Emotions - Part 2
Summary
TLDRThis lecture covers the significance of emotions in the workplace, focusing on how emotions impact behavior and performance. It explains emotional contagion, emotional labor, and emotional dissonance, along with the importance of emotional intelligence. The discussion delves into specific emotions like shame, guilt, and resentment, emphasizing aggression's role in the workplace. Various types of aggression are explored, including threat-based, irritable, and frustration-based aggression, along with the value of assertiveness over aggression. The lecture concludes by introducing stress as a topic for the next session.
Takeaways
- π Emotions play a crucial role in human life and can vary in expression across cultures, but most emotions are universal.
- π€ Emotional intelligence is important, as it helps individuals manage their emotions effectively.
- π Emotions can be self-directed or targeted towards external people, objects, or events.
- π Mood, which can be positive or negative, has a significant impact on how we perceive and behave in the workplace.
- π€§ Emotional contagion is when emotions spread to others, similar to how a cold spreads, influencing the workplace atmosphere.
- π Emotional labor involves showing expected emotions, especially in service jobs, often through surface or deep acting.
- π Emotional dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between felt and expressed emotions, which can lead to discomfort.
- π Common negative emotions in the workplace include shame, humiliation, guilt, resentment, and anger.
- π‘ Anger and aggression, though often seen negatively, can have positive outcomes if managed or directed properly.
- π€ Passive aggression, instrumental aggression, and frustration-based aggression are different forms of workplace aggression, each requiring different strategies to resolve.
Q & A
What role do emotions play in the workplace according to the lecture?
-Emotions significantly influence how individuals behave and perform at work. Positive emotions can enhance job satisfaction and commitment, while negative emotions like shame or anger can impact productivity and workplace relationships.
What is emotional intelligence, and why is it important in the workplace?
-Emotional intelligence is the capacity to manage one's emotions effectively and understand others' emotions. In the workplace, high emotional intelligence helps in better communication, conflict resolution, and managing emotional stress.
How does emotional contagion work in a workplace setting?
-Emotional contagion refers to the phenomenon where emotions spread from one person to another, similar to how a common cold spreads. Positive emotions can uplift the mood of others, while negative emotions can bring down the overall atmosphere.
What is the difference between surface acting and deep acting in emotional labor?
-Surface acting involves pretending to feel emotions, showing them outwardly but not genuinely experiencing them. Deep acting involves trying to actually feel the emotions one is expected to display, creating a more authentic expression.
What is emotional dissonance, and how does it affect employees?
-Emotional dissonance occurs when there is a mismatch between what an employee feels and what they are expected to display. This can lead to stress, dissatisfaction, and emotional exhaustion if prolonged.
How can anger be viewed both negatively and positively in the workplace?
-While anger can lead to unfavorable consequences and negatively affect an individualβs well-being, it can also be a source of energy or motivation when channeled toward social causes or resolving injustices in the workplace.
What is passive aggression, and why is it considered more harmful than active aggression?
-Passive aggression occurs when someone indirectly expresses negative feelings instead of openly addressing the issue. It is often more harmful than active aggression because it can undermine relationships without providing an opportunity for resolution.
What are the four types of aggression discussed in the lecture?
-The four types of aggression are: threat-based aggression, irritable aggression, frustration-based aggression, and instrumental aggression. Each type is triggered by different causes, such as perceived threats, stress, goal frustration, or intentional use of aggression to gain power.
What is assertiveness, and why is it important in relationships at the workplace?
-Assertiveness is the ability to express oneβs feelings and concerns openly while respecting both oneself and the other person. It is important in the workplace because it helps resolve conflicts and maintain healthy relationships without resorting to passive or aggressive behavior.
How can frustration-based aggression be managed in the workplace?
-Frustration-based aggression can be managed by identifying the barrier to achieving a goal, thinking of alternative solutions, and using techniques like self-talk or out-of-the-box thinking. Patience and problem-solving strategies are key to resolving the underlying issues.
