21  Emotions and Stress Management

21.1 Emotions, Moods and Affect

OB classically focused on the cognitive — perception, attitudes, decisions. The affective revolution of the 1990s, led by Ashforth and Humphrey, Weiss and Cropanzano, brought emotions to the centre (weisscropanzano1996?). Robbins now devotes a full chapter to the topic (robbinsjudge2018?).

TipAffect, Emotions, Moods
Term Definition Cue
Affect Broad umbrella term for any feeling Generic
Emotions Intense feelings directed at someone or something Specific cause; short duration
Moods Less intense feelings, often without a clear cause Diffuse; longer duration

A fight with a colleague triggers an emotion (anger, directed). Walking into the office on a grey Monday morning may produce a mood (gloomy, no clear target).

21.1.1 Six basic emotions

Paul Ekman’s cross-cultural research established six universally recognised emotions: happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust (ekman1992?). Robert Plutchik later proposed a wheel of eight primary emotions arranged in opposing pairs.

21.1.2 Affective Events Theory (AET)

Howard Weiss and Russell Cropanzano’s Affective Events Theory (1996) — the foundation of modern OB work on emotions (weisscropanzano1996?). Daily work events (a thanks from a customer, a snub from a colleague) trigger emotions and moods, which in turn shape job satisfaction and performance. AET shifts the focus from chronic dispositions to the flow of daily affect at work.

flowchart LR
  W[Work environment<br/>Job design,<br/>workplace stressors] --> E[Daily work events<br/>Hassles · Uplifts]
  E --> EM[Emotions / Moods]
  EM --> A[Job attitudes<br/>Satisfaction]
  EM --> B[Behaviours<br/>Performance, OCB]
  PD[Personality<br/>Mood disposition] -. moderates .-> EM
  style W fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1565C0
  style EM fill:#FCE4EC,stroke:#AD1457
  style B fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#1B5E20

21.2 Emotional Labour and Emotional Dissonance

Emotional labour is the display of emotions appropriate to one’s job — whether or not those emotions are felt. Arlie Hochschild’s The Managed Heart (1983) is the foundational study, focused on flight attendants (hochschild1983?). Robbins describes two strategies:

TipSurface vs Deep Acting
Strategy What the employee does Cost
Surface acting Hides felt emotions; displays required emotions High emotional dissonance, burnout risk
Deep acting Tries to modify the inner feelings to match the display Lower dissonance; higher cognitive effort

Emotional dissonance is the gap between the emotion the employee actually feels and the emotion the role requires them to show. Sustained dissonance predicts burnout, absenteeism, and turnover.

21.3 Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI / EQ) is “the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions”. The construct was popularised by Daniel Goleman (1995) and earlier formalised by Peter Salovey and John Mayer (goleman1995?; saloveymayer1990?).

TipGoleman’s Five Components of EI
Component What it asks Example
Self-awareness Do I recognise my own emotions as they happen? “I’m getting irritated” — caught early
Self-regulation Can I manage and channel them? Pausing before responding to a sharp email
Motivation Am I driven by intrinsic goals? Persisting on a tough project for the work itself
Empathy Can I sense others’ emotions? Reading silence in a team meeting
Social skills Can I manage relationships and influence others? Building cross-functional alliances

EI is a more reliable predictor of leadership effectiveness in many studies than cognitive IQ alone — though the measurement of EI is contested.

21.4 Stress

Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand or resource related to what the individual desires, the outcome of which is perceived to be both uncertain and important (robbinsjudge2018?). The shorthand: stress = the gap between demands and resources, when something the person values is at stake.

Hans Selye distinguished eustress (positive — challenge, growth) from distress (negative — overload, threat) (selye1956?). The same demand can be eustress for one person and distress for another.

21.4.1 Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (1936) describes the body’s three-stage response to a sustained stressor (selye1956?):

TipSelye’s Three Stages of GAS
Stage What happens
Alarm Stressor recognised; fight-or-flight response — hormones, heart rate up
Resistance Body adapts; sustained coping; performance can stay high
Exhaustion Resources depleted; physical illness, breakdown, burnout 

flowchart LR
  S[Stressor] --> A[Alarm<br/>Fight or flight]
  A --> R[Resistance<br/>Coping, adaptation]
  R --> E[Exhaustion<br/>Burnout, illness]
  R -. recovery .-> N[Return to baseline]
  style A fill:#FFEBEE,stroke:#C62828
  style R fill:#FFF8E1,stroke:#F9A825
  style E fill:#E1BEE7,stroke:#6A1B9A

21.5 Sources of Stress (Stressors)

Robbins groups workplace stressors into three families.

