MMM240 Week 3 Study Notes: Workplace

Emotions, Attitudes and Stress

3.1 Emotions
What Are Emotions?

Emotions are physiological, behavioural and psychological episodes experienced toward

an object, person or event that create a state of readiness.

Key points about emotions:

 They are experiences - they represent changes in our:

o Physiological state (e.g., heart racing)
o Psychological state (e.g., feeling anxious)
o Behaviour (e.g., smiling or frowning)
 Emotional episodes are very brief events directed at someone or something
 Emotions put us in a state of readiness
 Difference between emotions and moods: moods are longer-term emotional states

How Do Emotions and Cognition Influence Attitudes and Behaviour?

Attitudes and behaviour aren't driven just by logical thinking - emotions play a huge role. If
you want to work effectively with and manage others, you need to understand how emotions
influence employee attitudes.

The Emotions-Attitudes-Behaviour Model:

This model shows that attitudes are shaped by our ongoing emotional experiences. Successful
companies actively create more positive than negative emotional episodes at work.

Cognitive Dissonance

Definition: Any emotional discomfort caused when we realise our beliefs, feelings and
behaviours are inconsistent.

Cognitive dissonance is most common when our behaviour is:

 Known to others
 Done voluntarily
 Cannot be undone

Example: You believe smoking is bad but you smoke anyway - that uncomfortable feeling is
cognitive dissonance.
3.2 Managing Emotions
Emotional Labour

Definition: The effort, planning and control needed to express organisationally-desired

emotions during interpersonal transactions.

Have you ever had to be nice to a difficult customer? Or acted energetic and happy at
work when you were feeling bored, tired or frustrated? That's emotional labour!

Jobs require more emotional labour when they involve:

 Frequent and long-duration display of emotions

 Display of a variety of emotions
 Display of more intense emotions

Display Rules

These are workplace norms that dictate which emotions should be shown at work. Different
cultures have different display rules:

Minimal emotional expression Emotional expression encouraged

Korea, Japan, Austria (monotonic voice) Kuwait, Egypt, Spain, Russia

Emotional Dissonance

Definition: The conflict between the emotions you truly feel and the emotions you're
required to display at work.

Two ways to handle emotional labour:

1. Surface acting - Faking the required emotions (potentially stressful)

2. Deep acting - Actually trying to feel the required emotions (less stressful)

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Definition: A set of abilities to:

 Perceive and express emotion

 Assimilate emotion in thought
 Understand and reason with emotion
 Regulate emotion in oneself and others

Key facts about EI:

 Associated with some personality traits

 Related to parents' emotional intelligence
 Now used as a selection criterion in hiring
 Can be learned (especially through coaching)
  Increases with age and maturity

3.3 Job Attitudes

Job Satisfaction

Definition: A person's evaluation of their job and work context. It's really a collection of
attitudes about specific parts of the job.

Key question: What are the consequences of job dissatisfaction?

Think about a job you've liked - you probably:

 Performed better
 Were more willing to go above and beyond
 Showed up on time or early
 Stayed longer than you would have in a job you didn't like

The EVLN Model: Four Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

Response What it looks like

Exit Leaving the situation (quitting, transferring)
Voice Changing the situation (problem-solving, complaining)
Loyalty Patiently waiting for the situation to improve
Neglect Reducing work effort/quality, increasing absenteeism

Critical reflection question: What determines which action someone takes when they're
dissatisfied with their job?

Job Satisfaction and Performance

Happy workers are more productive - but only moderately so. Why?

1. General attitudes don't always predict specific behaviours well

2. Some employees have little control over their performance
3. Job performance might actually affect satisfaction (not just the other way around)

Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

Job satisfaction increases customer satisfaction and profitability because:

 It affects mood, leading to positive behaviours toward customers

 It reduces employee turnover, resulting in more consistent and familiar service

Organisational Commitment
Definition: An employee's attachment to their organisation.

The Relationship Analogy (from the lecturer)

Think about a couple in a committed relationship. What makes them committed?

Type In relationships At work

You WANT to stay (emotional
Strong emotional bond, they WANT
Affective attachment, identification with
to be together
organisation)
Stay because they can't find You HAVE to stay (calculative - best
Continuance
someone else or it's financially better option right now)
Stay out of obligation (kids, family
Normative You OUGHT to stay (sense of duty)
pressure)

So put simply:

 Affective commitment = WANT to stay

 Continuance and normative commitment = HAVE to stay

Which Type of Commitment Do Managers Want?

Affective commitment is obviously the most desirable! Both affective and normative
commitment are generally beneficial - the more committed people are, the more they want to
stay, the more motivated they are, and the better they perform.

Continuance commitment is dysfunctional because:

 If another organisation offered better money, the employee would leave

 There's no real loyalty
 Employees won't put in much effort to help others
 Job performance tends to be lower

Five Strategies to Build Affective Organisational Commitment

Strategy What it looks like

1. Justice and support Show integrity, fairness, and support employee wellbeing
Ensure employees and organisation share the same values (check
2. Shared values
this when recruiting)
Have leaders employees trust; make employees feel secure in their
3. Trust
jobs
Help employees understand what the organisation is about, where it's
4. Organisational
heading, what it stands for (induction programs, newsletters, open
comprehension
communication)
Involve employees in decisions to strengthen their feelings of
5. Employee
ownership and identification (consultation sessions, getting input on
involvement
initiatives)
3.4 Stress
What is Stress?