Outlines
π Overview of Emotions and Their Role at Work
In this introductory lecture on workplace emotions, the speaker recaps the previous session, explaining how emotions are critical in human life. The universality of emotions is discussed, with a focus on the varying cultural expressions of emotions. The role of emotional intelligence and mood, especially in the work context, is highlighted, and the concept of emotional contagion is introduced. Additionally, the speaker touches on emotional labor in service jobs, where employees must exhibit positive emotions. The challenges of emotional dissonance, where there is a mismatch between felt and expressed emotions, are explored, as well as how emotional attachment at the workplace influences commitment. Finally, the impact of work-family emotional spillover is covered.
π Negative Emotions: Shame, Humiliation, Guilt, and Resentment
The lecture shifts focus to common negative emotions in the workplace: shame, humiliation, guilt, and resentment. Shame arises from feelings of inadequacy or reputation damage, while humiliation occurs when oneβs self-respect is attacked publicly. Guilt stems from violating social norms or being manipulated emotionally. Resentment is a milder form of hate, often resulting from unmet expectations or delayed rewards, like a late bonus. The speaker also highlights how Machiavellian personalities use guilt to manipulate others. These emotions can severely impact workplace dynamics and relationships.
π‘ Understanding Anger and Aggression at Work
Anger and aggression are addressed as significant workplace emotions. Anger, an intense emotion, often affects the person experiencing it more than those around them. While it can lead to negative consequences, the speaker discusses how anger can also be channeled into positive actions if directed towards social causes, like fighting corruption or injustice. The Freudian concepts of Eros (life energy) and Thanatos (death/aggression energy) are referenced, suggesting that aggression, if managed properly, can lead to constructive outcomes.
π€ Active vs. Passive Aggression: Causes and Effects
Aggression in the workplace doesn't always manifest as shouting or overt conflict. Passive aggression, where hostility is hidden, can be more damaging as itβs harder to identify and resolve. The speaker categorizes aggression into types: threat-based aggression caused by perceived harm, irritable aggression arising from stress or frustration, and instrumental aggression, where individuals use aggressive behavior to achieve goals or assert dominance. Strategies for dealing with aggression are discussed, including negotiation and relaxation techniques.
π Frustration and Instrumental Aggression
This section delves deeper into frustration-based aggression, where individuals feel blocked from achieving their goals, such as missing a promotion due to external factors. The speaker emphasizes that reacting aggressively to these frustrations can often exacerbate the problem, and suggests alternative solutions like patience, self-reflection, and out-of-the-box thinking. Instrumental aggression, where aggression is used intentionally to dominate others, is considered the most harmful, with long-term negative consequences for workplace relationships and personal growth.
π¬ Assertiveness: A Healthier Alternative to Aggression
In contrast to aggression, assertiveness is presented as a healthier way to address conflicts. Through an example of a friend breaking confidentiality, the speaker outlines four responses: passive aggression (cutting off the friend), passivity (doing nothing), active aggression (confronting the friend angrily), and assertiveness (calmly discussing the issue). Assertiveness respects both parties in a conflict and helps preserve relationships. The section also explores why many avoid assertiveness, citing insecurities, fear of rejection, and discomfort in confronting others.
π§ Next Lecture Preview: Managing Stress at Work
The lecture concludes with a preview of the next topic: stress in the workplace. The speaker hints at discussing how stress influences behavior, its effects on performance, and strategies for managing it. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own emotional experiences at work and prepare for the upcoming discussion on stress management.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Emotional Intelligence
π‘Emotional Contagion
π‘Emotional Dissonance
π‘Mood
π‘Surface Acting
π‘Deep Acting
π‘Aggression
π‘Passive Aggression
π‘Assertiveness
π‘Frustration-based Aggression
Highlights
Emotions play a crucial role in human life, influencing behavior and decision-making.
Most emotions are universal, though their expressions may vary across different cultures.
Emotional intelligence, the capacity to manage emotions effectively, is vital in the workplace.
