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In today´s market, characterized by an abundance of products and companies, understanding effective advertising on social media is crucial. Consumers increasingly use social media, where brands strategically employ emotions as a persuasive tool. This thesis examines the influence of various emotional appeals on the behavior of social media users, contrasting them with other content features. In particular, it investigates those appeals on consumer actions. The primary aim of this systematic literature review is to present the current state of academic knowledge on the strategic use of emotional appeals in social media marketing and to assess its impact on user behavior. The study contributes to foundational theories such as the Uses-and-Gratifications Theory, the Persuasion Theory, and the Stimulus-Reaction Theory among other theoretical frameworks. The results show that emotional appeals significantly enhance user engagement and interaction compared to for instance purely informational content. Despite these findings, the study identifies gaps regarding the specific effects of different emotional appeals and their impact on long-term brand relationships. These gaps suggest directions for future research and compromise both theoretical and managerial implications aimed at optimizing social media marketing strategies for more effective consumer engagement., Masterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 2024

Background and Purpose. Catastrophic crises such as floods have resulted in millions of fatalities and tens of billions of dollars in direct economic losses annually worldwide throughout the twentieth century (Merz et al., 2021). Crises can create severe and widespread disruption, but successful communication may also act as a catalyst for constructive change in the post-crisis stage, as it fosters a shared understanding of the situation and provides protective action taking instructions (Liu et al., 2016; Sellnow & Seeger, 2021). The role of crisis communication in the post-crisis stage is insufficiently examined (Liu & Viens, 2020) despite the fact that many communities have the greatest need for support when the media spotlight and widespread public attention disappears. This dissertation emphasizes the notion of learning from crises in the post-crisis stage (Huber, 1991; Moynihan, 2009; Renå & Christensen, 2018) by examining individuals’ coping and their perceived community resilience in the post-crisis stage within a collectivistic and non-democratic context (i.e., mainland China). Theoretical Frameworks. To understand how individuals adapt to emotionally charged situations like floods, this dissertation draws insights from the integrated crisis mapping model (i.e., ICM; Jin et al., 2012; Jin et al., 2016), the infectious disease threat appraisal model (i.e., IDT; Jin et al., 2020; Jin et al., 2021), emotional contagion theory (Barsade, 2002; Barsade et al., 2018), social appraisal theory (Manstead & Fischer, 2001; Parkinson, 2011; 2021), and identity-based emotions research (Mackie et al., 2008; Smith & Mackie, 2015; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Turner et al., 1987) to explore how individuals’ appraisal of a crisis, susceptibility to emotional contagion (Doherty, 1997; Jin et al., 2020), and identification with their local communities influence individuals’ coping and perceived community resilience (the communities advancing resilience toolkit (CART) assessment; Kim

Combining management research with infectious disease epidemiology, we propose a new perspective on mental disorders in a business context. We suggest that—similar to infectious diseases—clinical diagnoses of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders can spread epidemically across the boundaries of organizations via social contagion. We propose a framework for assessing the patterns of disease transmission, with employee mobility as the driver of contagion across organizations. We empirically test the proposed mental disorder transmission patterns by observing more than 250,000 employees and more than 17,000 Danish firms over a period of 12 years. Our findings reveal that when organizations hire employees from other, unhealthy organizations (those with a high prevalence of mental disorders), they “implant” depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders into their workforces. Employees leaving unhealthy organizations act as “carriers” of these disorders regardless of whether they themselves have received a formal diagnosis of a mental disorder. The effect is especially pronounced if the newcomer holds a managerial position.

Negative stress due to human handling has been reported for a number of domestic animals, including dogs. Many companion dogs display significant stress during routine care in the veterinary clinic, risking injury to staff and potentially compromising the quality of care that these dogs receive. On the other hand, positive interactions with humans can have a beneficial effect on dogs, particularly in stressful situations such as animal shelters. Research has shown that dogs can detect human emotions through visual, auditory, and chemical channels, and that dogs will exhibit emotional contagion, particularly with familiar humans. This study investigated relationships between emotional states of dogs and unfamiliar human handlers, using simultaneous measures of cardiac activity and behavior, during two sessions of three consecutive routine handling sets. Measures of cardiac activity included mean heart rate (HRmean), and two measures of heart rate variability (HRV): the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD); and the high frequency absolute power component of HRV, log transformed (HFlog). We also assessed human handlers' emotional state during handling sessions following an intervention designed to reduce stress, compared with sessions conducted on a different day and following a control activity. Polar H10 cardiac sensors were used to simultaneously record cardiac activity for both canine and human participants, and behavioral data were collected via digital video. The strongest influence on the dogs' stress levels in our study was found to be increasing familiarity with the setting and the handler; HRmean and SI decreased, and HRV (as RMSSD) increased, significantly from the first to the third handling set. Canine HRV (as HFlog) was also highest in set 3, although the difference was not statistically significant. There were no strong patterns found in the human cardiac data across handling set, session, or by pre-handling activi

