Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C.

Understanding how employees regulate each other’s emotions (known as ‘extrinsic emotion regulation’; EER) is crucial for fostering positive workplace dynamics. To date, research in this area has focused on how employees regulate other’s emotions at work, with some evidence showing that specific strategies (such as reappraisal and social sharing) lead to positive work outcomes. To date, much less is known about why employees regulate other’s emotions at work – what drives the selection of specific strategies - and whether these underlying goals influence employee relational outcomes in turn. To examine the underlying goals that drive EER at work, this research investigates the influence EER goals have on EER strategy selection amongst co-workers, and the impact this has on co-worker conflict and team member exchange (TMX). Findings of two empirical studies will be presented (an experimental design with N = 398; and a co-worker dyadic design with N = 553). Results indicate that pro-hedonic goals (i.e., wanting the other to feel better) are related to encouraging co-workers to talk about their problems (i.e. receptive listening). On the other hand, instrumental goals (i.e., wanting to keep up appearances at work) are related to suppression of the other’s emotions. The presentation will outline how these goals indirectly influence TMX and relationship conflict in turn. The results of these studies have important practical implications for promoting high-quality interactions between colleagues, as well as interventions for building positive workplace cultures and emotion regulation norms within organisations.

Definitions and examples of extrinsic emotion regulation strategies and goals will be presented and used throughout the presentation (facilitating remembering and understanding). Attendees will be asked to reflect on the goals they have at work, and the strategies they use. Some attendees will be asked to share their answer. This drives individual and group application and analysis of the goal-regulation relationship.

The relationship between regulation goals, strategies, and co-worker relational outcomes will be presented (using visualisation with coloured arrows in a step-wise manner to facilitate understanding). Participants will be invited to evaluate this information (‘Do you find these results to be surprising? Why/why not?’).

Practical implications will be discussed. Participants will be asked to reflect on how they can promote positive workplace dynamic as a manager/leader, building on the presentation’s results. Attendees will receive a worksheet with a summary, self-reflective questions, and a framework for developing a professional development action-plan.