Emotions can be targeted toward oneself or external objects, people, or events.
Mood, a general state of being positive or negative, influences behavior and workplace performance.
Emotional contagion describes how emotions can spread among people, much like the common cold.
Emotional labor, especially in service jobs, requires employees to manage and display positive emotions.
Surface acting is when people pretend to show emotions, while deep acting involves deeper emotional control.
Emotional dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between felt and expressed emotions, similar to cognitive dissonance.
Positive emotions in the workplace increase emotional attachment and commitment to the organization.
Work-family spillover is the influence of emotions from work to personal life and vice versa.
Negative workplace emotions include shame, humiliation, guilt, and resentment, which can impact employee well-being.
Aggression in the workplace can stem from threats, irritability, frustration, or even as a deliberate means to achieve power.
Passive aggression, while less visible than active aggression, can be more damaging and harder to address.
Assertiveness, as an alternative to aggression, is a healthier way to resolve workplace conflicts.
Transcripts
Warm welcome to this lecture series on Organizational behaviour.
We are on the 6th chapter on Emotions at Workplace.
We are in the second session of the lecture in this chapter.
We will quickly summarize what happened in the previous lecture.
We looked at how emotions play a very important role in a human s life.
We also looked at how emotions are most emotions are universal in nature even though the expression
of emotions may vary from culture to culture.
We also looked at the role of emotional intelligence or the capacity of people to manage their
emotions well.
We also looked at two different types of emotions.
Emotions which are targeted towards oneself and emotions which are targeted towards external
objects or people or events.
We also looked at another related concept which is called mood.
So, mood is a very generic state which can be positive or negative.
For example, sometimes we feel irritable or low or happy without any specific reason.
Mood has a very strong influence on the way how we look at things and how we behave especially
in work context and when we are in good mood, usually we remember good things, positive
things, ok.
We also looked at why emotions are important in workplace.
We looked at a concept called emotional contagion which means emotions like common cold also
spreads to people around us.
Let us say for example, in workplace if somebody shows positive emotions others also acquire
that positive emotions even without knowing they are getting it.
Emotional labor is in most jobs more specifically in-service jobs, employees are expected to
show positive emotions or certain kind of emotions to the consumers.
So, for example, hospitality industry like hotel, tourism, air force , air-stewards.
So, all those people are expected to show positive emotions to their client's.
We also spoke about two ways in which people do it: one is superficially pretending to
shown those emotions which is surface acting.
Sometimes people may also get into deep acting deep acting means you act, but you pretend
to show those emotions, but in a very deeper sense.
There is a third level which is you naturally feel those emotions and show those emotions.
We looked at the advantage and disadvantages of pretending as well as showing natural emotions
or showing emotions naturally.
So, one important problem which can happen is emotional dissonance which means when there
are inconsistencies in felt emotions and expressed emotions which means you feel something, but
your job demands you to show certain kind of emotion.
So, that can lead to emotional dissonance.
If you remember there is a similar dissonance we saw in the previous chapter which is cognitive
dissonance which means when there are two different attitudes existing at the same time,
it can lead to cognitive dissonance which is a very disturbing thing for individuals.
Similarly, emotional dissonance is also disturbing for people when they have it or when they
face it.
Emotional attachment at workplace is also a very important aspect of emotions in workplace.
When people feel their workplace is a place where they encounter positive emotions, they
tend to get emotionally attached to it.
So, when people feel are happy in the workplace, their commitment level increases.
They feel sad if they have to leave that organization.
We also looked at work family spillover, how emotions in work sphere can affect motions
in personal sphere and vice versa and how to use this spillover effect in a positive
way.
For example, when somebody is not happy in personal sphere, they can perform well in
the work sphere and take that positive energy to their personal space ok.
So, this is where we stopped in the previous lecture.
This lecture we are going to talk about some of the important emotions which are common
in workplace.
Most of them are negative kind of emotions.
So, one set of emotions which are very similar are shame, humiliation, guilt and resentment.
