Emotion Regulation, Crisis Optimism and Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Negative Emotion

Abstract

Recent research has highlighted the importance of emotional well-being and crisis optimism for organisational employees during crisis events. This paper examines the role of emotion regulation strategies, specifically reappraisal and suppression, in fostering emotional well-being and crisis optimism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown crisis. The authors also investigate how emotional intensity moderates the effectiveness of these strategies. A sample of 536 Indian employees was subjected to factor analysis, sentiment analysis and factor score regression. The results demonstrate that reappraisal positively impacts emotional well-being and crisis optimism, while suppression diminishes emotional well-being but increases employee optimism. Notably, high levels of negative emotions exacerbate the adverse effects of suppression on emotional well-being, while slightly amplifying the benefits of reappraisal on optimism. This study sheds light on emotion regulation during organisational crises, emphasising the moderating role of negative emotional intensity.