Sandra Anne Lawrence

When my supervisor dislikes you more than me: the effect of dissimilarity in leader-member exchange on coworkers' interpersonal emotion and perceived help.

According to balance theory (Heider, 1958), when 2 coworkers develop different levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships with their supervisor, a triadic relational imbalance will arise among the 3 parties that may result in hostile sentiments and poor social interactions between them. This study examines the consequences and psychological processes of (dis)similar levels of LMX on the interpersonal interactions between coworkers. Using data from 2 independent studies, the results of social relations analyses show that (a) actual (dis)similarity in LMX between Coworkers A and B increases Coworker As feelings of contempt for Coworker B and decreases Coworker As perception of help received from Coworker B (Study 1); (b) Coworker A is more likely to experience contempt for Coworker B when Coworker A perceives that he/she has a higher or lower level of LMX compared to Coworker B than when Coworker A perceives that his/her level of LMX is similar to Coworker Bs (Study 2); and (c) these relationships only hold true for employees with a high social comparison orientation (SCO) in both Studies 1 and 2. Particularly, in Study 1, we also show that contempt is a crucial mediator that transmits the interactive effect of LMX (dis)similarity and SCO on perceptions of help received from coworkers. Furthermore, an average level of perceived help from coworkers is positively related to the sales performance of individual employees.

Testing the links between emotional intelligence and motivation

The emotional intelligence construct is still the focus of substantial controversy. In this paper we contribute to the current debate regarding the factors that comprise the emotional intelligence construct. While some authors argue that emotional intelligence consists of a number of social and emotional competencies including self-motivation (Goleman 1995; 1998), others maintain emotional intelligence abilities are restricted to abilities that directly link emotions to cognition (Mayer & Salovey 1997). This latter view does not include motivation as a factor, but acknowledges it as a separate, related function. We conducted an empirical study to test these two different conceptualisations. One hundred and thirteen individuals completed measures of emotional intelligence and McClellands (1987) three motivational needs. Structural equation analyses clearly supported Mayer and Saloveys (1997) conceptualisation that motivation is a factor related to emotional intelligence but is not a component part of the emotional intelligence construct. Implications are discussed.

A review of emotion regulation and development of a framework for emotion regulation in the workplace

Research in industrial and organizational psychology demonstrates that the regulation of negative emotions in response to both organizational stressors and interpersonal workplace interactions can result in functional and dysfunctional outcomes (Cote, 2005; Diefendorff, Richard, & Yang, 2008). Research on the regulation of negative emotions has additionally been conducted in social psychology, developmental psychology, neuropsychology, health psychology, and clinical psychology. A close reading of this broader literature, however, reveals that the conceptualization and use of the term “emotion regulation” varies within each research field as well as across these fields. The main focus of our chapter is to make sense of the term “emotion regulation” in the workplace by considering its use across a broad range of psychology disciplines. We then develop an overarching theoretical framework using disambiguating terminology to highlight what we argue are the important constructs involved in the process of intrapersonal emotion generation, emotional experience regulation, and emotional expression regulation in the workplace (e.g., emotional intelligence, emotion regulation strategies, emotion expression displays). We anticipate this chapter will enable researchers and industrial and organizational psychologists to identify the conditions under which functional regulation outcomes are more likely to occur and then build interventions around these findings.

Emotional Intelligence, Communication Competence, and Student Perceptions of Team Social Cohesion.

Students generally report poor experiences of group work in university settings. This study examines whether individual student perceptions of team social cohesion are determined by their level of emotional intelligence (EI) and whether this relationship is mediated by their communication skills. Business students (N = 273) completed the 16-item self-report Workplace Emotional Intelligence Profile—Short Version (WEIP-S; Jordan & Lawrence, 2009) before forming teams. Students worked in teams for 8 weeks to complete group work. Afterwards, peer ratings of student communication appropriateness and effectiveness were collected as was each student’s self-report perceptions of the level of team social cohesion. The effect of management of others’ emotions on team social cohesion was mediated by communication effectiveness. The authors discuss the implications of EI training and student team allocation as possible ways to improve student team cohesion.

Testing an explicit and implicit measure of motivation

Purpose – This study aims to examine the relationship between an implicit and an explicit measure of motivation and measures of job and life satisfaction to provide a better understanding of workplace motivation.Design/methodology/approach – A survey is to be administered to 113 workers from a broad community sample. The survey contains measures of implicit motivation (multi motive grid‐short version, MMG‐S) and explicit motivation (needs assessment questionnaire, NAQ), job satisfaction and life satisfaction, and the core self‐evaluation scale.Findings – Two types of confirmatory factor analyses allow us to examine the psychometric properties and convergent and discriminant validity between an implicit measure of motivation and an explicit measure of motivation. The data reveals that the implicit motivation variables assessed by the MMG‐S are operationally distinct from those assessed by the explicit NAQ. A more detailed analysis reveals poor discriminant validity originating from the MMG‐S variables. Reg...