Shame is when someone feels inadequate in workplace or if someone feels their capacity
levels are low, they are not able to perform according to the demand of the work, they
will feel shamed, they will feel shameful.
It can also happen when your reputation is at stake.
If you are you know if something hurts your reputation, you will feel shameful.
A similar emotion is humiliation.
Humiliation is somebody puts you down.
For example, if your teacher shouts at you, if your boss shouts at you in the presence
of others so, you will feel humiliated.
So, humiliation happens when your self-respect is attacked or if you feel there is a disgrace
to your self-respect.
Guilt is feeling bad about doing something wrong.
So, you would have violated some social standard or you know some social norm.
So, you will feel guilty something like reciprocity, you know your friend helped you, but you did
not help that friend in return, you will feel guilty.
Sometime this guilty can be you know it can be created by the other person.
For example, you may not there may not be a real reason, but your colleague may say
that you did not help him when there is a need.
So, you may; you may feel guilty ok.
So, people may manipulate others emotions also you know kind of emotional blackmail
which can also create guilt among people.
So, if you remember I was talking about Machiavellianism in one of those chapters; chapter on personality
more specifically.
So, Machiavellians used this guilt effectively to take advantage of others.
So, they will create guilt, or they will make others feel guilty and use that guilt in their
advantage.
So, this is very, this may be very common in workplace when someone is a Machiavellianstic
kind of a person.
Resentment is mild form of hate.
So, you know you there is some level of unhappiness and that causes hatred.
For example, you know your bonus is delayed, your boss or your subordinate is not you know
cooperative so, you it may lead to resentment.
Another important emotion in workplace or even a very, very common emotion for many
individuals is anger ok anger or aggression.
So, in many of us find it difficult to control anger because anger is a very charged emotion
or a very extreme kind of a emotion and the kind of you know effect it has on ourselves
and others is severe or very intense.
So, there are, one way to look at angry is anger is unnecessary you know if you are feeling
anger more than affecting others it affects you.
So, that is one way of looking at it.
Similarly, anger can lead to unfavorable consequences most of the times for ourselves.
So, anger is bad that is one view point and it is correct also, but it is not that anger
is bad or aggression is bad, aggression is harmful.
Aggression is like an energy, aggression is energy and if you use that energy positively,
you can show better results.
This is like your Freudian view point you know we all have Eros and Thanatos.
Thanatos is like death energy or aggression.
So, if we use it properly, you can you know create many positive things.
So, the other viewpoint is it is; it is not that aggression is wrong.
For what or what is the cause of your anger?
That you know decides whether anger is right or wrong.
If you are aggressive or if you are getting anger because for a social cause, then your
anger is justified, you are anger you are angry because people are living in poverty
or there is there is like corruption or there is favoritism so, if that leads to anger or
if you see that there is injustice so, for others not you know there is injustice for
others so, if that leads to aggression it is good.
So, aggression may not necessarily be active which means when we think about aggression,
we think of that earlier picture I showed you know someone shouting like this.
So, aggression not necessarily means you know people has to shout and you know burst or
explode.
Sometimes aggression can also be very passive.
So, in fact, many times this kind of passive aggression can be more harmful than active
aggression.
Because if there is active aggression, if some somebody shouts at you, you will know
this person has a has some you know he is not agreeing with you so, you can talk to
that person and convince that person, but if someone is not showing aggression, but
there is aggression against you , if they do these sort of things, you may not even
know who is doing it and the problem will not be resolved.
So, this is called passive aggression.
Passive aggression never helps in resolving a problem at least a active aggression, there
is an opportunity for you to know there is a problem ok.
So, why do why does aggression happens?
More specifically in workplace and these reasons are also or this type of types of aggression
is common in other social aspects also, but more specifically, in workplace these are
some of the types of aggression.
The first type of aggression is threat based aggression which means you feel threatened
or you feel there is some, the other person going to cause you harm, it may be real; it
may be real or it may be perceived.
