Conceptualizations of Emotion Research in Organizational Contexts

Abstract

The problem and the solution. Emotion research is frequently classified into psychological and sociological approaches; the authors believe this dichotomization is limiting and not representative of the nature of emotion in organizations. The authors contend that the ways in which people conceptualize the nature of emotion and its role in organizations has profound effects with regard to both theory development and practical interventions. This chapter presents a schema of four overlapping approaches to researching emotion in organizations and introduces four empirical chapters that represent each of these approaches.