Starting a habit, listening to another person, turning experience into better judgment. Explore 67 academic publications in eight fields through questions from everyday work.
What the research found → Connections to your work
Each entry includes the study’s participants, methods and conditions. “Connection to this page” is our editorial interpretation informed by the research.
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Research on “emotion”
14 studies
Everyday observational research (two diary studies)2002
Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action
During habitual actions, people were more likely to think about something unrelated to the action itself. This was consistent with the account that recurring contexts can cue behavior without renewed conscious deliberation each time.
Connection to this page
Consider which cues, such as a signal to begin work, can become habitual, while rechecking judgments when people or circumstances change.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Participants recorded everyday actions, thoughts and emotions at hourly intervals. Actions repeated in stable contexts were compared with other actions.
Scope and limitations
Diary observations cannot establish causality. The research does not suggest automating complex judgments at work.
Wendy Wood; Jeffrey M. Quinn; Deborah A. Kashy (2002). Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297
DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1281
Meta-analysis2018
Leader autonomy support in the workplace: A meta-analytic review
Perceiving a supervisor as respecting one's perspective and choices was positively associated with autonomous work motivation, basic need satisfaction, positive work behaviors and well-being.
Connection to this page
Provides background for considering work conditions that offer room to think and choose, along with necessary materials and support from others.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined 754 correlations from 72 workplace studies, 83 independent samples and 32,870 people, examining autonomy-supportive leadership, motivation, basic needs and work outcomes.
Scope and limitations
Many studies were cross-sectional and used self-reports. Reverse relationships and shared measurement methods are possible. The evidence does not establish that supervisors' behavior causes the outcomes.
Gavin R. Slemp; Margaret L. Kern; Kent J. Patrick; Richard M. Ryan (2018). Leader autonomy support in the workplace: A meta-analytic review
Motivation and Emotion, 42(5), 706–724
DOI: 10.1007/s11031-018-9698-y
Foundational theory (integrating evidence from treatment research)1977
Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change
Explained the expectation of being able to act as drawing on actual accomplishments, others' experiences, verbal influence and bodily states. The theory connects these expectations with initiation, effort and persistence.
Connection to this page
Provides background for viewing an attempt and a review of what happened as information that can shape expectations about taking the next action.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Integrated theories of behavior change with evidence from treatment procedures involving direct action, observing others and emotional processes, presenting a framework for self-efficacy.
Scope and limitations
This foundational theory was developed largely from clinical behavior change. General confidence differs from self-efficacy for a specific action, and neither guarantees actual workplace ability or results.
Albert Bandura (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change
Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215
DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Original research (experiments)2018
Perspective mistaking: Accurately understanding the mind of another requires getting perspective, not taking perspective
Instructions to imagine another person's perspective did not consistently improve prediction accuracy and sometimes increased confidence alone. Accuracy improved when direct conversation supplied new information.
Connection to this page
Offer a tentative understanding and ask about it, then update it from the answer, rather than deciding someone else's background or criteria for them.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
25 experiments tested whether instructions to imagine another person's perspective improved predictions of emotions, preferences and other states. The final experiment also compared direct conversation.
Scope and limitations
The outcome was accuracy in predicting particular mental states. The research did not directly measure consideration for others in general, long-term collaboration or workplace results.
Tal Eyal; Mary Steffel; Nicholas Epley (2018). Perspective mistaking: Accurately understanding the mind of another requires getting perspective, not taking perspective
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(4), 547–571
DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000115
Original research (individual-difference measures and experiments)2008
Why It Pays to Get Inside the Head of Your Opponent: The Differential Effects of Perspective Taking and Empathy in Negotiations
Cognitively considering the other person's position helped reveal hidden opportunities for agreement and mutually beneficial trade-offs. Results differed from those for emotional empathy.
Connection to this page
Consider the other person's circumstances and priorities alongside your own, and explore options while checking assumptions through actual dialogue.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Three studies compared perspective taking and empathy using individual-difference measures and experimental manipulations, examining agreements and trade-offs across negotiation issues.
Scope and limitations
The findings concern specific negotiation tasks. They do not mean empathy is unnecessary in everyday collaboration or demonstrate an ability to accurately infer another person's feelings.
Adam D. Galinsky; William W. Maddux; Debra Gilin; Judith B. White (2008). Why It Pays to Get Inside the Head of Your Opponent: The Differential Effects of Perspective Taking and Empathy in Negotiations
Psychological Science, 19(4), 378–384
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02096.x
Original research (workplace quasi-experiments)2017
Can holding a stick improve listening at work? The effect of Listening Circles on employees’ emotions and cognitions
Experiencing good listening was linked to reduced social anxiety, reflection on one's own thinking and greater acknowledgment of the complexity of opinions.
Connection to this page
Consider relationships that let people examine their views while speaking and express doubts or contradictions, without rushing to evaluate their ideas.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Three quasi-experiments with 31, 66 and 83 employees compared Listening Circles, where one person speaks at a time, with other workshops or no training.
Scope and limitations
These were not randomized experiments, and the effects include the group intervention as a whole. The study did not directly test a brief listening phrase or effects on business performance.
