The impact of conflict on group moods: The moderating effect of group emotional intelligence
Meslec, M.N Curseu, Petru L . Boros, Smaranda
Meslec, M.N
Curseu, Petru L .
Boros, Smaranda
Citations
Altmetric:
Publication Type
Journal article
Editor
Supervisor
Publication Year
2010
Journal
Psihologia Social?. Buletinul Laboratorului de Psihologia câmpului social
Book
Publication Volume
26
Publication Issue
2
Publication Begin page
61
Publication End page
72
Publication NUmber of pages
Collections
Abstract
Interest in group moods as an emergent phenomenon of group members' interactions has significantly increased over the past two decades (Barsade and Gibson, 2007). Most studies focused particularly on understanding the effects of group moods on group processes (Barsade, 2002; Bartel and Saavedra, 2000; Barsade, Ward, Turner, and Sonnenfled, 2000; Tu, 2009) and group performance (Rhee, 2006; Jordan, Lawrence, and Troth, 2006). However, research investigating the antecedents of group moods is still scant. The current study fills this gap by focusing on the affective potential of group conflict. In this sense, group conflict focuses on how differences of opinion (task conflict) and person-related disagreements (relationship conflict) trigger group moods that differ in their valence (positive and negative) and level of activation (activated and unactivated) (Bartel and Saavedra, 2000). In this context, the group.s ability to define and understand its moods, their cause, evolution and relations between them . ability known as group emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer, 1990) . is expected to buffer the relation between conflict and group moods. By studying group moods in relation to group conflict, the current study extends previous research by considering group moods. antecedents and not only their consequences. This contributes to a better understanding of group affect dynamics. In addition, the current study investigates different nuances of group moods given by different types of conflict. Whether an affect has a positive or negative valence, or whether it is activated or inactivated, has implications upon the further group dynamics.