An integrative model of perceived available support, work–family conflict and support mobilisation

Work–family conflict is impacting on increasingly larger numbers of employees. It is therefore important to identify ways in which the negative effects of this stressor can be ameliorated. In this paper an integrative model of perceived available support, work–family conflict and support mobilisation is developed to explore how perceptions of support availability can help employees to cope with work–family conflict. This model is an explicit reflection of the theory of stress-buffering during secondary appraisal, and extends existing theory by incorporating the principles of both the stress-matching and source of support frameworks. The theoretical model enables a more comprehensive examination of the conditions under which stress-buffering is effective in countering the demands of work–family conflict. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Health service accreditation reinforces a mindset of high-performance human resource management: lessons from an Australian study

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether an accreditation program facilitates healthcare organizations (HCOs) to evolve and maintain high-performance human resource management (HRM) systems. DESIGN Cross-sectional multimethod study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Healthcare organizations participating in the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP 4) between 2007 and 2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Ratings across the EQuIP 4 HRM criteria, a clinical performance measure, surveyor reports (HRM information) and interview data (opinions and experiences regarding HRM and accreditation). RESULTS Healthcare organizations identified as high performing on accreditation HRM criteria seek excellence primarily because of internal motivations linked to best practice. Participation in an accreditation program is a secondary and less significant influence. Notwithstanding, the accreditation program provides the HCO opportunity for internal and external review and assessment of their performance; the accreditation activities are reflective learning and feedback events. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals that HCOs that pursue highly performing HRM systems use participation in an accreditation program as an opportunity. Their organizational mindset is to use the program as a tool by which to reflect and obtain feedback on their performance so to maintain or improve their management of staff and delivery of care.

The case for emotion-induced toxicity: making sense of toxic emotions in the workplace

1 The structure of affect: history, theory, and implications for emotion research in organizations 17 Myeong-Gu Seo, Lisa Feldman Barrett and Sirkwoo Jin 2 Emotion and organizational decision making: the roles of negative affect and anticipated regret in making decisions under escalation situations 45 Carmen K. Ng and Kin Fai Ellick Wong 3 Fear and loathing in the workplace 61 Julie Fitness 4 The case for emotion-induced toxicity: making sense of toxic emotions in the workplace 73 Sandra A. Lawrence 5 Disappointment and regret 90 Wilco W. van Dijk and Frenk van Harreveld 6 The impact of emotions, moods and other affect-related variables on creativity, innovation and initiative 103 Johannes Rank and Michael Frese 7 Emotions in and around performance: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat 120 Cynthia D. Fisher 8 Affect, satisfaction, and performance 136 Timothy A. Judge and John D. Kammeyer-Mueller 9 Affective influences on employee satisfaction and performance 152 David T. Wagner and Remus Ilies 10 Affect and work motivation 170 Ruth Kanfer and Patrick C. Stubblebine 11 Emotions and counterproductive work behavior 183 Lisa M. Penney and Paul E. Spector 12 Measuring emotion: methodological issues and alternatives 197 Marie T. Dasborough, Marta Sinclair, Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Alastair Tombs

Positive affective tone and team performance: The moderating role of collective emotional skills.

Research on affect as a group-level phenomenon has shown that over time, individual members within a group become highly similar in their affect (i.e., members experience and display similar emotions and moods), and often become similar enough that the aggregation of individuals’ affect can meaningfully represent the “affective tone” of the group. It is generally assumed that a more positive affective tone will lead to better team performance. We challenge the conclusion that positive affective tone is always good for team performance, suggesting that the relationship between positive affective tone and team performance is subject to moderating influences. Across two studies, we demonstrate that the self-reported collective emotional skills of team members play a crucial role in determining whether positive affective tone is beneficial or detrimental to team performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Expecting dirt but saying dart: The creation of a blend memory

During a naming task, time pressure and a manipulation of the proportion of related prime-target pairs were used to induce subjects to generate an expectation to the prime. On some trials, the presented target was orthographically and generally phonologically similar to the expected target. The expectancy manipulation was barely detectable in the priming data but was clearly evident on a final recognition test. In addition, the recognition data showed that the nearly simultaneous activation of an expectation and sensory information derived from the orthographically and phonologically similar target produced a false memory. It is argued that this represents a blend memory.