Definition: An adaptive response to a situation perceived as challenging or threatening to

one's wellbeing. It's a physiological and psychological condition that prepares us to adapt to
difficult environmental conditions.

Two types of stress:

 Eustress - helpful stress (motivator)

 Distress - harmful stress (negative experience)

Most of us experience stress in our lives and at work. The COVID-19 pandemic especially
heightened many people's stress levels. Prolonged stress can cause long-term damage to our
mental and physical health.

The General Adaptation Syndrome

A model of the stress experience showing how we respond to ongoing stress over time.

Conservation of Resources Theory

This theory proposes that individuals seek to retain and protect their personal resources
(like time, energy, emotional capacity). When these resources are threatened or depleted, we
experience stress.

Consequences of Distress: Job Burnout

Burnout has three components:

1. Emotional exhaustion - feeling drained and used up

2. Cynicism (depersonalisation) - developing negative, callous attitudes
3. Reduced personal accomplishment - feeling like you're not achieving anything

Stressors: The Causes of Stress

Definition: Stressors are any environmental conditions that place a physical or emotional
demand on the person.

Three major workplace stressors:

Stressor What it looks like

Harassment and Psychological harassment (repeated hostile conduct); Sexual
incivility harassment (unwelcome conduct affecting work environment)
Working more hours, more intensely than you can cope with (affected
Work overload
by globalisation, consumerism, 'ideal worker norm')
Low task control Lack of control over how and when tasks are performed (Karasek
 Stressor What it looks like
demand-control model)

The TED Talk: How to Make Stress Your Friend (Kelly McGonigal)

The groundbreaking study:

 30,000 US adults were followed for 8 years

 They were asked: "How much stress have you experienced?" AND "Do you believe
stress is bad for your health?"
 Researchers tracked who died

The shocking finding:

 People who experienced a lot of stress had a 43% higher risk of death - BUT this
was only true for people who believed stress was bad for their health
 People who experienced a lot of stress but didn't see stress as bad were NOT more
likely to die
 In fact, they had the lowest risk of death of anyone in the study (including those with
little stress!)

The estimate: Over 182,000 Americans died prematurely not from stress, but from the belief
that stress is bad for you (that's 20,000 deaths per year - more than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS
and suicide combined).

Changing your mind about stress changes your body's response:

When you view the stress response as HELPFUL:

 Your heart races? That's preparing you for action

 Breathing fast? That's sending more oxygen to your brain
 Blood vessels don't constrict as much (healthier cardiovascular response)

Managing Work-Related Stress

Five ways to deal with stress:

1. Remove the stressor

2. Withdraw from the stressor
3. Change stress perceptions (like the TED talk suggests!)
4. Control stress consequences
5. Receive social support

Organisational policies to help manage stress:

 Flexible and limited work time

 Job sharing
 Telecommuting
 Personal leave
 Childcare support
3.5 Seminar: Critical Thinking Questions
Question 1: Emotional Labour in Different Jobs

University lecturers need emotional labour when:

 Delivering engaging lectures even when tired

 Dealing patiently with difficult students
 Showing enthusiasm for topics they've taught many times
 Remaining calm and professional during stressful situations

Is emotional labour more troublesome for teachers or emergency telephone operators?

Consider:

 Emergency operators deal with life-or-death situations, need to remain calm while
people are panicking, and have less time to prepare emotional responses
 Teachers have prolonged interactions, need to sustain emotional displays for hours,
and build ongoing relationships

Question 2: Emotional Intelligence vs Cognitive Intelligence

Statement: "Emotional intelligence is more important than cognitive intelligence in

influencing an individual's performance at work."

Arguments FOR:

 EI helps with teamwork, leadership, and customer relations

 EI can be developed (cognitive intelligence is more fixed)
 EI helps manage stress and emotional labour
 Some jobs (counselling, management) rely heavily on EI

Arguments AGAINST:

 Cognitive intelligence matters more for technical/complex tasks

 Many jobs require analytical thinking as the foundation
 Both types of intelligence work together

Question 3: Two Journalists Reacting Differently to Stress

Why the different reactions?

Based on stress theory:

 Different perceptions of stress (one sees pressure as threat, other sees as challenge)
 Different beliefs about stress (like the TED talk explained)
 Different coping resources (social support, coping strategies)
  Different personality traits (resilience, optimism)
 Different levels of control over their work

The journalist who enjoys the challenges is experiencing eustress (positive stress that
motivates), while the other is experiencing distress leading to burnout.

Assessment Reminder
Written Reflection #1 is due Tuesday next week (Week 4)

You can choose from:

 Topic 1: Introduction to Organisational Behaviour

 Topic 2: Individual Behaviour, Personality, Values and Perceptions
 Topic 3: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes and Stress (this week's topic)

Tips:

 Use the template provided in Assessment Resources

 Complete a draft by the end of this week to minimise stress (ironic, hey?)
 The EVLN model might be useful for your reflection if you've experienced job
dissatisfaction

Quick Summary: Week 3 at a Glance

Section Key Takeaway
Emotions are brief experiences that influence attitudes and
Emotions
behaviour
Emotional Labour We often have to display emotions we don't really feel at work
Emotional Intelligence The ability to perceive, understand and manage emotions
Job Satisfaction Affects performance, citizenship behaviours, and turnover
Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect - how people respond to
EVLN Model
dissatisfaction
Organisational Affective (want to), Continuance (have to), Normative (ought
Commitment to)
Stress Can be helpful (eustress) or harmful (distress)
Remove, withdraw, change perceptions, control consequences,
Stress Management
get support