Negative stress due to human handling has been reported for a number of domestic animals, including dogs. Many companion dogs display significant stress during routine care in the veterinary clinic, risking injury to staff and potentially compromising the quality of care that these dogs receive. On the other hand, positive interactions with humans can have a beneficial effect on dogs, particularly in stressful situations such as animal shelters. Research has shown that dogs can detect human emotions through visual, auditory, and chemical channels, and that dogs will exhibit emotional contagion, particularly with familiar humans. This study investigated relationships between emotional states of dogs and unfamiliar human handlers, using simultaneous measures of cardiac activity and behavior, during two sessions of three consecutive routine handling sets. Measures of cardiac activity included mean heart rate (HRmean), and two measures of heart rate variability (HRV): the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD); and the high frequency absolute power component of HRV, log transformed (HFlog). We also assessed human handlers' emotional state during handling sessions following an intervention designed to reduce stress, compared with sessions conducted on a different day and following a control activity. Polar H10 cardiac sensors were used to simultaneously record cardiac activity for both canine and human participants, and behavioral data were collected via digital video. The strongest influence on the dogs' stress levels in our study was found to be increasing familiarity with the setting and the handler; HRmean and SI decreased, and HRV (as RMSSD) increased, significantly from the first to the third handling set. Canine HRV (as HFlog) was also highest in set 3, although the difference was not statistically significant. There were no strong patterns found in the human cardiac data across handling set, session, or by pre-handling activi

Empathy is an important socio-emotional process for interpersonal interactions, moral decision-making, and a functioning society as a whole. Emotional contagion is an unconscious process that forms the basis for empathy. While differences in levels of empathy have been reported in various clinical populations, these differences also exist in the general, non-clinical population. Two commonly-occurring personality traits, alexithymia and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), have been linked to individual differences in empathy and its related constructs. The current study investigated the links between alexithymia and SPS, early adverse life experiences, mood, self-reported levels of empathy and related constructs, and emotional contagion induced in a behavioural task. 305 adult participants watched brief affective film clips chosen to induce positive, negative, mixed, and neutral emotional states, and rated how strongly each film made them feel various emotions. Participants also completed self-report measures of alexithymia, SPS, empathy and related constructs, childhood emotional abuse, and current mood. Alexithymia positively predicted the number of emotions experienced by participants during the behavioural task, as well as negatively predicted other-focused aspects of self-reported empathy, including perspective-taking and empathic concern. SPS positively predicted the strength of the emotions experienced by participants, the extent to which they felt their own emotions matched those of the main characters in the films, and both other-focused empathy and self-focused processes, such as experiencing feelings of personal distress or strong emotions in response to the films. The findings suggest that alexithymia reduces the other-focused component of empathy, potentially by providing mixed affective signals that are difficult for individuals to characterize. SPS, on the other hand, appears to increase both other- and self-focused empathy, potentially by increasin

Perspective-taking is the ability to intuit another person’s mental state. Historically, cognitive and affective perspective-taking are distinguished from visuospatial perspective-taking because the content these processes operate on is too dissimilar. However, all three share functional similarities. Following recent research showing relations between cognitive and visuospatial perspective-taking, this article explores links between visuospatial and affective perspective-taking. Data of three preregistered experiments suggest that visuospatial perspective-taking does not improve emotion recognition speed and only slightly increases emotion recognition accuracy (Experiment 1), yet visuospatial perspective-taking increases the perceived intensity of emotional expressions (Experiment 2), as well as the emotional contagiousness of negative emotions (Experiment 3). The implications of these findings for content-based, cognitive, and functional taxonomies of perspective-taking and related processes are discussed.

Emotional contagion, the emotional state-matching of an individual with another, seems to be crucial for many social species. In recent years evidence on emotional contagion in different animal species has accumulated. However, despite its adaptative advantages and its presumed simplicity, the study and direct demonstration of this phenomenon present more complexities than previously thought. For these reasons, a review of the literature on emotional contagion in nonhuman species is timely to integrate current findings. In this paper thus, we carry out a comprehensive review of the most relevant studies on emotional contagion in animals and discuss the main problems and challenges of the field. We conclude that more research is needed to broaden our understanding of the mechanisms and functions of emotional contagion and the extent to which this process is present in a wide variety of species. Furthermore, the comparative study of emotional contagion would benefit from the use of systematized paradigms including both behavioral and physiological measures and the simultaneous recording of the responses of the interacting individuals to reliably assess an emotional state-matching between them and reliable controls.

