Abstract
The aim of the paper is to contribute to knowledge on the causes and consequences of affective states at work by identifying several job-related events likely to produce affective states and then studying the impact of the latter on work attitudes. Affective Events Theory was the theoretical framework used for the study and two main hypotheses were stated: experiencing certain work events leads to affective reactions, which in turn influence work attitudes. An empirical study based on 203 questionnaires was performed on a sample of French managers. The results support both research hypotheses, although the impact of affective states on work attitudes appeared larger than the impact of work events on affective states. The mediating effect of affective events with respect to the impact of work events was also tested, but only partially supported.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
REFERENCES
Allport, G. W. (1935). Attitudes. In C. Murchinson (Ed.), Handbook of Social Psychology. Worcester: Clark University Press.
APEC (2001). Cadroscope 2001. Paris: Association Pour l'Emploi des Cadres (Manager Employment Association).
Ashforth, B. E., & Humphrey, R. H. (1995). Emotion in the workplace: A reappraisal.Human Relations, 48,97–125.
Ashkanasy, N. M., Ha¨ rtel, C. E. J., & Daus, C. S. (2002). Diversity and emotion: The new frontiers in organizational behavior research. Journal of Management, 28,307–338.
Averill, J. R. (1980). A constructivist view of emotions. In R. Plutchik, & H. Kellerman(Eds.), Emotion Theory, Research, and Experience vol. 1 Theories of emotions. New York: Academic Press.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
Basch, J., & Fisher, C. D. (2000). Affective events-emotions matrix: A classification of work events and associated emotions. In N.M. Ashkanasy, C.E.J. Ha¨ rtel, & W.J. Zerbe (Eds.), Emotion in the Workplace: Research, Theory, and Practice. Westport: Quorum Books.
Brief, A. P. (1998). Attitudes in and Around Organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Brief, A. P., & Weiss, H.M. (2002). Organizational behavior: Affect in the workplace. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 279–307.
Burke, M. J., Brief, A. P., George, J. M., Roberson, L., & Webster, J. (1989). Measuring affect at work: Confirmatory analyses of competing mood structures with conceptual linkage to cortical regulatory systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,57, 1091–1102.
Cacioppo, J. T., Gardner, W. L., & Bernston, G. G. (1999). The affect system has parallel and integrative processing components: Form follows function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 839–855.
Crites, S. L., Fabrigar, L. R., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Measuring the affective and cognitive properties of attitudes: Conceptual and methodological issues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 619–634.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes' error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Avon Books.
Daniels, K. (2000). Measures of five aspects of affective well-being at work. Human Relations,53, 275–294.
Dohrenwend, B. P., & Shrout, P. E. (1985). Hassles in the conceptualization and measurement of life stress variables. American Psychologist, 40, 780–785.
Donovan, M. A. (1999). Cognitive, Affective, and Satisfaction Variables as Predictors of Organizational Behaviors: A Structural Equation Modeling Examination of Alternative Models. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N.P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review,25, 178–199.
Fineman, S. (2000). Emotion in organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Fisher, C. D. (2002). Antecedents and consequences of real-time affective reactions at work. Motivation and Emotion, 26,3–30.
Gable, S. L., Reis, H. T., & Elliot, A. J. (2000). Behavioral activation and inhibition in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 1135–1149.
George, J. M., & Brief, A. P. (1992). Feeling good-doing good: A conceptual analysis of the mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 112,310–329.
George, J. M., & Brief, A. P. (1996). Motivational agendas in the workplace: The effects of feelings on focus of attention and work motivation. Research in Organizational Behavior, 18,75–109.
Grandey, A. A., Tam, A. P., & Brauburger, A. L. (2002). Affective states and traits in the workplace: Diary and survey data from young workers. Motivation and Emotion, 26, 31-55.
Gray, E. K., & Watson, D. (2001). Emotion, mood, and temperament: Similarities, differences,and a synthesis. In R. Payne, & C. Cooper (Eds.), Emotions at Work. New York: Wiley.
Hochschild, A. (1983). The managed heart. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hopkins, K. M. (1997). Supervisor intervention with troubled workers: Social identity perspective. Human Relations, 50, 1215–1238.