Guy Itzchakov; Avraham N. Kluger (2017). Can holding a stick improve listening at work? The effect of Listening Circles on employees’ emotions and cognitions
European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26(5), 663–676
DOI: 10.1080/1359432X.2017.1351429
Original experimental research1998
Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology.
Reappraisal and expressive suppression both reduced emotional expression, but their effects on unpleasant feelings and sympathetic nervous system responses differed.
Connection to this page
Provides background for considering responses beyond suppressing facial expression when emotions are stirred.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
120 participants watched an unpleasant film under reappraisal, expressive-suppression or ordinary-viewing conditions. Subjective experience, expression and physiological responses were measured.
Scope and limitations
This was a brief experiment using a particular film. It does not identify the best response to every workplace emotion.
Gross, J. J. (1998). Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 224–237
DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.1.224
Diary study and randomized field experiment2013
Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction.
In the diary study, mindful awareness was associated with less emotional exhaustion and greater job satisfaction. Changes in the same directions were observed in the field intervention group, and relationships with surface acting were examined.
Connection to this page
Provides background for distinguishing continued emotional pretense from noticing one's state while choosing how to respond.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Conducted a five-day diary study with 219 employees and a field experiment assigning 64 people to a self-guided mindfulness practice group or a control group.
Scope and limitations
The field experiment was small. Persistence of effects, occupational differences and objective work outcomes require separate examination.
Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310–325
DOI: 10.1037/a0031313
Meta-analysis2011
On the costs and benefits of emotional labor: A meta-analysis of three decades of research.
Discrepancies between felt and required emotions, and surface acting, were associated with poorer well-being and negative job attitudes. Relationships differed from those for attempts to change inner feelings.
Connection to this page
Provides background for checking a person's burden and work conditions, rather than requiring them to appear cheerful at all times.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined 494 correlations from 95 independent studies of emotional labor.
Scope and limitations
The review mainly integrates correlational research. It cannot uniformly establish that emotional labor causes poor well-being.
Hülsheger, U. R., & Schewe, A. F. (2011). On the costs and benefits of emotional labor: A meta-analysis of three decades of research.
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16(3), 361–389
DOI: 10.1037/a0022876
Original experimental research2007
Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli.
Labeling emotions produced lower responses in the amygdala and related regions, and higher activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, than other processing conditions.
Connection to this page
Offers a way to consider noticing what surprised or worried you before reacting immediately.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Used fMRI to compare labeling emotions in evocative images with other processing conditions.
Scope and limitations
The findings concern brain activity during an image task. They do not show that putting feelings into words resolves workplace conflicts.
Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli.
Psychological Science, 18(5), 421–428
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x
Original experimental research2014
Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters.
Language adopting a slightly distanced perspective on oneself showed improvements related to psychological distance, coping with stress and behavioral ratings by third parties.
Connection to this page
Relates to reconsidering how you want to proceed before giving an immediate response.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Seven studies involving 585 people compared first-person reflection with reflection using one's name or similar language, including social-stress tasks such as presentations.
Scope and limitations
The evidence mainly concerns short experimental tasks. It does not establish that continuing a particular wording improves long-term work outcomes.
Kross, E., Bruehlman-Senecal, E., Park, J., Burson, A., Dougherty, A., Shablack, H., Bremner, R., Moser, J., & Ayduk, O. (2014). Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(2), 304–324
DOI: 10.1037/a0035173
Meta-analysis2003
Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.
Both types of conflict were negatively associated with performance and satisfaction on average. The negative relationship with performance was smaller when task and relationship conflict were less closely connected.
Connection to this page
Supports returning discussion to differing assumptions, decision criteria and necessary information before moving to judgments about the person.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined prior research on task and relationship conflict within teams and their associations with performance and satisfaction.
Scope and limitations
This does not mean every difference of opinion is harmful. Results vary with the task and the way different forms of conflict overlap.
De Dreu, C. K. W., & Weingart, L. R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 741–749
DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.741
Meta-analysis2012
The paradox of intragroup conflict: A meta-analysis.
Relationship and process conflict showed consistent negative associations. The relationship between task conflict and performance varied with its connection to relationship conflict, the team and the outcome measure.
Connection to this page
Provides background for inviting views not yet voiced while keeping differences over work separate from personal conflict.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined 116 studies involving 8,880 groups to examine task, relationship and process conflict in relation to group outcomes.
Scope and limitations
The study does not recommend increasing task conflict for its own sake. It does not justify saying that conflict creates creativity without considering conditions.
de Wit, F. R. C., Greer, L. L., & Jehn, K. A. (2012). The paradox of intragroup conflict: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(2), 360–390
DOI: 10.1037/a0024844
Original experimental research2002
The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and its Influence on Group Behavior.
Moods were observed spreading within groups. Positive mood contagion was associated with more cooperation, less conflict and higher subjective task-performance ratings.
Connection to this page
Provides background for considering how one's responses and expressions also shape conditions for later consultations and meetings.
Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Placed a confederate expressing pleasant or unpleasant moods at different energy levels into small decision-making groups, comparing self-reports with video-based ratings.
Scope and limitations
This was a brief group task with students. The performance ratings measured cannot be equated with objective improvements in business results.
Barsade, S. G. (2002). The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and its Influence on Group Behavior.