Combining management research with infectious disease epidemiology, we propose a new perspective on mental disorders in a business context. We suggest that—similar to infectious diseases—clinical diagnoses of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders can spread epidemically across the boundaries of organizations via social contagion. We propose a framework for assessing the patterns of disease transmission, with employee mobility as the driver of contagion across organizations. We empirically test the proposed mental disorder transmission patterns by observing more than 250,000 employees and more than 17,000 Danish firms over a period of 12 years. Our findings reveal that when organizations hire employees from other, unhealthy organizations (those with a high prevalence of mental disorders), they “implant” depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders into their workforces. Employees leaving unhealthy organizations act as “carriers” of these disorders regardless of whether they themselves have received a formal diagnosis of a mental disorder. The effect is especially pronounced if the newcomer holds a managerial position.

Empathy is an important socio-emotional process for interpersonal interactions, moral decision-making, and a functioning society as a whole. Emotional contagion is an unconscious process that forms the basis for empathy. While differences in levels of empathy have been reported in various clinical populations, these differences also exist in the general, non-clinical population. Two commonly-occurring personality traits, alexithymia and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), have been linked to individual differences in empathy and its related constructs. The current study investigated the links between alexithymia and SPS, early adverse life experiences, mood, self-reported levels of empathy and related constructs, and emotional contagion induced in a behavioural task. 305 adult participants watched brief affective film clips chosen to induce positive, negative, mixed, and neutral emotional states, and rated how strongly each film made them feel various emotions. Participants also completed self-report measures of alexithymia, SPS, empathy and related constructs, childhood emotional abuse, and current mood. Alexithymia positively predicted the number of emotions experienced by participants during the behavioural task, as well as negatively predicted other-focused aspects of self-reported empathy, including perspective-taking and empathic concern. SPS positively predicted the strength of the emotions experienced by participants, the extent to which they felt their own emotions matched those of the main characters in the films, and both other-focused empathy and self-focused processes, such as experiencing feelings of personal distress or strong emotions in response to the films. The findings suggest that alexithymia reduces the other-focused component of empathy, potentially by providing mixed affective signals that are difficult for individuals to characterize. SPS, on the other hand, appears to increase both other- and self-focused empathy, potentially by increasin

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon by which an individual’s emotions directly trigger similar emotions in others. We explored the possibility that perceiving others’ emotional facial expressions affect mood in people with subthreshold depression (sD). Around 49 participants were divided into the following four groups: participants with no depression (ND) presented with happy faces; ND participants presented with sad faces; sD participants presented with happy faces; and sD participants presented with sad faces. Participants were asked to answer an inventory about their emotional states before and after viewing the emotional faces to investigate the influence of emotional contagion on their mood. Regardless of depressive tendency, the groups presented with happy faces exhibited a slight increase in the happy mood score and a decrease in the sad mood score. The groups presented with sad faces exhibited an increased sad mood score and a decreased happy mood score. These results demonstrate that emotional contagion affects the mood in people with sD, as well as in individuals with ND. These results indicate that emotional contagion could relieve depressive moods in people with sD. It demonstrates the importance of the emotional facial expressions of those around people with sD such as family and friends from the viewpoint of emotional contagion.

This study will seek answers to a research question that aims to evaluate the patterns and the structure of pandemics and their spread in different ages and territories, always taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic: what is the significance and role of emotional contagion in how people behave during the current COVID-19 pandemic, and how do emotions spread across society from person to person, like viruses?Our methodology is based on mapping previous experiences on how societies faced collapse due to epidemic outbreaks to answer this research question. Moreover, we present an autoethnography to revise moment by moment how professional and private lives are being affected by this pandemic right now.

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon by which an individual’s emotions directly trigger similar emotions in others. We explored the possibility that perceiving others’ emotional facial expressions affect mood in people with subthreshold depression (sD). Around 49 participants were divided into the following four groups: participants with no depression (ND) presented with happy faces; ND participants presented with sad faces; sD participants presented with happy faces; and sD participants presented with sad faces. Participants were asked to answer an inventory about their emotional states before and after viewing the emotional faces to investigate the influence of emotional contagion on their mood. Regardless of depressive tendency, the groups presented with happy faces exhibited a slight increase in the happy mood score and a decrease in the sad mood score. The groups presented with sad faces exhibited an increased sad mood score and a decreased happy mood score. These results demonstrate that emotional contagion affects the mood in people with sD, as well as in individuals with ND. These results indicate that emotional contagion could relieve depressive moods in people with sD. It demonstrates the importance of the emotional facial expressions of those around people with sD such as family and friends from the viewpoint of emotional contagion.

