Emotional Experiences in the Workplace: Biological Sex, Supervisor Nonverbal Behaviors, and Subordinate Susceptibility to Emotional Contagion

Abstract

<jats:p> This study aims to investigate the relationship among different types of supervisor nonverbal behaviors, subordinate susceptibility to emotional contagion, and subordinate emotional experience. It also examined the possible interaction effects of nonverbal behaviors, emotional contagion, and both supervisor and subordinate biological sex. N = 669 full-time employees participated in an online survey. Results suggest that supervisor eye contact, body posture and facial expression are associated with higher emotional support, whereas body and face would reduce subordinates’ engagement in emotion work. The interaction tests show that female supervisors’ use of gesture has a stronger effect on subordinate perception of emotional support and emotion work than male supervisors. Findings are discussed as related to theoretical and practical contributions, as well as suggestions for future research on nonverbal communication and workplace emotions. </jats:p>

Promoting employee flourishing and performance: the roles of perceived leader emotional intelligence, positive team emotional climate, and employee emotional intelligence

“…For instance, future research could examine how the collective perception of leader emotional intelligence could generate various higher-level processes and outcomes (e.g., positive team emotional climate, emotional competency, and outcomes (Maamari and Majdalani, 2017;Majeed and Jamshed, 2021;Zhang et al, 2023). Moreover, future research could explore more specific mechanisms by including some potential boundary conditions such as susceptibility of emotional contagion (Johnson, 2008;Jia and Cheng, 2021) and affect intensity (Härtel and Page, 2009;van Mierlo and Bakker, 2018).…”

January 2023

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