Ivona Hideg

Momentary work recovery: The role of within-day work breaks

Drawing from research on personal resources (e.g., Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Fredrickson, 1998) and the episodic nature of work (Beal, Weiss, Barros, & MacDermid, 2005), we examine research and theory relevant to the study of momentary recovery in the workplace. Specifically, we propose that the nature of within workday breaks influences the levels of psychological resources, which in turn influence various workplace outcomes. First, we discuss the momentary approach to studying workplace breaks and consequent resource levels. In doing so, we distinguish between two types of breaks, respites and chores; and we detail two types of psychological resources, regulatory and affective resources. Consequences of psychological resource levels on emotional exhaustion and performance are considered. We also explore possible moderators of the proposed relationships; we discuss job and individual characteristics, and motivation to perform. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a brief discussion on future research and possible applications of the momentary approach to work recovery in organizations.

The Jekyll and Hyde of Emotional Intelligence Emotion-Regulation Knowledge Facilitates Both Prosocial and Interpersonally Deviant Behavior

Does emotional intelligence promote behavior that strictly benefits the greater good, or can it also advance interpersonal deviance? In the investigation reported here, we tested the possibility that a core facet of emotional intelligence—emotion-regulation knowledge—can promote both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior. Drawing from research on how the effective regulation of emotion promotes goal achievement, we predicted that emotion-regulation knowledge would strengthen the effects of other-oriented and self-oriented personality traits on prosocial behavior and interpersonal deviance, respectively. Two studies supported our predictions. Among individuals with higher emotion-regulation knowledge, moral identity exhibited a stronger positive association with prosocial behavior in a social dilemma (Study 1), and Machiavellianism exhibited a stronger positive association with interpersonal deviance in the workplace (Study 2). Thus, emotion-regulation knowledge has a positive side and a dark side.

The ability to influence others via emotion displays: A new dimension of emotional intelligence

We propose a new dimension of emotional intelligence (EI) that is particularly relevant in organizational settings: the ability to influence others via emotion displays. In this article, we first describe social functional accounts of emotions and the evidence supporting social effects of emotions. Then, we propose that individuals differ in the degree to which they can influence the behaviors, attitudes, and emotions of others via their emotion displays, and we demonstrate that this individual variation meets the criteria for an emotional ability. We articulate the mechanisms by which the ability to influence others via emotion displays is related to competence in organizational settings. In addition, we develop propositions about factors that moderate the effect of this ability on competence. We describe the research implications of our model.

The Culturally Intelligent Team: The Impact of Team Cultural Intelligence and Cultural Heterogeneity on Team Shared Values

This study examines how the cultural heterogeneity of work teams moderates the way in which team cultural intelligence (CQ) affects the development of team shared values. Utilizing the four-factor model of CQ, we predict how each facet of CQ will impact the development of shared values in relatively early stages of team development differently for culturally homogeneous versus culturally heterogeneous work teams. We operationalize team shared values as the degree to which a broad set of cultural values are similarly endorsed by team members as guiding principles when working in their team. Results show that behavioral and metacognitive CQ had a positive effect on shared values in culturally heterogeneous teams; however, motivational and metacognitive CQ had a negative effect on shared values in culturally homogeneous teams. All effects were observed in the early stages of team development. Having uncovered positive and negative effects of CQ for shared values in work teams, we discuss implications for theory and practice around this form of cultural competence.

Dialectical thinking and fairness-based perspectives of affirmative action.

Affirmative action (AA) policies are among the most effective means for enhancing diversity and equality in the workplace, yet are also often viewed with scorn by the wider public. Fairness-based explanations for this scorn suggest AA policies provide preferential treatment to minorities, violating procedural fairness principles of consistent treatment. In other words, to promote equality in the workplace, effective AA policies promote inequality when selecting employees, and the broader public perceives this to be procedurally unfair. Given this inconsistency underlies negative reactions to AA policies, we argue that better preparing individuals to deal with inconsistencies can mitigate negative reactions to AA policies. Integrating theories from the fairness and cognitive styles literature, we demonstrate across 4 studies how dialectical thinking—a cognitive style associated with accepting inconsistencies in one’s environment—increases support for AA policies via procedural fairness perceptions. Specifically, we found support for our propositions across a variety of AA policy types (i.e., strong and weak preference policies) and when conceptualizing dialectical thinking either as an individual difference or as a state that can be primed—including being primed by the framing of the AA policy itself. We discuss theoretical contributions and insights for policy-making at government and organizational levels.

The unintended consequences of maternity leaves: How agency interventions mitigate the negative effects of longer legislated maternity leaves.

To support women in the workplace, longer legislated maternity leaves have been encouraged in Scandinavian countries and recently in Canada. Yet, past research shows that longer legislated maternity leaves (i.e., 1 year and longer) may unintentionally harm women’s career progress. To address this issue, we first sought to identify one potential mechanism underlying negative effects of longer legislated maternity leaves: others’ lower perceptions of women’s agency. Second, we utilize this knowledge to test interventions that boost others’ perceptions of women’s agency and thus mitigate negative effects of longer legislated maternity leaves. We test our hypotheses in three studies in the context of Canadian maternity leave policies. Specifically, in Study 1, we found that others’ lower perceptions of women’s agency mediated the negative effects of a longer legislated maternity leave, that is, 1 year (vs. shorter, i.e., 1 month maternity leave) on job commitment. In Study 2, we found that providing information about a woman’s agency mitigates the unintended negative effects of a longer legislated maternity leave on job commitment and hireability. In Study 3, we showed that use of a corporate program that enables women to stay in touch with the workplace while on maternity leave (compared to conditions in which no such program was offered; a program was offered but not used by the applicant; and the program was offered, but there was no information about its usage by the applicant) enhances agency perceptions and perceptions of job commitment and hireability. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Emotional Intelligence and Competencies

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been described as everything from a panacea to an invalid concept. This article focuses on recent research that clarifies what does and does not constitute EI, as well as its relationships with a variety of outcomes. We emphasize the role of EI in the workplace, and we distinguish between the positive outcomes that it facilitates, the negative outcomes to which it contributes, and the outcomes for which its role is unclear. We conclude by identifying specific issues that require further attention to advance our understanding of EI.

When disadvantage becomes advantageous: A conflict expectation model of demographic faultlines

The faultline literature has not been consistent about whether group faultlines are positively or negatively associated with group conflict. To address this inconsistency, we present a conflict expectation model of demographic faultlines and propose that demographic faultlines give rise to conflict expectations, which set faultline groups to deal more effectively with process conflict. In one experimental vignette study and two field studies, our results supported our conflict expectation model of demographic faultlines. In Study 1 we establish that there are higher conflict expectations in faultline compared to no-faultline teams. In Study 2, we found that demographic faultlines moderate the relationship between process conflict and group performance, such that in groups with faultlines, the negative association between process conflict and group performance is mitigated. In Study 3, we replicate and extend this finding by showing that a different operationalization of faultlines (faultline strength) mit...