Understanding how #EmotionalContagion spread's in a group setting can improve the "EmotionalIntelligence of a work environment. #ExecutiveCoaching #Consulting #HR

Paying attention to the emotional atmosphere in a work environment is crucial to the overall health and well-being of individuals and employees.

An emotional contagion can impact all members of a group, either positively or negatively.  Researcher’s Dezecache, Conty, Chadwick, Philip, Soussignan, Sperber, & Grèzes (2013) examined emotional contagions within a group. Their findings reveal how emotional states are spread throughout people spontaneously! 

People exchange emotional cues and non-verbal communication from each other and from groups of people either with direct contact or peripherally. Consciously and unconsciously people read emotional cues in work environments and at social gatherings. These subtle exchanges of information are transmitted via facial expressions, body language, verbal-tone, and emotional expressions. In these instances, communication occurs.

People are inherently perceptive of what other’s emotional expressions produce. In their research Dezecache, Conty, Chadwick, Philip, Soussignan, Sperber, & Grèzes (2013) demonstrate that emotions like joy and fear are instantly transmitted throughout a group setting. They show that people are neurologically programmed to respond and react to the emotional signals of others, which in turn produces emotional states. This hard-wired function is a survival mechanism. 

“These findings demonstrate that one is tuned to react to others' emotional signals and to unintentionally produce subtle but sufficient emotional cues to induce emotional states in others. This phenomenon could be the mark of a spontaneous cooperative behavior whose function is to communicate survival-value information to nonspecifics”, Dezecache, Conty, Chadwick, Philip, Soussignan, Sperber, & Grèzes (2013).

Understanding the collective emotional tone of an organization is imperative for guiding the group towards better cohesiveness, collaboration, and cooperation. A work environment that feels healthy and vibrant allows people to function more optimally, as a group. Positive emotions spread throughout people who experience them. An executive who works with this understanding can improve the collective emotional intelligence of their work environment.

References:
Dezecache, G., Conty, L., Chadwick, M., Philip, L., Soussignan, R., Sperber, D., & Grèzes, J. (2013). Evidence for Unintentional Emotional Contagion Beyond Dyads. Public Library of Science. Volume 8(6), e67371. Doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0067371

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23840683