Emotional expression at work: The effects of strategically expressing anger and positive emotions in the context of ongoing relationships

Abstract

Can anger expressions be functional in the context of ongoing relationships at work – and if so, how and when? Drawing on insights from the dual threshold model and on the emotions-as-social-information theory, we develop and test the theoretical proposition that the strategic expression of both anger and positive emotions in the context of ongoing relationships at work yields benefits for individuals. Across four field studies and using multi-wave and multi-source data, we found that, when paired with the strategic expression of positive emotions, strategically expressing anger enhanced both peer- and self-perceptions of cooperation, which in turn contributed to ratings of work effectiveness. The results highlight the importance of studying patterns of strategic emotional expression involving more than one emotion and advance current knowledge of how, when, and why it is beneficial to express anger at work. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Can Expressing Positivity Elicit Support for Negative Events? A Process Model and Review

“…Consistent with past work suggesting that "emotion expression patterns can indeed convey important information beyond what is conveyed by the expression of single emotions" (Peralta et al, 2020(Peralta et al, , p. 1494, we reason that upset seekers' positive expressions transmit additional supportrelevant information to providers, beyond that which is transmitted by seekers' negative expressions. As we elaborate in later sections, the special value of positive expressivity within distress-related support-seeking contexts stems from its ability not only to convey additional support-relevant information to providers but also to help providers overcome the specific challenges of listening to expressions of negativity and supporting seekers in distress.…”

More than just an angry face: A critical review and theoretical expansion of research on leader anger expression

“…They found that political group leaders' expressions of anger, contempt, and disgust in combination produced followers' violence against other groups. Although not specific to leadership, Peralta et al (2019) through three survey studies found that strategically expressing anger, when paired with the strategic expression of positive emotions, enhanced both peer-and self-perceptions of cooperation, which further contributed to work effectiveness. Future research could also experimentally manipulate the combinations of leader anger and other emotional expressions to test how leader anger expression interacts with other emotional expressions to produce unique leadership outcomes.…”

[Retracted] Emotional Cognitive Expression in Lacquer Colors Based on Prior Knowledge

“…The parameters in the two algorithms were identical, and the results of the traditional algorithm experiment and the improved algorithm experiment were compared when the agent located the target in the maze [ 23 ]. The average reward received by the emotional agent after locating the target using the conventional algorithm and the improved policy algorithm is compared in Figures 8 and 9 , along with the number of trials required to locate the target successfully [ 24 ].…”