Abstract
Recently, there have been repeated calls in the affect literature to acknowledge the dynamic nature of affective experiences. In order to understand how daily fluctuations of affect impact employee well-being at work, scholars have proposed to focus on several dynamic elements of affect such as self-regulating forces, or the extent to which we experience different emotional states. So far, the dynamic elements of affect have been examined in relation to various well-being outcomes at work such as burnout and work engagement. Whereas this dynamic and integrative approach to affect has sparked novel research, one of the major challenges pertains to the practical use of the dynamic properties of affect in the workplace. In this chapter, we address this issue by focusing on how dynamic properties of affect can be applied in positive psychological interventions with the aim of improving employee well-being at work. First, this chapter focuses on the existing dynamic concepts of affective experiences. Second, the existing literature on affect dynamics and well-being at work, and how the current knowledge can be used when creating positive well-being interventions at work are analysed. Third, the chapter offers practical solutions for organizations and employers wanting to improve employees’ working experience, as well as recommendations that can be directly engaged in by employees. Altogether, by explaining how the current knowledge on dynamics of affect can be used in positive psychological interventions, the present chapter contributes to better understanding of how to improve employees’ well-being at work.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Baird, B. M., Le, K., & Lucas, R. E. (2006). On the nature of intraindividual personality variability: Reliability, validity, and associations with well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 512–527. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.3.512.
Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Taris, T. W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22(3), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370802393649.
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2008). Towards a model of work engagement. Career Development International, 13(3), 209–223. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430810870476.
Beal, D. J., & Ghandour, L. (2011). Stability, change, and the stability of change in daily workplace affect. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(4), 526–546.
Beal, D. J., Trougakos, J. P., Weiss, H. M., & Dalal, R. S. (2013). Affect spin and the emotion regulation process at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(4), 593–605. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032559.
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2008). What is job crafting and why does it matter. Retrieved form the website of Positive Organizational Scholarship on April 15, 2011.
Bledow, R., Schmitt, A., Frese, M., & Kühnel, J. (2011). The affective shift model of work engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), 1246–1257. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024532.
Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 119. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-119.
Breevaart, K., Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Daily self-management and employee work engagement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 84(1), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.11.002.
Carter, J. T. (2009). Managers empowering employees. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 1(2), 39–44. https://doi.org/10.3844/.2009.41.46.
Catterson, A. D., Eldesouky, L., & John, O. P. (2017). An experience sampling approach to emotion regulation: Situational suppression use and social hierarchy. Journal of Research in Personality, 69, 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.04.004.
Cavanagh, K., Strauss, C., Cicconi, F., Griffiths, N., Wyper, A., & Jones, F. (2013). A randomised controlled trial of a brief online mindfulness-based intervention. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51(9), 573–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2013.06.003.
Chow, S. M., Ram, N., Boker, S. M., Fujita, F., & Clore, G. (2005). Emotion as a thermostat: Representing emotion regulation using a damped oscillator model. Emotion, 5(2), 208–225. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.5.2.208.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (2014). Validity and reliability of the experience- sampling method. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 35–54). Netherlands: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_3.
Eger, R. J., & Maridal, J. H. (2015). A statistical meta-analysis of the wellbeing literature. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(2), 45–74. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v5i2.4.
Fajkowska, M. (2015). The complex-system approach to personality: Main theoretical assumptions. Journal of Research in Personality, 56, 15–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.09.003.
Feicht, T., Wittmann, M., Jose, G., Mock, A., von Hirschhausen, E., & Esch, T. (2013). Evaluation of a seven-week web-based happiness training to improve psychological well-being, reduce stress, and enhance mindfulness and flourishing: A randomized controlled occupational health study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 67695. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/676953.
Fisher, C. D. (2010). Happiness at work. International Journal of Management Reviews, 4, 84–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00270.x.
Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 300–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.300.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60(7), 678–686. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.7.678.
Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotional regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of occupational health psychology, 5(1), 95–110.
Grandey, A. A. (2003). When “the show must go on”: Surface acting and deep acting as determinants of emotional exhaustion and peer-rated service delivery. Academy of Management Journal, 46(1), 86–96. https://doi.org/10.5465/30040678.
Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271.
Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0048577201393198.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348.
Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Keyes, C. L. (2003). Well-being in the workplace and its relationship to business outcomes: A review of the Gallup studies. In C. L. M. Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp. 205–224). Washington, DC: APA.
