When affect is not episodic: Extending Affective Events Theory under sustained oversight

Using affective events theory to conceptualise nurses’ emotional behaviour: A scoping review

Drawing on affective events theory, we examine the impact of destructive leadership and subordinate personality (i.e., the Big Five traits of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) on subordinates’ subjective well-being (i.e., positive and negative state affect). Consistent with affective events theory, we examine if personality (a stable disposition) or destructive leadership (a work event) are more important predictors of positive versus negative subjective well-being. Our results suggest that destructive leadership predicts more explained variance (i.e., about 70.518%) in negative subjective well-being than all the Big Five traits (i.e., about 29.482%). Interestingly, we found that personality predicts more explained variance in positive subjective well-being (i.e., about 76.190%) than destructive leadership (i.e., about 23.810%). These findings have important implications for the leadership, well-being, and affective events theory literatures because they suggest that destructive leadership is very damaging to our negative subjective well-being, but less impactful for our positive subjective well-being. In this meta-analysis, we discuss the implications for these findings on affective events theory and the leadership and well-being literatures.

Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) proposes a theoretical framework that outlines the structure, antecedents, and consequences of affective experiences at work. We elaborate on Affective Events Theory by incorporating recent theory of attitude and by further exploring the role of work environment features within the model. Our proposed model acknowledges the immediacy of judgment driven as well as affect-driven behavior. It provides a mechanism through which affect-driven or judgment-driven behaviors can be more easily predicted and it shows how work environment features not only make certain events more or less likely but also influence resulting behaviors through attitude formation. We outline the practical application of our model and give direction for future research.

PurposeDespite being a seminal explanation of the workforce emotional experiences, capable of mapping the path from the antecedents to consequences, affective events theory (AET) only offers a “macrostructure” of a working environment. To date, little is known about the universal features of the work environment that may guide the understanding of imperative work aspects triggering employees’ emotions at work. Hence, the study proposes and validates that Stafford Beer’s viable system model (VSM) can provide a holistic view of the organizational work environment, enabling a comprehensive understanding of work events or factors triggering workforce emotions.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the VSM structural layout is used to fill in the “macrostructure” of the “working environment” in AET to diagnose the functional and relational aspects of the work and the related work events occurring within. Using a deductive approach, 31 work events were adopted to determine the impact of VSM-based work environment events on the employees’ emotional experiences and subsequent work attitudes (job satisfaction) and behaviors (citizenship behavior). To field test the proposed nexus of VSM and AET, the survey was conducted on two hundred and fifteen employees from 39 different organizations. PLS-SEM tested the explanatory power of the suggested VSM’s systemic approach for understanding the affective work environment in totality.FindingsThe findings confirmed that the VSM metalanguage provides a holistic view of the organizational functioning and social connectivity disposing of affective work events, helpful in assessing their aggregate influence on employees’ emotions and work-related outcomes.Practical implicationsThe findings identify how employees' emotions can be triggered by everyday work operations and social relations at work, which can affect their extra-role behaviors and necessary work-related attitudes.Originality/valueThe study utilized Beer’s VSM framework based on the systemic principle of “holistic view” for ascertaining the affective work environment and its related features holistically, which filled in well the macrostructure of “work environment features” with micro-structures of organizational inter-related aspects which are yet to be known in AET – a seminal explanation for managing workforce emotions.

Since its publication in 1996, Affective Events Theory (AET) has come to be regarded as the seminal explanation for structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. AET does not, however, elucidate why, how, and when objects and events in the workplace trigger moods and emotions which in turn influence cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Consequently, AET does not yet provide us with a theoretical basis upon which to predict the way in which contextual, cognitive, motivational, or individual factors might moderate the impact of workplace events on affective states and subsequent behavior. In this chapter, we outline the central tenets of AET, and review a model of the processes underlying AET, with a view to understanding individual differences in the manifestation and consequences of affect in the workplace.

In the few years since the appearance of Affective Events Theory (AET), organizational research on emotions has continued its accelerating pace and incorporated many elements of the macrostructure suggested by AET. In this chapter we reflect upon the original intentions of AET, review the literature that has spoken most directly to these intentions, and discuss where we should go from here. Throughout, we emphasize that AET represented not a testable theory, but rather a different paradigm for studying affect at work. Our review reveals an obvious shift toward AET in the way organizational researchers study affect at work, but also that some elements have been neglected. Ultimately, we see the most fruitful research coming from further delineation of the underlying processes implicated by the macrostructure of AET.

Based on data from 2091 call centre representatives working in 85 call centres in the UK, central assumptions of affective events theory (AET) are tested. AET predicts that specific features of work (e.g. autonomy) have an impact on the arousal of emotions and moods at work that, in turn, co‐determine job satisfaction of employees. AET further proposes that job satisfaction is an evaluative judgement that mainly explains cognitive‐based behaviour, whereas emotions and moods better predict affective‐based behaviour. The results support these assumptions. A clear separation of key constructs (job satisfaction, positive and negative emotions) was possible. Moreover, correlations between several work features (e.g. supervisory support) and job satisfaction were, in part, mediated by work emotions, even when controlling for gender, age, call centre type (in‐house versus outsourced centres) and call centre size. Predictions regarding consequences of satisfaction and affect were partly corroborated as continuance commitment was more strongly related to job satisfaction than to positive emotions. In addition, affective commitment and health complaints were related to both emotions and job satisfaction to the same extent. Thus, AET is a fruitful framework for explaining why and how specific management strategies used for designing work features influence important organizational attitudes and well‐being of employees.

