More Than a Feeling? Understudied Emotions in Organizational Scholarship

The study of employees’ emotions and affective experiences at work has been a burgeoning area of interest, with prior empirical work demonstrating its effects on various work outcomes, ranging from task and interpersonal performance (e.g., Staw & Barsade, 1993) to withdrawal behaviors (e.g., Donovan, 2000; Pelled & Xin, 1999). However, the majority of extant work has aggregated several discrete emotions into corresponding positive and negative dimensions (Gooty, Gavin, & Ashkanasy, 2009), focusing on employees’ general positive or negative affective experiences. Critically, scholars have emphasized the need to examine the unique processes and outcomes associated with discrete emotions (e.g., Ashkanasy & Humphrey, 2011; Brief & Weiss, 2002; Gooty et al., 2009). The proposed presenter symposium aims to address this limitation of extant work, with each of the five papers focusing on the singular and distinct effects of varying discrete emotions (guilt, pride, boredom, envy, and loneliness). In doing so, we provide critical insight on the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral processes and outcomes associated with employees’ experiences of discrete emotional states. Guilty as Charged: Spillover Effects of Employees' Post-Work Maladaptive Interactions Presenter: Nitya Chawla; U. of Arizona Lenient Reactions to Misconduct: Examining the Role of Self-Conscious Emotions Presenter: Katelyn Zipay; U. of Oregon Presenter: Marie S. Mitchell; U. of Georgia Presenter: Michael Baer; Arizona State U. Presenter: Hudson Sessions; U. of Oregon Presenter: Robert Bies; Georgetown U. Breaking Boredom: The Role of State Boredom and Task Significance on Future Productivity Presenter: Shimul Melwani; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Presenter: Casher Belinda; Kenan-Flagler Business School, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Presenter: Chaitali Kapadia; Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology Presenter: Noah Eisenkraft; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Mindful or Paranoid? Indirect Effects of Envy on Anxiety and Incivility Presenter: Elizabeth A. Adair; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Kristin L. Scott; College of Business, Clemson U. Presenter: Thomas Joseph Zagenczyk; Clemson U. Presenter: Michelle K Duffy; U. of Minnesota Feeling Lonely at the Top: An Examination of Leader Loneliness Presenter: Allison S. Gabriel; U. of Arizona Presenter: Klodiana Lanaj; U. of Florida