So, mostly it stems out from fear.
You fear that the other person will harm you, you fear that the other person is treating
you badly, you fear that the situation will lead to some problem in your work.
So, you tend to get aggressive ok.
So, it can be a there can be a real stimulus or it can be a perceived stimulus.
Like I said it can be true reason, but or it can be you are imagining there is a reason
or there is a threat so, but anyway you know you perceive there is something outside or
someone outside who is threatening you.
So, this is threat-based aggression.
Irritable aggression is so, threat-based aggression can be resolved by negotiation.
If you know that the other person is a threat, he is a competitor, he or she is a competitor
or he she or she is not sharing resources with you, not sharing information with you,
your colleague or your subordinate so, that that can lead to threat-based aggression.
So, if that is the case, you can resolve it through talking to them, clarifying with them
or understanding why they are doing it.
So, it can be resolved.
Now, second form of aggression is irritable aggression.
Irritable aggression is there is some disturbance or there is some pain or irritation.
For example, the entire day it was a very stressful day.
Work load is very high or you know there is no power in your office or you know at home
there is some problem or when you commuted to work place, there was a bad traffic jam
and you had a fight with someone ok.
So, all these pent-up emotions or pent up irritability can explore as an aggression.
You know if you see many a times people shout at their family members because they are stressed
in workplace like spillover effect or other way around, you know they would have gotten
to a bad traffic jam will come and shout at their subordinates in workplace.
So, this is irritable aggression.
So, how can you resolve this aggression? may be by techniques like breathing techniques,
relaxation techniques or you know just sitting somewhere sitting for 5 minutes and calming
yourself.
So, those type of things can work.
Frustration-based aggression is when you feel or when you have a certain goal and you are
moving towards the goal and you feel something or someone is stopping you from achieving
that goal ok.
For example, you know you wanted or your goal is to get a promotion ok and you are like
working hard, but your boss is not giving you good appraisal, he or she is not giving
you good performance review ok.
So, you will feel frustrated and you will feel aggressive towards that boss.
So, whichever stops you from achieving your goal, you feel aggressive towards that.
Let us say you are standing in a queue, you know waiting to buy something suddenly somebody
cuts the queue because this person is delaying your goal achievement, we tend to shout at
this person ok.
So, this is frustration-based aggression.
So, how to resolve frustration-based aggression?
So, if there is a many a times, this threat or some something which stops you from achieving
your goal like a threat-based aggression, many times it can be perceived.
You perceive this is person is a threat or this person is stopping me from achieving
my goal, but may not necessarily ok.
So, when you get aggressive, when you even if it is real, you know even if there is a
real barrier which stops you from achieving your goal, it can be a person, it can be a
situation.
Getting aggressive is not going to help.
If you get aggressive, what will happen?
Entire thing gets spoiled ok.
So, instead you also get affected when you get aggressive, you lose sight of your goal
you know your goal becomes that barrier, you want to bash that barrier, you know you want
to destroy that barrier, you want to harm that barrier which is not going to help you
to achieve your goal.
So, what can be done?
If this path does not work instead of you know hitting your head in that path if it
is blocked, think about taking another road.
See whether you can cross that barrier without causing much harm to yourself and to others
ok.
So, this again requires lot of patience, self-talk you know looking at things in a different
manner, out of the box thinking and things like that.
So, the last kind of aggression is instrumental aggression.
In fact, this is very harmful kind of aggression because there is no real reason to be aggressive.
There are some people who use aggressive behaviour to achieve their goal.
You know there the especially boss shouting at subordinates to show that they have more
power you know just to show their power, just to you know achieve something they show aggress
aggression.
This is like bulling you know you bully others or you try to put others down so that in the
eyes of others, you look as a you know big person.
So, these are instrumental aggression.
And people do it just for the sake of you know doing it.
There are some level of, you know these are like dogmatism.
If you remember the personality chapter dogmatic behaviour you know they show aggression just
to get more power.
