본 연구는 기존의 감정의 공유(shared affect) 문헌에서 제시하는 개인간 유사한 감정의 공유 단계에서 한 단계 더 나아가, 개인간 상호작용을 통해 긍정적인 감정이 증폭, 강화되어 행동의 준비상태 및 동기부여된 상태에 도달된 관계를 ‘조직내 활력관계(energizing relationships)’ 개념(Baker, Cross & Wooten, 2003)을 이용하여 설명하였다. 본 연구는 조직내 활력 관계의 개념적 틀을 마련하고, 조직내 활력관계의 형성 과정을 세 가지 인지적 요인–자율성, 역량, 소속감에 대한 인식 –을 이용하여 제시하였다. 더 나아가, 세 가지 인지적 요인을 강화시킬 수 있는 관계적 속성들을 두 개인간 관계의 강도, 짐멜 관계의 존재여부, 그리고 조직내 감정규범의 존재여부의 관점에서 탐색하였다. 끝으로 조직내 활력관계에 관한 연구가 감정의 공유 연구, 동기부여 연구, 그리고 사회연결망 연구에 주는 이론적 시사점과 향후 연구방향, 그리고 조직에 주는 시사점을 논의하였다.
Why do certain interpersonal relationships energize and inspire people involved in the relationships while some other relationships de-energize and dishearten those involved in the relationships? Building on the concept of energizing relationships(Baker, Cross, & Wooten, 2003), we develop a conceptual framework that defines energizing relationships in organizations. We distinguish between shared positive affect and energizing relationships in the following two ways. First, shared positive affect results from unconscious emotional contagion among unspecified individuals, whereas energizing relationships arise from cognitive interpretation of shared positive affect, especially with respect to autonomy, competence, and belongingness. Second, energizing relationships develop from shared positive affect when emotional contagion occurs through individually meaningful social relationships. We then explore the mediating role of cognitive mechanisms between shared positive affect and energizing relationships and suggest the sense of autonomy, competence, and belongingness as three key cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, we further the moderating effects of individual social relationships on the interplay of shared positive affect and three cognitive mechanisms. In particular, we examine these effects by paying attention to the following three aspects of social relations: tie strength, Simmelian tie, and emotional norm. Finally, we discuss the theoretical contributions of this research to group emotion, motivation, and network literatures, as well as the future research directions and practical implications. Energizing relationships Organizational and psychological researchers have recently begun to explore emotion as a collective property of groups. They have mainly focused on how group members come to share similar emotions or moods and on the consequences of the shared emotions and moods. However, sometimes individuals may experience their emotions strengthened and amplified during interpersonal interactions above and beyond the level of sharing similar emotions with the interaction partner. For example, a team leader who is sharing a calm emotion with a team member, makes an enthusiastic comment or suggestion to the team member. When this happens, we may expect that the team member would feel excited and perhaps even more enthusiastic than the team leader, and that the member would be motivated to act in ways that fulfill the emotions of excitement and enthusiasm. As such, (a) when individuals experience their positive emotions strengthened and amplified through an individually meaningful interpersonal interaction, and (b) when they feel that they are ready to act in the direction motivated by the positive emotions experienced through the interpersonal interaction, we define this specific type of interpersonal relationship as an energizing relationship in organizations. Energizing relationships have the following important characteristics. The first is that compared with ‘shared positive affect’, energizing relationships involve shared positive emotions being strengthened and amplified through interpersonal interactions. The strengthening and amplification of originally shared positive emotions can happen either to one or to both interacting partners. Second, energizing relationships consist of individuals behaviorally activated or ready to take certain actions. Specific emotions entail specific action tendencies, and motivation to act becomes stronger as individuals experience strong and high arousal emotions (Frijda, 1986). Thus, strong positive emotions experienced through energizing relationships can facilitate motivation to act in ways that correspond to emotions and their associated action tendencies. Furthermore, energizing relationships differ from shared positive affect in the following two ways. First, shared positive affect results from unconscious emotional contagion among unspecified individuals, whereas energizing relationships arise from cognitive interpretation of shared positive affect, especially with respect to autonomy, competence, and belongingness. Second, energizing relationships develop from shared positive affect when emotional contagion occurs through individually meaningful social relationships. The Mediating Role of Three Cognitive Mechanisms We suggest three cognitive elements – autonomy, competence, and belongingness – as the key mechanisms that explain how shared positive affect among individuals transforms into energizing relationships. Individuals experience greater energy when they experience increased autonomy, competence, and a sense of belongingness in interpersonal relationships(Quinn, 2007; Quinn & Dutton, 2005; Ryan & Deci, 2000). In other words, individuals experience greater energy in relationships when they feel that their behaviors are determined and chosen by themselves, when they feel a sense of achievement and self‐efficacy, and when they feel a sense of belongingness rather than isolation through the relationships. Therefore, we suggest that energizing relationships arise from cognitive interpretation of shared positive affect. The following three cognitive mechanisms come into play in this mediating role: the sense of autonomy, competence, and belongingness as three key cognitive mechanisms. P1: When shared positive affect between two individuals increases, the individuals will experience an increased level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness in the interpersonal relationship. P2: When individuals experience an increased level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness