Distinctions among Terms Used to Describe Emotions and Moods

Emotion theorists continue to debate about differences between emotions and moods. Many agree that emotions are necessarily directed at objects, whereas moods are not. This, and other, alternative differences between mood and emotion terms were examined. Fifty undergraduate students were asked to rate a number of affect terms according to their object-directedness, duration, intensity, physiological impact, and psychological feeling states. The results were analyzed to illustrate possible differences between moods and emotions. Implications of the results are discussed

Incorporating I-O Into an Introductory Psychology Course: A New Set of Custom Modules by the Education and Training Committee

One concern that SIOP members often express at conferences and other gatherings of I-O psychologists is the general lack of visibility of I-O among the majority of the undergraduate students in psychology. Although interest in I-O psychology has grown among students, very few introductory psychology textbooks cover the topic. In an effort to address this concern, Mikki Hebl, the former Education and Training Committee Chair, invited a subcommittee composed of committee members and others who have expertise in undergraduate education to develop “shovel-ready” modules that introduce I-O topics to an introductory psychology audience. Those responsible for preparing the modules include Chris Cunningham, Carrie Bulger, Lisa Kath, Morrie Mullins, Mike Horvath, and Joseph Allen

An experimental investigation of the interpersonal ramifications of lateness to workplace meetings

Individuals often attend meetings at work to which at least one person arrives late. Building from attributional theories of interpersonal behaviour, we conducted an experiment to determine the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of people\u27s reactions to meeting lateness. Participants read one of eight experimental vignettes that described someone arriving 5 or 15 min late to an important or unimportant meeting, after which the person who arrived late offered either a controllable or an uncontrollable reason for being late. Participants reported greater anger and a willingness to punish the late arrival who gave a controllable excuse, whereas sympathy and prosocial intentions followed the late arrival who gave an uncontrollable excuse. To establish generalizability, we replicated the results using a survey of workers who reported on their thoughts and experiences in their last meeting to which someone arrived late. Overall, our findings also indicated that accounting for the severity of the transgression uniquely contributed to emotional and behaviour reactions, which is an improvement on existing attributional models

It’s All in How You Use It: Managers’ Use of Meetings to Reduce Employee Intentions to Quit

Meetings are often viewed as unnecessary, wastes of time, and overall negative experiences at work. In this study, we examined the positive side of meetings, specifically, how the relationship a manager fosters with subordinates in meetings affects those employees’ intentions to quit (ITQ). Using an online survey of working adults who regularly attended meetings, we found that the relation between perceived organizational support (POS) and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality in meetings on ITQ depended on an employee’s level of negative affectivity (NA). When POS or LMX in meetings was low or average, high-NA employees held significantly higher ITQ than low-NA employees. However, when POS or LMX in meetings was high, high-NA employees were no more likely to quit than low-NA employees. We provide a series of practical recommendations based on our findings that consulting psychologists can implement in their clients’ meetings to address employee withdrawal cognitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

An experimental investigation of the interpersonal ramifications of lateness to workplace meetings

Individuals often attend meetings at work to which at least one person arrives late. Building from attributional theories of interpersonal behaviour, we conducted an experiment to determine the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of people\u27s reactions to meeting lateness. Participants read one of eight experimental vignettes that described someone arriving 5 or 15 min late to an important or unimportant meeting, after which the person who arrived late offered either a controllable or an uncontrollable reason for being late. Participants reported greater anger and a willingness to punish the late arrival who gave a controllable excuse, whereas sympathy and prosocial intentions followed the late arrival who gave an uncontrollable excuse. To establish generalizability, we replicated the results using a survey of workers who reported on their thoughts and experiences in their last meeting to which someone arrived late. Overall, our findings also indicated that accounting for the severity of the transgression uniquely contributed to emotional and behaviour reactions, which is an improvement on existing attributional models

Under New System, Bridges Build You

Let’s take a page from the lessons that public-speaking classes convey, viz. “tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you’ve told them.” Thus: • In response to calls from SIOP’s past leadership, the Bridge Builders group—one designed to spread awareness and understanding of I-O psychology to many different audiences—was developed and counts among its members many of us from SIOP. President Steve Kozlowski’s vision for the organization in the coming years dovetails well with the objectives of Bridge Builders.• Bridge Builders have been doing some really cool things recently; these were showcased in a session at SIOP this year. • Want to get involved in this exciting initiative? You should. We’ll show you how to get started

Leadership in Workplace Meetings: The Intersection of Leadership Styles and Follower Gender

Meetings are ubiquitous across organizations, yet researchers have paid scant attention to the role of meeting leaders in affecting meeting outcomes. Because meetings are important discursive sites, the style of a meeting leader may influence subordinate views of the meeting and leader. Using a sample of working adults, we first demonstrated that meeting attendees who perceived their leader as participative viewed the leader as more warm and competent than meeting attendees who had a directive leader. We explain this finding through the framework of social exchange theory. In Study 2, we conducted an experiment to further probe the relation between meeting leader style and subordinate perceptions of the leader. Again, participants viewed participative leaders as more warm and competent than directive leaders. Interestingly, working adults preferred participative leaders over directive leaders across every type of work meeting. We further found that participant gender interacted with leader style, such that men rated directive leaders are warmer than did women, but men and women did not differ in their assessments of participative leaders

Manager-Led Group Meetings: A Context for Promoting Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Using Kahn’s theory of engagement, we look at an organizational context where employee engagement may be promoted—the workgroup meeting. Two time-separated Internet-based surveys were used to query a sample of working adults (N = 319). The findings provide support that the psychological conditions for engagement mediate the relationship between manager usage/facilitation of meetings and overall employee engagement. Specifically, as managers make their workgroup meetings relevant, allow for employee voice in their meetings where possible, and manage the meeting from a time perspective, employees appear poised to fully engage themselves in their work in general. The results suggest that managers can use a common workplace activity, workgroup meetings, to engage their employees when they use/facilitate meetings in an effective manner

The revolving door: A closer look at major factors in volunteers’ intention to quit

In nonprofit organizations, volunteer coordinators deal with high rates of volunteer turnover due, in part, to increased levels of volunteer burnout. This study sought to identify how burnout can help explain volunteers’ intention to quit and identify two potential antecedents of burnout: voice and role ambiguity. Specifically, it is hypothesized that volunteer voice and role ambiguity affects volunteers’ intention to quit through their relationship with volunteer burnout. Data were obtained from volunteers working in an animal welfare organization in the western United States (N = 151). An online survey was administered to volunteers who responded to a variety of questions and scales concerning their experiences as volunteers in an animal welfare organization. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypotheses. The findings provide tentative support that volunteer burnout mediates the relationship between two potential predictors of burnout (e.g., perception of voice and role ambiguity) and intention to quit. Consistent with conservation of resources theory, volunteers who are drained of their cognitive resources through dealing with a lack of voice and ambiguous volunteer role situations experience increased burnout. The practical and theoretical significance of these findings are discussed