Houben, M., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Kuppens, P. (2015). The relation between short-term emotion dynamics and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 901–930. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038822.
Ivtzan, I., & Lomas, T. (2016). Mindfulness in positive psychology: The science of meditation and wellbeing. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Johnson, S. L., & Nowak, A. (2002). Dynamical patterns in bipolar depression. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(4), 380–387. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0604_12.
Koole, S. L. (2008). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review, Cognition and Emotion, 23(1), 4–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930802619031.
Kuppens, P., Van Mechelen, I., Nezlek, J. B., Dossche, D., & Timmermans, T. (2007). Individual differences in core affect variability and their relationship to personality and psychological adjustment. Emotion, 7(2), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.262.
Kuppens, P., Allen, N. B., & Sheeber, L. B. (2010a). Emotional inertia and psychological maladjustment. Psychological Science, 21(7), 984–991. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610372634.
Kuppens, P., Oravecz, Z., & Tuerlinckx, F. (2010b). Feelings change: Accounting for individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 1042–1106. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020962.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803.
Marek, T., Schaufeli, W. B., & Maslach, C. (2017). Professional burnout: Recent developments in theory and research. New York, NY: Routledge.
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., Leiter, M. P., Schaufeli, W. B., & Schwab, R. L. (1986). Maslach burnout inventory (Vol. 21, pp. 3463–3464). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review, 102(2), 246–268. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.102.2.246.
Moskowitz, D. S., & Zuroff, D. C. (2004). Flux, pulse, and spin: Dynamic additions to the personality lexicon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(6), 880–893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.6.880.
Ouweneel, E., Le Blanc, P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Don’t leave your heart at home. Career Development International, 17, 537–556. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620431211280123.
Russell, J. A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. Psychological Review, 110, 145–172. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.11.1.145.
Schaufeli, W. B., & Maslach, C. (2017). Historical and conceptual development of burnout. In Professional burnout (pp. 1–16). Routledge.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20593.
Sosnowska, J., Hofmans, J., & De Fruyt, F. (2017). Relating emotional arousal to work vigour: A dynamic systems perspective. Personality and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.06.040.
Stander, M. W., & Rothmann, S. (2010). Psychological empowerment, job insecurity and employee engagement. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(1), 1–8.
Taris, T. W., & Schaufeli, W. (2015). Individual well-being and performance at work: A conceptual and theoretical overview. In M. Van Veldhoven & R. Peccei (Eds.), Well- being and performance at work: The role of context (pp. 15–34). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Thagard, P., & Nerb, J. (2002). Emotional gestalts: Appraisal, change, and the dynamics of affect. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(4), 274–282. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0604_02.
Timmermans, T., Van Mechelen, I., & Kuppens, P. (2010). The relationship between individual differences in intraindividual variability in core affect and interpersonal behaviour. European Journal of Personality, 24(8), 623–638. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.756.
Tuckey, M. R., Bakker, A. B., & Dollard, M. F. (2012). Empowering leaders optimize working conditions for engagement: A multilevel study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025942.
Van Dierendonck, D., Garssen, B., & Visser, A. (2005). Burnout prevention through personal growth. International Journal of Stress Management, 12(1), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.12.1.62.
Verduyn, P., Delvaux, E., Van Coillie, H., Tuerlinckx, F., & Van Mechelen, I. (2009). Predicting the duration of emotional experience: Two experience sampling studies. Emotion, 9(1), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014610.
Witherington, D. C., & Crichton, J. A. (2007). Frameworks for understanding emotions and their development: Functionalist and dynamic systems approaches. Emotion, 7, 628–637.
Youssef, C. M., & Luthans, F. (2007). Positive organizational behavior in the workplace: The impact of hope, optimism, and resilience. Journal of Management, 33(5), 774–800. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307305562.
Zautra, A. J., Affleck, G. G., Tennen, H., Reich, J. W., & Davis, M. C. (2005). Dynamic approaches to emotions and stress in everyday life: Bolger and Zuckerman reloaded with positive as well as negative affects. Journal of Personality, 73(6), 1511–1538. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2005.00357.x.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sosnowska, J., Griep, Y. (2019). Well-Being at Work: Applying Dynamics of Affect in Positive Psychological Interventions. In: Van Zyl, L., Rothmann Sr., S. (eds) Theoretical Approaches to Multi-Cultural Positive Psychological Interventions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20583-6_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20583-6_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20582-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20583-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)