We conducted a longitudinal (3-month) qualitative study to examine elite military personnel's (N = 32) experiences and perspectives of team resilience emergence following two team-oriented training courses within an 18-month high-stakes training programme where personnel are required to operate in newly formed tactical teams for extended periods. Our thematically informed interpretations of the participants’ subjective experiences of reality were constructed according to five key themes: (i) adversity is an enduring, shared experience of an event; (ii) individuals recognise adversity through physiological and/or behavioural states; (iii) social resources bind together individual self-regulatory capacities when confronted with adversity to support team functioning; (iv) shared experiences of adversity and collective structures strengthen social bonds and mental models needed for resilience emergence; and (v) behavioural processes and shared states are how collectives turn individual and team capacities into performance under adversity. These findings provide novel insights that supplement our current understanding of team resilience emergence, including the varying means by which adversity may be collectively experienced, synergies between specific forms of adversity and resilience processes or protective factors, and the unique influence of performance context (e.g., task type).

Facebook and other social networking sites allow observation of others’ interactions that in normal, offline life would simply be undetectable (e.g., a two-voice conversation viewable on the Facebook wall, from the perspective of a real, silent witness). Drawing on this specific property, the theory of social learning, and the most direct implications of emotional contagion, our pilot experiment (N = 49) aimed to test whether the exposure to others’ grateful interactions on Facebook enhances (a) users’ felt gratitude, (b) expressed gratitude, and (c) their subjective well-being. For the threefold purpose, we created ad hoc Facebook groups in which the exposure to some accomplices’ exchange of grateful messages for 2 weeks was experimentally manipulated and users’ felt/expressed gratitude and well-being were consequently assessed. Results partially supported both hypotheses. Observing others’ exchange of grateful posts/comments on Facebook appeared to enhance participants’ in-person expression of gratitude (i.e., self-reported gratitude expression within face-to-face interactions), but not their direct and subjective experiences of gratitude. Similarly, exposure to others’ grateful messages improved some components of subjective well-being, such as satisfaction with life, but not negative and positive affect. Taken together, however, our preliminary findings suggest for the first time that social networking sites may actually amplify the spreading of gratitude and its benefits. Implications of our results for professionals and future research in the field of health, education, and social media communication are discussed.

BACKGROUND: The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic seems to encompass a social media debate, possibly resulting in emotional contagion and the need for novel surveillance approaches. In the current study, we aimed to examine the flow and content of tweets, exploring the role of COVID-19 key events on the popular Twitter platform. METHODS: Using representative freely available data, we performed a focused, social media-based analysis to capture COVID-19 discussions on Twitter, considering sentiment and longitudinal trends between January 19 and March 3, 2020. Different populations of users were considered. Core discussions were explored measuring tweets' sentiment, by both computing a polarity compound score with 95% Confidence Interval and using a transformer-based model, pretrained on a large corpus of COVID-19-related Tweets. Context-dependent meaning and emotion-specific features were considered. RESULTS: We gathered 3,308,476 tweets written in English. Since the first World Health Organization report (January 21), negative sentiment proportion of tweets gradually increased as expected, with amplifications following key events. Sentiment scores were increasingly negative among most active users. Tweets content and flow revealed an ongoing scenario in which the global emergency seems difficult to be emotionally managed, as shown by sentiment trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating social media like Twitter as essential surveillance tools in the management of the pandemic and its waves might actually represent a novel preventive approach to hinder emotional contagion, disseminating reliable information and nurturing trust. There is the need to monitor and sustain healthy behaviors as well as community supports also via social media-based preventive interventions.

Facebook and other social networking sites allow observation of others’ interactions that in normal, offline life would simply be undetectable (e.g., a two-voice conversation viewable on the Facebook wall, from the perspective of a real, silent witness). Drawing on this specific property, the theory of social learning, and the most direct implications of emotional contagion, our pilot experiment (N = 49) aimed to test whether the exposure to others’ grateful interactions on Facebook enhances (a) users’ felt gratitude, (b) expressed gratitude, and (c) their subjective well-being. For the threefold purpose, we created ad hoc Facebook groups in which the exposure to some accomplices’ exchange of grateful messages for 2 weeks was experimentally manipulated and users’ felt/expressed gratitude and well-being were consequently assessed. Results partially supported both hypotheses. Observing others’ exchange of grateful posts/comments on Facebook appeared to enhance participants’ in-person expression of gratitude (i.e., self-reported gratitude expression within face-to-face interactions), but not their direct and subjective experiences of gratitude. Similarly, exposure to others’ grateful messages improved some components of subjective well-being, such as satisfaction with life, but not negative and positive affect. Taken together, however, our preliminary findings suggest for the first time that social networking sites may actually amplify the spreading of gratitude and its benefits. Implications of our results for professionals and future research in the field of health, education, and social media communication are discussed.

