Sometimes, the mood of a room can change simply by having a happy person enter it. Their smile and positive vibes can bring joy and light to the others. It is like an infection of their emotional state. This phenomenon is called emotional contagion.
Emotions are one of the main centres of interest among recent topics in work psychology. Since the end of 1980s, a lot of researchers have found positive relationships between workers emotions and their psychological well-being. Recently, scientific literature has focused on studying the link between team dynamics and productivity. With this in mind, this article aims to highlight emotional contagion in work teams. This term was defined as « the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures and movements with those of another person’s and, consequently to converge emotionally » (Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994, page 153-154). This concept suggests that emotions can be propagated by one person to another, as part of the inevitable process of social interactions: to live together, people need to recognize and understand each other’s emotions.
This mechanism has been explained in several ways by different researchers: first, they thought it was a social comparison phenomenon, then, a social learning phenomenon. After that, scientists proposed the idea of a divided attention between the « emotional trigger » and the « receiver », which may merge together and yield an exacerbation of emotional reactions. We still do not yet have the full explanation of this process. However, we do know that it is a multi-factorial one.
The earliest research on this phenomenon show the benefits of positive emotional transmission (induction of cheerful feelings) in a work team: it is a factor of social cohesion, creativity and performance (Barsade, 2002 ; Jacquinot & Pellissier-Tanon, 2014 ; Van Hoorebeke, 2007 ; 2008). On the contrary, the transmission of a negative emotion like anger can encourage employees to make more mistakes related to attention and execution (Petitta, Probst, Ghezzi & Barbaranelli, 2019).
From the early 2000s, Delphine Van Hoorebeke, a researcher in management, has been studying this process in organisations. She has contributed largely to the advancement of the field: her work shows that positive emotional contagion can reduce the harmful effects of emotional conflict, be a factor in decision-making, or, for example, be important for the quality of exchanges and for a good social climate in work teams (Van Hoorebeke, 2007 ; Van Hoorebeke & Piré-Lechalard, 2015).
Through her research, she wishes to understand this phenomenon as a management tool for team worker cohesion. This is a promising idea for the future, particularly for better leadership and team management. If employees can have reduced anxiety, stress, and bad affects, and instead more well-being and good vibes, then they will be more confident, better able to communicate with their co-workers, and thus more productive. Scientists could develop an emotional contagion scale to assess leaders in their interpersonal skills or to help solve relational problems in organisations.
References
Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect : Emotional contagion and its influence on Group behavior. Administrative science quarterly, 47(4), 644-675.
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. New York : Cambridge University Press.
Jacquinot, P. & Pellissier-Tanon, A. (2014). Faire son deuil, susciter de la joie : un processus de partage social d’émotions positives – Les leçons de l’intégration de personnes handicapées en matière de cohésion d’équipe. RIMHE : Revue Interdisciplinaire Management, Homme & Entreprise, 12(3), 83-100.
Petitta, L.,Probst, T. M., Ghezzi, V. & Barbaranelli, C. (2019). Cognitive failures in response to emotional contagion : Their effects on workplace accidents. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 119(1), 165-173.
Van Hoorebeke D. (2007, mai). Contagion émotionnelle, facteur modérateur de créativité et de performance de groupe au travail ? à la 9ème Université de printemps de l’IAS, Moscou.
Van Hoorebeke D. (2008). La gestion des émotions au travail : une revue vers une nouvelle conception du management, Humanisme et Entreprise, 285(1), 81-103.
Van Hoorebeke D. & Piré-lechalard P. (2015, mai). La contagion émotionnelle par les leaders d’opinion et la résistance émotionnelle : facteurs de la prise de décision managériales en situation complexe aux rencontres internationales des sciences du management, les défis du management de la complexité et du changement, Marrakech.