impact and their preferred ‘aftercare’-colleague), the aftercare will be more adjusted to their needs, which may increase resilience after aggression. The program effectiveness will be tested within a health care setting.

141 Can coping strategies alleviate the link between workplace aggression and burnout? the role of seeking instrumental or emotional socal support

Introduction Aggression at the workplace occurs frequently. Workplace aggression negatively impacts employees’ psychological well-being. In the current research, we investigated whether coping strategies alleviated the negative impact of workplace aggression on one important indicator of employees’ psychological well-being, namely burnout (risk). More specifically, we examined whether the coping strategies seeking instrumental or emotional social support moderated the relationship between workplace aggression and burnout symptoms. Methods Questionnaires were administered to employees of a large Belgian hospital. In total, 1544 employees participated (response rate=44%). The scale measuring workplace aggression consisted of three items (α=0,79). Burnout risk was measured with the two most central subscales of the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (UBOS), namely emotional exhaustion (5 items; α=0,92) and depersonalization (4 items; α=0,86). Finally, from the COPE questionnaire, we used the subscales seeking instrumental social support (4 items; α=0,92) and emotional social support (4 items; α=0,92). We tested our hypotheses using hierarchical regression analyses. Result Replicating previous research, we found that workplace aggression increases both the levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Furthermore, we found that seeking instrumental social support is a better coping strategy than seeking emotional social support: the former decreases burnout symptoms, whereas the latter may even increase burnout symptoms. Finally, we found that the coping strategy seeking instrumental social support alleviated the relationship between workplace aggression on the one hand and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization on the other. Seeking emotional social support only moderated the relationship between workplace aggression and depersonalization: the level of depersonalization increased for employees with lower scores on this coping strategy when they encountered workplace aggression; employees scoring high on this coping strategy had increased levels of depersonalization regardless of experienced workplace aggression. Discussion Our findings will be discussed in light of its theoretical and practical contributions.

WHO/ILO work-related burden of disease and injury: Protocol for systematic reviews of exposure to long working hours and of the effect of exposure to long working hours on alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are developing a joint methodology for estimating the national and global work-related burden of disease and injury (WHO/ILO joint methodology), with contributions from a large network of experts. In this paper, we present the protocol for two systematic reviews of parameters for estimating the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years from alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder attributable to exposure to long working hours, to inform the development of the WHO/ILO joint methodology. OBJECTIVES We aim to systematically review studies on exposure to long working hours (Systematic Review 1) and systematically review and meta-analyse estimates of the effect of exposure to long working hours on alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (Systematic Review 2), applying the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology as an organizing framework. DATA SOURCES Separately for Systematic Reviews 1 and 2, we will search electronic academic databases for potentially relevant records from published and unpublished studies, including MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CISDOC and PsychINFO. We will also search electronic grey literature databases, Internet search engines and organizational websites; hand-search reference list of previous systematic reviews and included study records; and consult additional experts. STUDY ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA We will include working-age (≥15 years) workers in the formal and informal economy in any WHO and/or ILO Member State but exclude children (<15 years) and unpaid domestic workers. For Systematic Review 1, we will include quantitative prevalence studies of relevant levels of exposure to long working hours (i.e., 35-40, 41-48, 49-54 and ≥55 h/week) stratified by country, sex, age and industrial sector or occupation. For Systematic Review 2, we will include randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies and other non-randomized intervention studies with an estimate of the relative effect of a relevant level of exposure to long working hours on total amount of alcohol consumed and on the incidence of, prevalence of or mortality from alcohol use disorders, compared with the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (i.e., worked 35-40 h/week). STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS At least two review authors will independently screen titles and abstracts at a first stage and full texts of potentially eligible records at a second stage, followed by extraction of data from qualifying studies. At least two review authors will assess risk of bias and quality of evidence, using the most suited tools currently available. For Systematic Review 2, if feasible, we will combine relative risks using meta-analysis. We will report results using the guidelines for accurate and transparent health estimates reporting (GATHER) for Systematic Review 1 and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines (PRISMA) for Systematic Review 2. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018084077.