Construct proliferation in the leadership field raises questions concerning parsimony and whether we should focus on joint mechanisms of leadership styles, rather than the differences between them. In this theoretical research article, we propose that positive leadership styles translate into similar leader behaviors on the work floor that influence employee work engagement through a number of shared pathways. We take a deductive approach and review several established theories as well as relevant up-to-date empirical work from a bird’s-eye view to generate a general framework. We introduce a model with three processes (one direct process and two indirect processes) and five pathways (practical, motivational, affective, cognitive, and behavioral). With regard to the indirect processes, we propose that work characteristics (material pathway) and psychological need satisfaction (intrapersonal motivational pathway) mediate the relationship between positive leadership styles and engagement. Regarding the direct interpersonal process, we propose that leaders directly influence employee engagement through three pathways: emotional contagion (affective interpersonal pathway), social exchange (cognitive interpersonal pathway), and role modeling (behavioral interpersonal pathway). Our parsimonious research model furthers the integration of different theoretical viewpoints as well as underscores joint mechanisms with regard to the effect of positive leadership styles. Practically speaking, this article also provides insight into which processes leaders can work on to stimulate employee work engagement through progressive policies and work practices.

Sleep deprivation is proposed to inhibit top-down-control in emotion processing, but it is unclear whether sleep deprivation affects emotional mimicry and contagion. Here, we aimed to investigate effects of partial sleep deprivation on emotional contagion and mimicry in young and older humans. Participants underwent partial sleep deprivation (3 h sleep opportunity at the end of night), crossed-over with a full sleep condition in a balanced order, followed by a functional magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography (EMG) experiment with viewing of emotional and neutral faces and ratings of emotional responses. The final sample for main analyses was n = 69 (n = 36 aged 20–30 years, n = 33 aged 65–75 years). Partial sleep deprivation caused decreased activation in fusiform gyri for angry faces and decreased ratings of happiness for all stimuli, but no significant effect on the amygdala. Older participants reported more anger compared to younger participants, but no age differences were seen in brain responses to emotional faces or sensitivity to partial sleep deprivation. No effect of the sleep manipulation was seen on EMG. In conclusion, emotional contagion, but not mimicry, was affected by sleep deprivation. Our results are consistent with the previously reported increased negativity bias after insufficient sleep. The Stockholm sleepy brain study: effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive and emotional processing in young and old. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02000076., Open Access funding provided by Karolinska Institute. This work was funded by Stockholm Stress Center, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm County Council, Isabella and Henrik Berg and the Heumanska stiftelsen/Hjärnfonden, Fredrik and Ingrid Thuring’s Foundation.

This essay examines influencers’ framing of mental illness and how the framing could possibly affect the growing problem of mental illness among Swedish youth. Previous research concerning mental illness among youth, social media and social contagion is presented as a basic understanding of the problem at hand. Approximately 16 000 Instagram posts from Sweden’s most influential Instagram accounts were reviewed for content about mental illness. Posts containing descriptions of mental illness were extracted and analyzed using thematical analysis. The main finding from the thematical analysis was that influencers tended to use The Hero’s Journey dramaturgy in the framing of mental illness. The main conclusion made from the study was that influencer framing of mental health issues, consciously or unconsciously, tended to augment mental illness in a number of ways. The influencers seemed to have developed specializations in different forms of mental illness. The specialized influencer took upon him/herself the role of a mentor to followers experiencing symptoms of the same type of mental illness, leading them on for their own Hero’s Journey. Hence, the mechanisms of The Hero’s Journey were shown to, in themselves, have a tendency to increase the contagious effects of mental illness.

