Emotion Regulation at Work: A Social Perspective

Abstract

Emotion regulation is centrally important to work life. Being able to control one's emotions and show what is needed on the job is highly valued, as is being able to manage the emotions of others. Dominant perspectives of emotion regulation tend to emphasize the experience of the regulator in isolation. In this review, we adopt an explicitly social lens through which to view emotion regulation at work. Specifically, we consider social influences at three levels: ( a ) relational, with a focus on the role and impact of one's interaction partners; ( b ) professional, with a focus on the role of shared occupational and organizational norms in shaping emotion regulation; and ( c ) societal, with a focus on how widely shared beliefs or expectations relating to culture, race, and gender can influence emotion regulation. Focusing on four phases of emotion regulation (i.e., emotion goal selection, affect and discrepancy detection, emotion regulation strategy use, and outcomes of emotion regulation), we consider social influences from all three levels on intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation. Finally, we conclude with research questions and practical implications, as well as a call for research to adopt an integrative approach that examines intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation at work together.