PurposeIn the current study framework, the authors test the underlying assumptions of affective events theory concerning the impact of job satisfaction and job insecurity driven by incivility on intrapreneurial behaviour.Design/methodology/approachData were collected with a sample of 510 employees from five organisations. All hypotheses were tested via SmartPLS3. Additionally, a distinction between formative and reflective measures was performed.FindingsFindings revealed that incivility decreases intrapreneurial behaviour, mediated by job satisfaction and job insecurity. Additionally, this study’s results show that the relationship between job satisfaction and job insecurity and intrapreneurial behaviour distinguishes unionised employees from employees who are not unionised.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional nature of the present data precluded definitive statements about causality. Additionally, further studies should increase the sample size and include an international perspective to ensure the overall generalisability of the results.Practical implicationsPractically, this study’s findings point to the need for organisational management to understand better underlying employees' perceptions and their antecedents and consequences.Originality/valueThe study results contribute to the literature by testing the core assumptions of affective events theory and by extending the affective events theory model, incorporating contextual influences on the relationship between attitudes and behaviours. The authors also show for the first time that incivility can be directly (compared to indirectly) linked to emotional-based responses, but not to those responses driven by cognitive appraisals. Thus, the study also contributes to the incivility literature and the understanding of various antecedents and consequences of incivility. Additionally, this study addressed the notion of formative versus reflective measurement models for the first time relating to incivility and intrapreneurial behaviour, allowing for more sensitive and less biased results. Herein lies an additional methodological contribution.

PurposeThis study draws on affective events theory (AET) to propose and examine a sequential process in which expatriate employees’ perceptions of psychological contract (PC) breaches impact their emotions (feelings of violation), which in turn influence their attitudes and ultimately their behaviors.Design/methodology/approachExpatriate employees (n = 228) working in the United Arab Emirates participated in an experiment with four employment scenarios created by manipulating transactional and relational PC promises. Participants, randomly assigned to each scenario, responded as if in a real job situation. Data analysis was performed using MANCOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsEmploying an experimental design, the findings offer causal evidence that supervisors’ failure to fulfill employment promises adversely impacts expatriate employees’ perceptions of PC breaches, emotions, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions and performance. Consistent with the AET, the findings demonstrate that PC breaches impact expatriate employees’ emotions, which subsequently influence their attitudes and ultimately affect their behaviors.Practical implicationsThe study provides recommendations for organizations and managers to improve relationships with expatriate employees and suggests actions to lessen the adverse effects of PC breaches.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study that examined the sequential process suggested by the AET in the context of PC and expatriation, establishing that PC breaches impact expatriate employees’ emotions, which in turn affect their attitudes and ultimately their behaviors.

Relying on the affective events theory, we argued that daily micro-events occurring in a hospitality context—daily hassles and uplifts—would influence hotel employees’ well-being and performance through affective reactions. Furthermore, we also expected that mindfulness would moderate these indirect relationships. Data were collected from employees who worked in hospitality working settings, and included both mindfulness practitioners (n = 182) and non-practitioners (n = 211). The findings evidenced that affective reactions mediated the path from daily micro-events and well-being and performance, in both samples. In addition, in the sample of non-mindfulness practitioners, mindfulness moderated the indirect relationship between daily micro-events and well-being through affective reactions, in such a way that the relationship became stronger for those who scored higher on mindfulness (versus those who scored lower). These findings were not significant for those who practiced mindfulness. Lastly, mindfulness did not moderate the relationship between daily micro-events and performance via affective reactions (for both samples). This study expands the affective events theory for the hospitality context and thus highlights the role of daily micro-events in stimulating employees’ performance and well-being. Furthermore, it shows how mindfulness as a trait may be relevant for employees who work in this context.