TipThree Families of Stressors
Family Examples
Environmental Economic uncertainty, political instability, technological change
Organisational Task demands, role demands (role conflict / role ambiguity / role overload), interpersonal demands, organisational structure, leadership
Personal Family issues, finances, personality (Type A)

21.5.2 Type A vs Type B personality

Friedman and Rosenman’s distinction (1959) (friedmanrosenman1974?):

TipType A and Type B Personalities
Pattern Hallmarks Health risk
Type A Hard-driving, competitive, time-urgent, hostile Higher risk of coronary heart disease
Type B Relaxed, patient, less competitive Lower stress-linked illness

21.6 Consequences of Stress

TipThree Categories of Stress Symptoms
Category Symptoms
Physiological Headache, hypertension, heart disease, insomnia, ulcers
Psychological Anxiety, depression, dissatisfaction, decreased self-confidence
Behavioural Reduced performance, absenteeism, turnover, smoking, alcohol use

21.6.1 Burnout — the chronic case

Christina Maslach defines burnout as a syndrome with three dimensions (maslachjackson1981?):

  • Emotional exhaustion — feeling drained.
  • Depersonalisation / cynicism — distancing from others, treating them as objects.
  • Reduced personal accomplishment — feeling ineffective.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the most-used measure. WHO classified burnout as an occupational phenomenon in ICD-11 (effective 2022).

21.7 Managing Stress

Two avenues — individual and organisational.

TipCoping Strategies — Two Levels
Level Approach Examples
Individual Time management; physical exercise; relaxation; mindfulness; social support Yoga, meditation, walking, professional counselling
Organisational Job redesign; goal-setting; participation in decisions; wellness programmes; sabbaticals; mental-health policy Flexi-time, gym membership, EAPs

Lazarus and Folkman distinguish problem-focused coping (changing the stressor) from emotion-focused coping (changing the response) (lazarusfolkman1984?). Both have their place: problem-focused for controllable stressors, emotion-focused for uncontrollable ones.

21.8 Practice Questions

Q 01 Emotions vs Moods Easy

A diffuse feeling that lacks a clear target, lasts longer than emotion, is best described as:

  • AEmotion
  • BMood
  • CPersonality trait
  • DCognition
View solution
Correct Option: B
Moods are diffuse, longer-lasting and often without a specific cause. Emotions are intense, short-lived and directed at someone or something.
Q 02 EI Easy

Daniel Goleman's five components of emotional intelligence are:

  • ASelf-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Empathy, Social skills
  • BPerception, Attitude, Motivation, Learning, Personality
  • CIQ, EQ, SQ, PQ, AQ
  • DDrive, Discipline, Decision, Diversity, Direction
View solution
Correct Option: A
Goleman (1995): Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Empathy, Social skills.
Q 03 AET Medium

Affective Events Theory (AET) was proposed by:

  • ASalovey and Mayer
  • BWeiss and Cropanzano
  • CDaniel Goleman
  • DArlie Hochschild
View solution
Correct Option: B
Howard Weiss and Russell Cropanzano (1996) — work events trigger emotions, which shape attitudes and behaviour.
Q 04 Selye Medium

Arrange the stages of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome in the correct order:

  • AAlarm → Resistance → Exhaustion
  • BAlarm → Exhaustion → Resistance
  • CResistance → Alarm → Exhaustion
  • DExhaustion → Alarm → Resistance
View solution
Correct Option: A
Selye's GAS: Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion.
Q 05 Type A Easy

Friedman and Rosenman's Type A personality is best described as:

  • ARelaxed and patient
  • BHard-driving, competitive, time-urgent, often hostile
  • CCooperative and warm
  • DExtraverted and creative
View solution
Correct Option: B
Type A — chronic time-urgency, competitiveness, hostility — predicts higher coronary heart-disease risk.
Q 06 Burnout Medium

Christina Maslach's three dimensions of burnout are:

  • AAlarm, resistance, exhaustion
  • BEmotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, reduced personal accomplishment
  • CAnger, sadness, fear
  • DHygiene, motivation, growth
View solution
Correct Option: B
Maslach's three dimensions; the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the standard measure. WHO recognised burnout as an occupational phenomenon in ICD-11 (effective 2022).
Q 07 Hochschild Medium

"Surface acting" — hiding felt emotions and displaying required ones — is part of the concept of:

  • AEmotional intelligence
  • BEmotional labour
  • CAffective events
  • DCognitive dissonance
View solution
Correct Option: B
Emotional labour (Hochschild, 1983) has two strategies — surface acting (faking) and deep acting (genuinely modifying inner feelings).
Q 08 Coping Medium

Lazarus and Folkman distinguished two broad coping strategies. They are:

  • AProblem-focused and emotion-focused
  • BApproach and avoidance
  • CActive and passive
  • DInternal and external
View solution
Correct Option: A
Problem-focused coping changes the stressor; emotion-focused coping changes the response. Use the first for controllable stressors, the second for uncontrollable ones.
ImportantQuick recall
  • Affect → Emotion → Mood. Emotions are intense and directed; moods are diffuse and longer.
  • Six basic emotions (Ekman): happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust. Plutchik’s wheel adds opposites.
  • Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996): work events → emotions → attitudes & performance.
  • Emotional labour (Hochschild): surface vs deep acting. Emotional dissonance is the gap between felt and displayed.
  • Goleman’s five EI components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills.
  • Selye’s eustress vs distress, and the GAS — Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion.
  • Three families of stressors: environmental, organisational, personal. Role: role conflict / ambiguity / overload. Personality: Type A higher CHD risk.
  • Maslach burnout = emotional exhaustion + depersonalisation + reduced personal accomplishment. MBI is the standard measure.
  • Coping (Lazarus & Folkman): problem-focused vs emotion-focused.