Niven, K. orcid.org/0000-0002-6675-5532, Troth, A.C. and Holman, D. (2019) Do the effects of interpersonal emotion regulation depend on people's underlying motives? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 92 (4). pp. 1020-1026. ISSN 0963-1798
Abstract
Attempts to improve others' feelings have positive consequences, while attempts to worsen others' feelings have negative consequences. But do such effects depend on the motives underlying these attempts? In an experimental study, we tested whether leaders' apparent motives influence the effects of their interpersonal emotion regulation on followers. We found that the positive effects of using affect-improving (vs. affect-worsening) strategies on relational outcomes and discretional performance outcomes were largely enhanced when the leader exhibited prosocial motives but diminished when the leader exhibited egoistic motives. Our findings add nuance to our understanding of the effects of interpersonal emotion regulation at work.
Practitioner points
When leaders try to influence their followers' emotions, the consequences not only depend on the type of strategy used (improving vs. worsening), but also the leaders' apparent motives.
If egoistic (vs. prosocial) motives underpin leaders' interpersonal emotional regulation, the positive effects of affect-improving (vs. affect-worsening) on leader–follower relationship quality and follower discretional performance are significantly reduced.
Leaders should be aware of the behaviours they use during interactions with their followers as well as how their motives might be perceived.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The British Psychological Society. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | egoistic motivation; emotion regulation; interpersonal emotion regulation; leader–follower relations; leadership; prosocial motivation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Mar 2022 12:06 |
Last Modified: | 10 Mar 2022 12:06 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/joop.12257 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:184572 |