in an interpersonal relationship, that relationship is more likely to develop into an energizing relationship. The Moderating Role of Social Relationships Then what are the factors that can influence the level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness that individuals may experience from shared positive affect? We suggest that social relationships meaningful and important to individuals may play an important role. In a bid to uncover the role of social relationships, we characterize the nature of social relationships held by each individual from the following three dimensions: relational embeddedness, structural embeddedness, and institutional embeddedness. Relational Embeddedness Relational embeddedness refers to the depth or quality of social relationships between two persons. Among possible attributes of relational embeddedness, we draw attention to the strength of tie for the following reason. Frequent, emotionally attached social relations may facilitate building of an emotional bond between individuals. An emotional bond encourages cooperation which can prevent opportunistic behaviors and reduce the need to monitor each other, thus enabling a wider range of autonomous behaviors and decisions. In an effort to achieve common goals and interests, individuals may readily share their knowledge and information with each other, thus leading to an increased sense of competence. An emotional bond also increases mutual understanding and cohesiveness in relationships, which can enhance a sense of belongingness in the relationship. P3: When there is a strong tie between two individuals, the positive link between shared positive affect in their interpersonal relationship and the level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness experienced in the relationship will be strengthened. Structural Embeddedness Structural embeddedness refers to the way that a given dyadic relation between two persons is constrained by other relationships in a given community. With respect to affect, we draw attention to Simmelian tie. A notion of Simmelian tie, introduced by Krackhardt (1992), indicates ties that belong to a single clique pursuing the common value. In other words, when two individuals have a strong tie between themselves, and at the same time each has a strong tie with the same third person, this results in a Simmelian tie when these three actors are guided by the same behavioral value or norm. If two individuals are connected to the same third person who belongs to the same clique as the two individuals, the individuals involved in this relationship is less likely to behave opportunistically. This is because there is a high possibility that the information about the opportunistic behavior will be shared with the other individuals involved in the Simmelian tie, thus increasing the likelihood of being sanctioned by the clique. Individuals may develop trusting relationships more easily in this kind of tie structure, which facilitates autonomous behaviors and decisions and enhances a sense of competence through active knowledge sharing. Further, individuals may experience an increased level of belongingness through cognitive and emotional bonds established through a Simmelian tie. P4: When individuals are connected through a Simmelian tie, the positive link between shared positive affect in their interpersonal relationship and the level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness experienced in the relationship will be strengthened. Institutional Embeddedness Institutional embeddedness refers to the social norm imposed on individuals in an organization. In particular, we pay attention to an organization’s norms concerning the expression of emotions at the public place. Groups and organizations have emotional norms that facilitate or discourage certain emotional expression and emotional exchange. When a group or an organization’s emotional norm encourages active expression and exchange of positive emotions, its members may perceive more autonomy by expressing their positive emotions more freely. They also can be confident in their feelings and expression of the feelings in that context, thus contributing to their sense of competence. Active exchange and sharing of positive emotions may contribute to increase in members’ sense of belongingness as well. P5: When an organization has an emotional norm that encourages feeling and expression of positive emotions, the positive link between shared positive affect in an interpersonal relationship and the level of autonomy, competence, and belongingness experienced in the relationship will be strengthened. Discussion and Conclusion This research attempts to make three key contributions to the literatures on group emotions, motivation, and network. First, building on the research on shared affect that focuses on the sharing of similar emotions, we explore the phenomenon of energizing relationships in which individuals experience their positive emotions strengthened and amplified. Energizing relationships can go further by having the individuals involved be ready for certain actions or behaviors. Our focus has been on the development of energizing relationships from initial sharing of positive emotions. Future research may look at creation of energy through strengthening and amplification of negative emotions shared among people. Second, this research seeks to contribute to the literature on motivation by studying behavioral activation or action readiness through an experience of high arousal positive emotions. While motivation research has focused on cognitive factors that influence the level of motivation, we attempted to explain motivational processes through exchange of positive emotions in interpersonal relationships. Finally, we explored how network or tie structures can influence the development of energizing relationships and energy network, while most energy network research has been devoted to the understanding of its outcomes. Furthermore, this research suggests a possibility of studying energy as a content of a network in addition to friendship, task advice or knowledge as network contents.