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

Unresolved global problems, such as extreme poverty, ask for a better understanding of what predicts altruism and what does not. The aim of this thesis project was to address this topical and timely research question by studying the predictive role of compassion and empathy in understanding altruism. In past research on the relationship between altruism and empathy, distinct empathic processes (Perspective taking, Empathic concern, Personal distress, Emotional contagion, and Behavioral contagion) have been often lumped together and the context dependency of the relationship has been insufficiently taken into account, resulting in confusion and contradictory findings. Compassion overcomes these issues. The present web-based survey with previous or current university students (age 18-45; N=240) aimed to clarify relationships between components of empathy, compassion, and altruism. It was hypothesized that (1) compassion would predict altruism beyond all components of empathy; (2) Empathic concern would mediate the relationship between Perspective taking and altruism; (3) compassion would mediate the relationship between Empathic concern and altruism, and (4) higher levels of compassion would result in a reduced negative relationship between Personal distress and altruism. The results supported all hypotheses except for the final one. These findings are discussed in context of previous research and theory, considering the current study limitations and with focus on theoretical and practical implications. In sum, the findings suggest that efforts to motivate altruism should focus on invoking positive emotions of warmth, concern, and relatability. Care should be taken to avoid unnecessary Personal distress when invoking altruism, as this reduces its likelihood.

People share their emotions on social media and evidence suggests that in times of crisis people are especially motivated to post emotional content. The current Coronavirus pandemic is such a crisis. The online sharing of emotional content during the Coronavirus crisis may contribute to societal value change. Emotion sharing via social media could lead to emotional contagion which in turn could facilitate an emotional climate in a society. In turn, the emotional climate of a society can influence society’s value structure. The emotions that spread in the current Coronavirus crisis are predominantly negative, which could result in a negative emotional climate. Based on the dynamic relations of values to each other and the way that emotions relate to values, a negative emotional climate can contribute to societal value change towards values related to security preservation and threat avoidance. As a consequence, a negative emotional climate and the shift in values could lead to a change in political attitudes that has implications for rights, freedom, privacy and moral progress. Considering the impact of social media in terms of emotional contagion and a longer-lasting value change is an important perspective in thinking about the ethical long-term impact of social media technology., Ethics & Philosophy of Technology

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Peer Reviewed

People share their emotions on social media and evidence suggests that in times of crisis people are especially motivated to post emotional content. The current Coronavirus pandemic is such a crisis. The online sharing of emotional content during the Coronavirus crisis may contribute to societal value change. Emotion sharing via social media could lead to emotional contagion which in turn could facilitate an emotional climate in a society. In turn, the emotional climate of a society can influence society’s value structure. The emotions that spread in the current Coronavirus crisis are predominantly negative, which could result in a negative emotional climate. Based on the dynamic relations of values to each other and the way that emotions relate to values, a negative emotional climate can contribute to societal value change towards values related to security preservation and threat avoidance. As a consequence, a negative emotional climate and the shift in values could lead to a change in political attitudes that has implications for rights, freedom, privacy and moral progress. Considering the impact of social media in terms of emotional contagion and a longer-lasting value change is an important perspective in thinking about the ethical long-term impact of social media technology., Ethics & Philosophy of Technology

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

The Internet and social media have profoundly changed the way the public receives and transmits news. The ability of the web to quickly disperse information both geographically and temporally allows social media to reach a much wider audience compared to traditional mass media. A powerful role is played by sharing, as millions of people routinely share news on social media platforms, influencing each other by transmitting their mood and feelings to others through emotional contagion. Thus, social media has become crucial in driving public perception and opinion. Humans have an instinctive fear of large carnivores, but such a negative attitude may be amplified by news media presentations and their diffusion on social media. Here, we investigated how reports of predator attacks on humans published in online newspapers spread on social media. By means of multi-model inference, we explored the contribution of four factors in driving the number of total shares (NTS) of news reports on social media: the graphic/sensationalistic content, the presence of images, the species, as well as the newspaper coverage. According to our results, the information delivered by social media is highly biased toward a graphic/sensationalistic view of predators. Thus, such negative coverage might lead to an unjustified and amplified fear in the public with consequent lower tolerance toward predators and decrease in the support for conservation plans. However, because social media represents a powerful communication tool, its role might be reversed to positive if used appropriately. Thus, constant engagement of scientists on social media would be needed to both disseminate more accurate information on large carnivores and stem the tide of misinformation before its widespread diffusion, a crucial step for effective predator conservation.

