EMOTION IN THE WORKPLACE - A REAPPRAISAL

Although the experience of work is saturated with emotion, research ha s generally neglected the impact of everyday emotions on organizationa l life. Further, organizational scholars and practitioners frequently appear to assume that emotionality is the antithesis of rationality an d, thus, frequently hold a pejorative view of emotion. This has led to four institutionalized mechanisms for regulating the experience and e xpression of emotion in the workplace: (1) neutralizing, (2) buffering , (3) prescribing, and (4) normalizing emotion. In contrast to this pe rspective, we argue that emotionality and rationality are interpenetra ted, emotions are an integral and inseparable part of organizational l ife, and emotions are often functional for the organization. This argu ment is illustrated by applications to motivation, leadership, and gro up dynamics.