Workplace deviant behavior refers to the behavior that employees intentionally implement, violate organizational norms, and threaten the well-being of their organization or other members in the organization.While most of researches focus on exploring the antecedents of workplace deviant behavior, we have limited knowledge about its consequences. In the very few studies on the outcomes of employee workplace deviant behavior, they mainly focus on recipients’ perspective and reveal the negative impacts of employee workplace deviant behavior on colleagues and organizations. From the actor-centric perspective, the research on the impacts of employee workplace deviant behavior on themselves has been seriously ignored. For this reason, by taking the actor-centric perspective, this paper explores how and when employee workplace deviant behavior affects their emotional and behavioral outcomes.Based on the affective events theory, this paper explores the negative impacts of workplace deviant behavior on employee work engagement and its dynamics. The primary tenet of affective events theory is that the events experienced by workers will affect their emotional state, which will in turn affect their attitudes and behaviors. Negative events in the workplace are important emotional events that affect their emotional state. Based on this theory, this paper proposes that, as a negative work event, employee workplace deviant behavior may lead to their negative emotions and then weaken their work engagement. Furthermore, individual characteristics will affect the emotional experience and cognitive assessment process after taking actions. Therefore, this paper proposes that, for the unethical behavior such as workplace deviant behavior, employees’ moral identity is an important boundary condition affecting the emotional and cognitive response of individuals to their own deviant behavior.In this study, we use the experience sampling method （ESM） by recruiting 67 participants to finish a research. By using the hierarchical linear model to analyze 323 daily observation data provided by 46 participants, the present study finds that employee workplace deviant behavior increases their negative affect and decreases work engagement. Moral identity plays a moderating role in the impacts of workplace deviant behavior on negative affect and work engagement, that is, the indirect effect of workplace deviant behavior on work engagement via negative affect is significant and negative for employees with high moral identity and does not exist for employees with low moral identity.This research makes several important theoretical contributions: First, by taking the actor-centric perspective, it explores the impacts of workplace deviant behavior on employees themselves. Second, it not only examines the potentially negative impacts of employee workplace deviant behavior on themselves, but also examines how and when the impacts unfold. Third, it finds a new behavioral factor that affects employee work engagement, and finds that employees’ unethical behaviors may also reduce employee work engagement by inducing their own negative affect.

In this paper, affective events theory (AET) is used to develop a model that can be used by organizations to enhance propitious work conditions that will encourage human resource management (HRM) practitioners to be affectively committed to their organizations. AET states that there are certain antecedents (i.e. distributive justice, job-related well-being, and employee engagement) that positively correlate with job satisfaction. According to AET, positive emotions have a positive indirect correlation between antecedents and job satisfaction. AET states that job satisfaction positively relates to affective commitment. The research design was cross-sectional and correlational, and the sample size was (n=205).From the 300 questionnaires distributed to HRM practitioners, the response rate was 68.33%. The main finding is that respondents rated the positive emotions items below the mean, and there was a significant positive relationship between distributive justice and job satisfaction (β = 0.61; p≤ 0.001). The data showed that job satisfaction positively correlated with affective commitment (β = 0.70; p ≤ 0.001).Positive emotions only mediated the relationship between distributive justice and job satisfaction (β = 0.36; p ≤ 0.001). The study results have implications for managers’ efforts to keep HRM practitioners affectively committed, as the latter were not satisfied with their remuneration. The data created awareness that when a remuneration policy is drafted, it should take cognisance that HRM practitioners who have positive emotions will be affectively committed and stay longer in organizations.

In this paper, affective events theory (AET) is used to develop a model that can be used by organizations to enhance propitious work conditions that will encourage human resource management (HRM) practitioners to be affectively committed to their organizations. AET states that there are certain antecedents (i.e. distributive justice, job-related well-being, and employee engagement) that positively correlate with job satisfaction. According to AET, positive emotions have a positive indirect correlation between antecedents and job satisfaction. AET states that job satisfaction positively relates to affective commitment. The research design was cross-sectional and correlational, and the sample size was (n=205).From the 300 questionnaires distributed to HRM practitioners, the response rate was 68.33%. The main finding is that respondents rated the positive emotions items below the mean, and there was a significant positive relationship between distributive justice and job satisfaction (β = 0.61; p≤ 0.001). The data showed that job satisfaction positively correlated with affective commitment (β = 0.70; p ≤ 0.001).Positive emotions only mediated the relationship between distributive justice and job satisfaction (β = 0.36; p ≤ 0.001). The study results have implications for managers’ efforts to keep HRM practitioners affectively committed, as the latter were not satisfied with their remuneration. The data created awareness that when a remuneration policy is drafted, it should take cognisance that HRM practitioners who have positive emotions will be affectively committed and stay longer in organizations.

Cognitive appraisal of incident handling, affects, and post-adoption behaviors: A test of affective events theory

Play in work, as one specific type of work designs, is regarded as the possible solution to experienced burnout and could bring the desirable outcomes to organizations. Drawing on Affective Events Theory (AET), we argued that workplace events (such as play) cause emotional reactions on the part of employees (i.e., burnout), which in turn influence workplace attitudes and behaviors (i.e., innovation behaviors). A total of 439 employees completed surveys, and the results showed that play in work positively relates to innovation behaviors. We also examined individual’s attitude toward workplace fun to further understand the impact of individual differences on the relationship between play in work and their feelings and subsequent behaviors. We found that the positive attitude toward fun moderated the indirect relationship between play in work and innovation behaviors via experienced burnout. Based on AET, our results showed that play in work could reduce employees’ experienced burnout which in turn lead to their innovation behaviors. Such an effect of play in work are stronger when an individual has more positive attitude toward fun at work. Practically, it is suggested that play in work would contribute to favorable outcomes in the workplace, but managers should pay attention to individual differences in attitude toward workplace fun to ensure the maximum benefit of play.