Happy Together and Sad Together: Impact of Emotional Similarity on Task Motivation in Groups

Objective: The present study investigated the impact of emotional similarity (vs. dissimilarity) on group members' task motivation. Although previous research has consistently shown that shared positive emotion (i.e., happiness) promotes group functioning, the role of shared negative emotion (i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Group dynamics 2023-12, Vol.27 (4), p.295-302
Main Author: Choi, Hoon-Seok
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emotions
Female
Group Dynamics
Human
Male
Motivation
Negative Emotions
Positive Emotions
Task
Teams
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Summary:Objective: The present study investigated the impact of emotional similarity (vs. dissimilarity) on group members' task motivation. Although previous research has consistently shown that shared positive emotion (i.e., happiness) promotes group functioning, the role of shared negative emotion (i.e., sadness) in task groups is less clear. Method: We conducted a laboratory experiment in which 48 dyadic teams of undergraduates performed a group problem-solving task. Prior to group interaction, we induced different emotions to create four conditions of affective composition (n = 12): shared positive (happy-happy), shared negative (sad-sad), emotional dissimilarity (happy-sad), and control (neutral-neutral). We measured persistence in the group task as a dependent variable. Results: Results indicated that the two conditions of emotional similarity (happy-happy vs. sad-sad) did not differ from each other. Further, teams persisted longer in the two similarity conditions (combined) than in the emotional dissimilarity and the control conditions. We also found evidence that emotional similarity, be it positive or negative, promoted liking between team members. Conclusions: The present study suggests that it is the similarity in members' emotional states that has a motivating impact on task groups. It also suggests that interpersonal attraction can be driven by shared negative as well as positive emotions. Highlights and Implications * Research has shown that shared positive emotion (happiness) promotes group functioning, but the role of shared negative emotion (sadness) is not clear. * We show that emotional similarity, regardless of the valence of emotion, can promote group members' work motivation as compared to emotional dissimilarity. * We also show that shared emotion promotes interpersonal liking in teams. * Research on the affective influences in groups needs to fully capture the role of emotional similarity versus dissimilarity and address the important ways shared emotions shape task behavior and interpersonal relations in groups at work.
ISSN:1089-2699
1930-7802
DOI:10.1037/gdn0000203