Content area
Full Text
This research examines mood as a collective property of work groups. We argue that work group members experience group moods when they can detect and display mood information through observable behavioral expressions. To test the hypothesis that work group moods are manifested behaviorally, we developed an observational instrument and compared observers' reports of work group mood with self-reported measures from 70 work groups. As predicted, groups converged for eight distinct mood categories, and observers' reports of work group mood were consistent with groups' aggregated selfreported values. Convergence in members' moods was positively associated with task and social interdependence, membership stability, and mood regulation norms. Theoretical and practical implications of work group mood are discussed.
The affective experiences of work group members are a defining aspect of group life and are receiving increasing attention from researchers. The importance of individuals' affective states is implicit in numerous psychological and organizational theories of work group interaction and performance. For example, conflict has been conceived as both an antecedent and consequence of negative affective experiences such as apprehension, aggression, or nervousness (Jehn, 1995; Levine and Thompson, 1996). Research in symbolic management (Van Maanen and Kunda, 1989; Schneider, 1990) has emphasized that emotion evoked in others can then be directed toward group or organizational goals. Similarly, research on the emotional labor of service workers illustrates how individuals can infect others with emotion to create particular affective climates that promote group or organizational objectives (Hochschild, 1983; Sutton and Rafaeli, 1988; Sutton, 1991). Several scholars have asserted that work group members come to develop mutually shared moods and emotions in the course of executing their tasks (Smith and Crandell, 1984; Sandelands and St. Clair, 1993; Barsade and Gibson, 1998; Totterdell et al., 1998). The concept of collective mood, however, has received little empirical scrutiny. Exceptions include research by George (1990) and Barsade (1998). George showed that work groups can develop affective tones, defined as consistent or homogeneous affective reactions among members. George concluded that when the personal disposition of most group members is to experience positive (or negative) mood states, then the affective tone of the group as a whole becomes positive (or negative) as well. Barsade (1998) argued that work group members may share group emotions as they perform their...