Companies have always had to adapt to external changes by innovation and reorganisation, in order to stay competitive and survive. For many industries, such as the automotive industry for example the need to quickly adapt to new conditions is expected to increase. In the automotive industry this is due to amongst other factors the globalised value chains and megatrends such as decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility. The megatrends could possibly be disruptive for the industry. Therefore, the ability to successfully implement necessary changes is a key ability. Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. While protecting the individual from anxiety, they often result in a resistance to changes and is therefore problematic for organisations in need of implementing change. Emotional contagion is a subconscious process that can make people emotionally converge. The authors propose that within a business context, emotional contagion enables stable organizational groups to converge with regard to which defense mechanisms that are employed. Within a case study of the automotive supplier Swedish Electro Magnets a quantitative analysis of defense styles was conducted based on the Defense Style Questionnaire on groups in the organisation. Three defense style categories were analysed Mature, Neurotic and Immature defense styles. For Mature defense styles significant findings confirmed that stable groups do converge with regard to what mechanisms are employed. Neurotic defense styles were not found significant, however these results are rather uncertain with a power of 15 %. Immature defense styles could not be analysed because of inhomogeneity of variance between the groups on this variable. The study shows that the two theories of Emotional contagion and Defence mechanism are interacting within the organisation of Swedish Electro Magnets with r, Företag har alltid behövt anpassa sig till yttre omständigheter genom innovation och omorganisering för att bevara sin konkurrenskraft och överleva. För många branscher som exempelvis fordonsindustrin, förväntas behovet av att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya omständigheter öka. Bland annat på grund av globaliserade värdekedjor och megatrender såsom koldioxidneutralitet, självkörande fordon och delad mobilitet. Potentiellt kan megatrender verka disruptivt för industrin. Därför är förmågan att framgångsrikt implementera förändring en nyckelfaktor Defense mechanisms är undermedvetna psykologiska strategier använda för att skydda en person från ångest som uppkommer från oacceptabla tankar eller känslor. Medan individen skyddas från ångest, leder ofta också Defense mechanisms till motstånd till förändring och är därför problematiskt för företag som är i behov av att implementera förändring. Emotional contagion är en undermedveten process som kan få personer att känslomässigt konvergera. Författarna föreslår att i företagssammanhang kan Emotional contagion få stabila grupper att konvergera med avseende på vilka Defense mechanisms som används av medlemmarna i gruppen. I en fallstudie på fordonsindustri underleverantören Swedish Electro Magnets har en kvantitativ studie genomförts baserat på självskattningsformuläret defense style Questionnaire på grupper i organisationen. Tre defense style kategorier undersöktes Mature, Neurotic och Immature. För Mature defense styles fanns signifikanta resultat vilka konfirmerade att stabila grupper konvergerar för vilka Defense mechanisms som används. Neurotic defense styles gav inte signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra då analysens styrka endast var 15 %. Immature defense styles kunde inte analyseras på grund av inhomogenitet i variansen mellan grupperna för denna variabel. Studien visar att de två teorierna Emotional contagion och Defense mechanisms interagerar i organisationen Swedish Electro Magnets med avseende

Unresolved global problems, such as extreme poverty, ask for a better understanding of what predicts altruism and what does not. The aim of this thesis project was to address this topical and timely research question by studying the predictive role of compassion and empathy in understanding altruism. In past research on the relationship between altruism and empathy, distinct empathic processes (Perspective taking, Empathic concern, Personal distress, Emotional contagion, and Behavioral contagion) have been often lumped together and the context dependency of the relationship has been insufficiently taken into account, resulting in confusion and contradictory findings. Compassion overcomes these issues. The present web-based survey with previous or current university students (age 18-45; N=240) aimed to clarify relationships between components of empathy, compassion, and altruism. It was hypothesized that (1) compassion would predict altruism beyond all components of empathy; (2) Empathic concern would mediate the relationship between Perspective taking and altruism; (3) compassion would mediate the relationship between Empathic concern and altruism, and (4) higher levels of compassion would result in a reduced negative relationship between Personal distress and altruism. The results supported all hypotheses except for the final one. These findings are discussed in context of previous research and theory, considering the current study limitations and with focus on theoretical and practical implications. In sum, the findings suggest that efforts to motivate altruism should focus on invoking positive emotions of warmth, concern, and relatability. Care should be taken to avoid unnecessary Personal distress when invoking altruism, as this reduces its likelihood.

This essay examines influencers’ framing of mental illness and how the framing could possibly affect the growing problem of mental illness among Swedish youth. Previous research concerning mental illness among youth, social media and social contagion is presented as a basic understanding of the problem at hand. Approximately 16 000 Instagram posts from Sweden’s most influential Instagram accounts were reviewed for content about mental illness. Posts containing descriptions of mental illness were extracted and analyzed using thematical analysis. The main finding from the thematical analysis was that influencers tended to use The Hero’s Journey dramaturgy in the framing of mental illness. The main conclusion made from the study was that influencer framing of mental health issues, consciously or unconsciously, tended to augment mental illness in a number of ways. The influencers seemed to have developed specializations in different forms of mental illness. The specialized influencer took upon him/herself the role of a mentor to followers experiencing symptoms of the same type of mental illness, leading them on for their own Hero’s Journey. Hence, the mechanisms of The Hero’s Journey were shown to, in themselves, have a tendency to increase the contagious effects of mental illness.