So, how to resolve it, they have to understand this is not correct or you know they should
know doing this for long run will not going to help them.
So, if you are working in an organization, if you are making enemies out of your subordinates,
it is not going to help you in long run; you may, for temporarily you may be seen as you
know a powerful person, but in long run people will not co-operate with you or help you,
will not you know consider you as a leader ok.
So, one alternative for aggression is assertiveness.
I will give an example.
Let us say your subordinate or your colleagues in work place or your friend in your college,
you told a confidential information to that friend because you trust that friend very
much, because you know that friend for long period of time, very close friend you told
a confidential information which should not be shared with others to this friend.
After few days, you hear some other people talking about that information.
So, you are and you know that you are the only person who knows that information and
the only person with whom you have shared that information is your friend and now everybody
knows.
So, what will you know?
What will you think?
My friend would have you know leaked that information ok.
So, this is so, your friend has breach the confidence or your friend has broken the trust.
So, what can you do?
Some people first option stop sharing information with your friend.
The trust is broken, you will not you know share information in future and also probably
you know we can give false information to your friend so that he will go and share with
others and he will look like an idiot in front of others so that is one.
Two, keep quiet do nothing ok.
Continue with your friend as same, you do not want to ask this to your friend and spoil
your friendship because your friend may feel how come you know you cannot prove it so,
your friend you cannot prove that your friend has leak this information.
So, your friend will say how come you know why are you mistrusting me?
How can you mistrust me ok.
So, it will break your friendship.
So, keep quiet.
First, quietly try to cut the friendship, two continue your friendship, three you can
go and shout to your friend you know why did you do this, you are a cheat, I trusted you
that is three.
Four is you can go and talk to your friend, you can ask him this is what has happened
what happened?
You know you can ask why and how come everybody knows.
I thought I only told you, but now everybody knows what happened ok.
So, this is the fourth option which is assertiveness.
The first option is passive aggression.
You are showing aggression indirectly by cutting the friendship.
Two is you are passive; you are not reacting anything.
Three is showing aggressive active aggression.
Fourth is assertiveness you go and talk to that person and try to understand what happened.
So, this is what is assertiveness.
So, why it is important to show assertiveness especially in close relationships, instead
of showing aggression is you are placing both the people, you and the relationship in the
same level.
You are respecting you and also the relationship.
So, if you are keeping quiet, you are putting the other person in a higher plane than you
ok.
So, you are taking the pain and keeping quiet and continuing in that case, the other person
is kept above you.
Your friend you do not want to break the friendship, you feel insecure to break the friendship.
So, you put your friend in a higher plane.
If you shout or if you know become passively aggressive, you are putting yourself above
than your friend.
You are not giving that friend an option to clarify.
Probably in this situation, your somebody who gave you that information, your boss gave
you that information, he would have leaked that information or there might be other resources
which would have lead to leakage of information that confidential information.
So, if you do not clarify, unnecessarily the relationship is going to break and that to
a close friendship ok.
So, that is why it is very important to be assertive.
Why people do not show assertiveness?
It is very easy to show aggression or be passive ok.
Why people do not show assertiveness?
One insecurity.
Insecurity because if I ask people if it is people will think I am like a complaining
always or they may feel they will break the relationship or how will I go and ask, I do
not have the guts to go and ask ok these are insecurity.
It can be rejection, fear of rejection.
You fear that if I ask, they will reject my relationship or if you ask, they will think
you know like I said oh even the smallest thing you are coming and asking, they will
think you are very weak ok.
Being humiliated they will put you down or embarrassed ok.
So, many a times, if something hurts you it is always better to go and clarify with other
instead of keeping quite ok and you should put, you should respect you and also the other
person only then, you will be assertive otherwise, you know it will lead to aggressiveness ok
. I will stop here.
Next class, we will talk about another important aspect of negative emotions in workplace which
is stress ok.
So, we will talk about how stress affects behaviour in workplace, how to manage stress
and things like that.
Till then take care, see you in the next lecture.
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