Complete the below assignment
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WEEK 2 DISCUSSION
Week 2 Discussion
Rob Felber
University of the Cumberlands
Chapter 4: Emotions and Moods
This chapter begins by identifying three closely related terms as it relates to emotions and moods, those being Affect which covers a broad range of feelings, Emotions which are intense feelings directed at someone or something and may be more related to actions and Moods which are less intense feelings that may arise unexpectedly and are more cognitive in nature. Even though there are many, researchers agree on six universal emotions – anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and surprise (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 48). With all of the different emotions that exist, one shouldn’t assume that each is easy to identify. All emotions are either positive or negative and observations of facial expressions for example may help to identify anger or sadness, but disgust may be more difficult to diagnose. Additionally, everyone experiences emotions and moods, yet no one experiences them the same. Even though most people experience positive moods, depending on your culture you may find where negative emotions and moods are found to be more useful and constructive such as in collectivistic countries like Japan.
Emotions can boost performance when employees exhibit positive emotions. This occurs when the employees feel part of the team and feel supported by their company. The key is to acknowledge the effect that emotions and moods are having on us (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 51). Our beliefs are somewhat influenced by our peers as well as our work groups and our moral judgments are based on our feelings instead of perceptions. With that being said, there are several accepted factors of where emotions and moods originate. These include; personality, time of day, day of week, weather, stress, sleep, exercise, age, and sex. The more aware we are to each of these, the more attentive we can be as it relates to emotions and moods.
Since our work environment can influence our emotions and moods be it negative or positive, Affective Events Theory notes that they influence our job satisfaction and performance. Affective Events Theory (AET) proposes that employees react emotionally to things that happen to them at work, and this reaction influences their job performance and satisfaction (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 56). AET states that emotions provided valuable insight in how events at work impact satisfaction and performance. Due to the reality of the outcomes, managers and employees shouldn’t ignore the emotions or the events that cause them.
This chapter also discusses what is known as Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a person’s ability to: (1) perceive emotions in him or herself and others; (2) understand the meaning of these emotions; and (3) regulate his or her own emotions accordingly. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 57). Those with high EI have a keen ability to identify their emotions as well as the emotions of others. Several studies suggest that it plays an important role in job performance while other studies find EI hard to measure with its reliability being in question. EI remains very popular among companies and their desire to better understand emotions and moods.
Chapter 5: Personality and Values
Chapter 5 defines personality as the sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. (Robbins and Judge, 2018. P. 65). When we think about personality, we think about how many different adjectives and characteristics come to mind as specific traits which describe a person’s behavior. There are several ways to assess and measure personality such as tests and surveys which are questionable from an accuracy perspective, but both are seen as useful in hiring decisions. Concerns with accuracy are primarily due to the way we rate ourselves in self surveys and the subjectivity which comes with observer rated surveys. Yet again, when referencing both self-reports and observer ratings, they predict performance better than any one type of information and can point to unique individual behaviors.
One personality type indicator is Myers-Briggs (MBTI) which focus’ on four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types. Another type of indicator is the Big Five Personality Model. There are five specific factors looked at which include conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness. This test strives to predict how people will behave in a variety of real-life situations. The traits identified in the Big Five are considered favorable yet there are three traits considered undesirable which are machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. These three traits might be strongly expressed when someone is under stress and cause the individual to struggle to formulate any reasonable response.
Additionally, this chapter looks at the effect of particular traits on behavior and how it depends on the situation. There are two theory’s, one being situation strength theory which proposes that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation meaning, the degree to which norms, cues, or standards dictate appropriate behavior. Components of situation strength include clarity, consistency, constraints, and consequences. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 73). Secondly, Trait Activation Theory (TAT) predicts that some situation, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others. When using TAT, we can foresee which jobs suit certain personalities. (Robbins and Judge, 2018, p. 74).
Lastly, values describe our belief system and represent our basic convictions. What we see as most important is given the highest ranking in how we conduct our lives and they influence the attitudes and behaviors we exhibit at work.