Socially shared affect: Shared affect, affect sharing, and affective processing in groups.

Abstract

Objective: This review explores groups as affective processing social entities. We examine the reciprocal relationships between socially shared affect and the affective experiences of group members such as moods and emotions. Method: The review applies a unifying theme of social sharedness to consider affective processes in group settings which are demonstrated with shared affect (e.g., affect convergence) and affect sharing (e.g., contagion). Several group topics related to socially shared affect are discussed such as group cohesiveness, shared affect norms, task interdependence, member stability, leadership, and group effectiveness. Results: The sharedness of affective experiences of group members can be arrayed along three dimensions: affective events, affective states, and affective appraisals. Each of these dimensions is described for its relevance to socially shared affect, which is illustrated with shared affective appraisals incorporating shared awareness, shared sensemaking and shared representations of affect. The examination of socially shared affect highlights a number of patterns of relationships including shared affect and affect sharing biases in which groups process affect in ways that exaggerates the typical affective responses of group members. Many of these patterns can be appreciated by carefully examining the distributional characteristics of group member affective responses. Conclusion: This review provides insights gained from examining socially shared affect with a focus on how affective experiences are shared and are being shared in groups. This review generates implications for the vast assortment of group settings in general, while illustrating socially shared affect with teams in organizations and group psychotherapy as examples.

Conceptualizing Mood Influences on Information Processing in Groups via Dominant Cognitive Processing Strategies

“…Our hope is that this review inspires others to pursue a host of related and complementary research questions. We are pursuing some of these: discrete emotion in teams (Wang et al, 2023), socially shared affect in groups (Hinsz & Bui, 2023), and the impact of mood on group judgment and decision making (Hinsz & Robinson, 2023). Another contribution might explore how affect is regulated within groups, potentially from a dynamic systems perspective (cf., Hinsz et al, 2009).…”

“…In the process, we will also reflect on three themes of information processing in groups, namely: the commonality–uniqueness of information, convergence–divergence of ideas, and accentuation–attenuation of cognitive processes (Hinsz et al, 1997). We demonstrate how these themes hold relevance in terms of the impact of moods on group-related processes (e.g., the sharing of information; Hinsz & Bui, 2023; Hinsz et al, 1997; Mesmer-Magnus & DeChurch, 2009; Tindale & Kameda, 2000).…”

“…Moreover, Postulate 3b suggests that the impact of a mood also can vary as a function of the person’s lay theory of the experience. Importantly, if group members have differing lay theories concerning mood states (e.g., that negative moods convey a serious situation vs. that negative mood states are to be avoided because they are aversive), then a shared mood experience can still result in different kinds of responses from different group members (Hinsz & Bui, 2023).…”

“…Alternatively, if group members share attention to the same information or cognitive processing strategy while accompanied by shared positive or negative moods, then this sharing of moods and attention could enhance the social validation of that information (Wittenbaum & Park, 2001). Similarly, positive and negative moods would enhance or diminish the shared processing of unshared and shared information (Hinsz & Bui, 2023). In this fashion, shared moods and shared information could impact the weight that the information or cognitive processing strategy would have for group performance on cognitive tasks.…”

“…Along with these dimensions, it is worth highlighting social sharedness as a general theme for interacting groups (Hinsz et al, 1997; Tindale & Kameda, 2000). Social sharedness reflects how information, cognitive processes, and processing strategies are shared and are being shared within groups, and can also be considered for the social sharing of affect (Hinsz & Bui, 2023).…”