Employee Positive Emotion and Favorable Outcomes at the Workplace

This paper draws on writings in psychology, sociology and organizational behavior to develop a conceptual framework that specifies how positive emotion helps employees obtain favorable outcomes at work. We propose that feeling and expressing positive emotions on the job have favorable consequences on: 1 employees independent of their relationships with others e.g., greater persistence, 2 reactions of others to employees e.g., "halo," or overgeneralization to other desirable traits, and 3 reactions of employees to others e.g., helping others. These three sets of intervening processes are proposed, in turn, to lead to work achievement, job enrichment and a higher quality social context. A partial test of this framework is made in an 18-month study of 272 employees. Results indicate that positive emotion on the job at time 1 is associated with evidence of work achievement more favorable supervisor evaluations and higher pay and a supportive social context more support from supervisors and coworkers at time 2. But positive emotion at time 1 is not significantly associated with job enrichment at time 2.