Huy, Q. N. (1999). Emotional capability, emotional intelligence, and radical change. Academy of Management Review, 24, 325–345.
Kelly, J. R., & Barsade, S. G. (2001). Mood and emotions in small groups and work teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86, 99–130.
Langston, C. A. (1994). Capitalizing on and coping with daily life-events: Expressive re-sponses to positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1112–1125.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and Adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lazarus, R. S., DeLongis, A., Folkman, S., & Gruen, R. (1985). Stress and adaptational outcomes: The problem of confounded measures. American Psychologist, 40, 770–779.
Meyer, J. P., Allen, N. J., & Smith, C.A. (1993). Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 538–51.
Mowday, R. T., Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 224–247.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw Hill.
Olson, J. M., & Zanna, M. P. (1993). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 117–154.
O'Shea, M., Ashkanasy, N. M., Gallois, C., & Ha¨ rtel, C. E. J. (2000). The mediating role of affective reactions in affective events theory. In M. O'Shea (Chair), Recent Advances in the Study of Affective Events Theory. Symposium conducted at the Second Conference on Emotions and Organizational Life, Toronto.
Osterman, P. (1996). Broken Ladders: Managerial Careers in the New Economy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Paterson, J. M., & Cary, J. (2002). Organizational justice, change anxiety, and acceptance of downsizing: Preliminary tests of an AET-based model. Motivation and Emotion, 26, 83-103.
Payne, R. (2001). Measuring emotions at work. In R. Payne, & C. Cooper (Eds.), Emotions at Work. New York: Wiley.
Peiperl, M. A., Arthur, M. B., Goffee, R., & Morris, T. (2000). Career Frontiers: New Conceptions of Working Lives. New York: Oxford University Press.
Petty, R. E., Wegener, D. T. & Fabrigar, L. R. (1997). Attitude and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 609–647.
Reich, J. W., & Zautra, A. (1981). Life events and personal causation: Some relationships with satisfaction and distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 1002–1012.
Repetti, R. (1987). Individual and common components of the social environment at work and psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52,710–720.
Rosenberg, M. J., & Hovland, C. I. (1960). Cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes. In M. J. Rosenberg (Ed.), Attitude, Organization and Change. New York: Yale University Press.
Rousseau, D. M., & Schalk, R. (2000). Psychological Contracts in Employment: Cross-na-tional perspectives. London: Sage.
Saavedra, R., & Kwun, S. K. (2000). Affective states in job characteristics theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 131–146.
Scherer, K. R. (1988). Facets of Emotion: Recent Research. Hillsdale, NJ:Erlbaum.
Scherer, K. R., Walbott, H. G., & Summerfield, A.B. (1986). Experiencing emotion: A cross-cultural study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spector, P. E., Zapf, D., Chen, P. Y., & Frese, M. (2000). Why negative affectivity should not be controlled in job stress research: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 79–95.
Stewart, W., & Barling, J. (1996). Daily work stress, mood and interpersonal job perfor-mance: A mediational model. Work & Stress, 10, 336–351.
Suh, E., Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1996). Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1091–1102.
Taylor, S. E. (1991). The asymmetrical impact of positive and negative events: The mobi-lization-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 67–85.
Vinokur, A., & Selzer, M. L. (1975). Desirable versus undesirable life events: Their relationships to stress and mental distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 329–337.
Weiss, D. J., Dawis, R. V., England, G. W., & Lofquist, L. H. (1977). Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Weiss, H. M., (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction: Separating evaluations, beliefs and affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 173–194.
Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 18,1–74.
Wright, T. A., & Staw, B. M. (1999). Affect and favorable work outcomes: Two longitudinal tests of the happy-productive worker thesis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20,1–23.
Zanna, M. P., & Rempel, J. K. (1998). Attitudes: A new look at an old concept. In D. Bar-Tal,& A.W. Kruglanski (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Knowledge. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Zohar, D. (1999). When things go wrong: The effect of daily work hassles on effort, exertion and negative mood. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72,265–283.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mignonac, K., Herrbach, O. Linking Work Events, Affective States, and Attitudes: An Empirical Study of Managers' Emotions. Journal of Business and Psychology 19, 221–240 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-004-0549-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-004-0549-3