LEADER POSITIVE MOOD AND GROUP-PERFORMANCE - THE CASE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

It was hypothesized that leader positive mood would be positively asso ciated with group performance in a service setting. Additionally, it w as expected that while leader positive mood would be positively associ ated with both the leader's level of job satisfaction and job involvem ent, leader positive mood would be positively associated with group pe rformance, controlling for both leader job satisfaction and job involv ement. Leader positive mood also was expected to be positively associa ted with group performance controlling for group positive affective to ne. Two potential antecedents of leader positive mood, the leader's le vel of positive affectivity and the extent to which the leader's own m anager engaged in contingent reward behavior, were hypothesized to be positively associated with leader positive mood at work. These hypothe ses were tested among a sample of 53 sales managers who led groups ran ging in size from 4 to 9 members. All of the hypotheses were supported . Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.