COMM 160 - Quiz 1

Week 1: What is Emotion?

• Emotion Myths:

  • Hardwired: Assumed to be present from birth and universal.

  • Reactive: Seen as an instinctual reaction, with rational thinking overcoming emotion.

  • Misconception: Emotional responses indicate weakness or moral failure.

• How Emotions Work:

  • No universal definition among scientists.

  • Emotional experiences vary between individuals.

  • Emotions involve both brain regulation and bodily signals.

    • You experience a summary of what your body is experiencing = simple feelings

  • Emotions act as a tool to fix problems in your body

    • Ex: diagnostic of what is happening around you vs. going through something challenging 

    • Brain used past experiences to predict what will happen regarding emotions 

  • Emotions are made up of past experiences , predictions of future events, and are something we actively participate in 

• Emotions in Organizations:

  • Goals of Bureaucracy: chain of command (vertical authority), specialization of labor to create efficiency 

    • Assumption: people are rational beings and can operate like machines

  • Key Concepts: 1) emotions are the most powerful force inside the workplace, 2) emotional needs are the same for everyone: to belong and feel heard 

  • Role of leaders to manage emotion work

    • How emotions influence decisions, thought, and working towards a  common goal 

  • Emotionally intelligent workplaces are influenced by structure and culture 

Week 2: Emotional Labor

• Definition: Managing emotions as part of one’s job role.

• 5 Types of Emotional Labor:

  • Emotional labor: schism between felt emotions and those necessary for the job 

    • Deep acting: convincing yourself of emotions, adding empathy to organizational needs 

    • Surface acting: covering up true feelings 

  • Emotion work: emotion is the central focus of the work; i.e. focus on relationships 

  • Emotion with work: relationships with coworkers influencing emotions more than just at work

  • Emotion at work: private emotions become a part of public work life 

    • Outside emotions being brought in to work 

  • Emotion toward work: object of the emotion is the work or the workplace 

• Workplace Impact:

  • Emotional intelligence is linked to increased workplace success.

  • Positive outcomes include inspiration, respect, and happiness.

  • Negative emotions like frustration and anger can decrease productivity.

Week 3: The RULER Framework

• Recognition: Understanding and identifying emotions in oneself and others.

• Importance of Recognition:

  • Most communication is nonverbal.

  • People often misinterpret others' emotions.

  • Verbal communication is crucial in emotion science.

  • Effective questioning and listening are essential for emotional recognition.

• Understanding: wishing to understand what causes our or other’s emotions 

• Importance of Understanding: 

  • Developed skills in which one must search for underlying themes of possible causes 

  • Includes storytelling, pattern seeking, and perspective taking 

• Labeling: the vocabulary to put our emotions in perspective as a form of regulation 

• Importance of Labeling:

  • Legitimizes our experiences & creates mental model of the world 

  • Helps others meet our needs, get to causes, and makes empathy available

  • Helps us meet the needs of others 

  • Connects us to the rest of the world 

    • Emotional granularity: adaptive value of putting feelings inot words with high degree of complexity 

Week 4: Regulating Emotions and Emotional Contagion

• Definition: Adjusting emotional responses to fit situations and goals.

• Methods:

  • Suppression: Inhibiting outward emotional expression.

  • Self-compassion: Treating oneself with kindness.

  • Co-regulation: Managing emotions in social interactions.

• Strategies:

  • Mindfulness: paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way; fosters awareness without being overwhelmed 

  • Forward-Looking: RUL, use of self-knowledge predicting situations that are uncomfortable and planning for them (avoid or reward)

  • Attention shifting: temper the impact of an emotion by diverting our attention

    • Distraction: can do more harm than good; instagram, netflix, snacks

    • Self-talk: refer to self in the third person to gain psychological distance from experiences

  • Cognitive-reframing/reappraisal: seeking alternate way of viewing difficulties as a path of balance; consciously choosing to view a situation in a way that generates the least negative reaction

  • Meta-Moment: sense shift, pause, see your best self, strategize, and act  

• Emotional Contagion:

  • Transfer of moods or emotions from one person to another; person or group influences emotions of another through conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states 

  • Positive emotions boost morale; negative ones increase stress.

• 4 Elements of Emotional Contagion:

  • 1. Comprised of discrete emotions and generalized moods

  • 2. Occurs via subconscious and conscious process (both elicits and targets of emotional contagion)

  • 3. Can take place within dyads, small groups, organization, and larger societal electives 

  • 4. Represents type of social influence that changes how people feel, what they think, and their actions 

• Management:

  • Be aware of emotional influence.

  • Regulate emotions to create a supportive environment.

  • Use emotional intelligence to mitigate negativity.

Key Takeaways:

• Emotions are complex and individualized.

• Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in workplace success.

• Recognizing and regulating emotions improves interpersonal relationships and productivity.

• Effective emotion management leads to personal and social benefits.

• Emotional contagion highlights the importance of maintaining a positive emotional climate.