Emotional contagion is a primitive form of empathy that does not need higher psychological functions. Recent studies reported that emotional contagion exists not only between humans but also among various animal species. The dog (Canis familiaris) is a unique animal and the oldest domesticated species. Dogs have coexisted with humans for more than 30, 000 years and are woven into human society as partners bonding with humans. Dogs have acquired human-like communication skills and, likely as a result of the domestication process, the ability to read human emotions; therefore, it is feasible that there may be emotional contagion between human and dogs. However, the higher time-resolution of measurement of emotional contagion between them is yet to be conducted. We assessed the emotional reactions of dogs and humans by heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects emotion, under a psychological stress condition on the owners. The correlation coefficients of heart beat (R-R) intervals (RRI), the standard deviations of all RR intervals (SDNN), and the square root of the mean of the sum of the square of differences between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD) between dogs and owners were positively correlated with the duration of dog ownership. Dogs’ sex also influenced the correlation coefficients of the RRI, SDNN, and RMSSD in the control condition; female showed stronger values. These results suggest that emotional contagion from owner to dog can occur especially in females and the time sharing the same environment is the key factor in inducing the efficacy of emotional contagion.

This paper presents an embodied conversational agent frame-work as a controlled environment to test components of em-pathy. We implement levels of emotional contagion which in-cludes mimicry and affective matching along with necessarycommunicational capabilities. We further demonstrate an ex-amination of these foundational behaviors in isolation, to bet-ter understand the effect of each level on the perception of em-pathy in a social conversational scenario with a human actor.We report three studies where the agent shows levels of emo-tional contagion behavior during (1) the listening act in com-parison with baseline backchanneling behavior (2) additionalverbal response matching simple emotional storyline (3) theverbal response to the human actor performing complex emo-tional behaviors. Results revealed that both mimicry and affec-tive matching behaviors were perceived as more empathic thanthe baseline listening behavior, where the difference betweenthese behaviors was only significant when the agent verballyresponded to complex emotional behaviors.

The purpose of the present study is to examine when and how leaders’ emotional intelligence translates into particular work outcomes for followers, namely job satisfaction, turnover intention and organizational commitment. Specifically, the study aims to identify the mediating mechanism between leaders’ emotional intelligence and followers’ outcomes, and the boundary conditions associated with this relationship. Accordingly, this study examines “emotional contagion” as a moderator variable that influences leader affect and follower effect in order to measure the participants’ susceptibility to emotional contagion. Accordingly, if leaders can communicate positive affect to their followers, then the followers’ positive effect should result in more positive attributions of leadership and better organizational outcomes. The findings of the current study suggest that emotional intelligence plays a significant role in leaders’ success in the workplace: leaders’ emotional intelligence and affect at work relate to their subordinates’ work attitudes and behaviours. The study hypotheses are based on Affective Events Theory and emotional contagion theory, which provides an in-depth understanding of the role of leaders’ emotional intelligence in the Arab world, particularly in the UAE context. A quantitative methodology is used to test the hypotheses and to answer the research questions. The data are acquired from organizational leaders and their employees in various UAE government and public sector organizations. The study contributes to the literature on emotional intelligence and in the UAE context by testing the extent to which leaders’ emotional intelligence engenders negative and positive affect in followers, which subsequently impacts on followers’ work attitudes and behaviours.

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon that has attracted much interest in recent times. However, the main theory, mimicry theory, fails to properly address its many facets. In particular, we will focus on two shortcomings: the elicitation of emotional contagion is not context-independent, and there can be cases of emotional contagion without motor mimicry. We contend that a general theory of emotion elicitation (such as Scherer's Component Process Model of Emotion) is better suited to account for these features, because of its multi-level appraisal component. From this standpoint, emotional contagion is viewed as a particular kind of emotional response that involves the same components and processes of emotional responses in general.

Background The peri-traumatic stress response is a strong predictor of symptom development after trauma exposure. Regarding witnessing trauma, the stress response might depend on the susceptibility to others' emotions (emotional contagion, EC). This study investigated whether EC moderates the immediate stress response using a trauma film paradigm. Methods Ninety-five healthy participants were randomly exposed to a trauma or a neutral film. Perceived stressfulness of the film and pre-to post-film changes in self-reported anxiety, heart rate and saliva cortisol levels were assessed. EC towards negative and positive emotions was measured using the emotional contagion scale and its emotion-specific subscales. Results Overall, the trauma film was perceived as distressing and elicited an increase in self-reported anxiety, heart rate and saliva cortisol levels relative to the neutral film. EC towards negative emotions was positively related to the perceived stressfulness of the film, increased anxiety and increased heart rate. The association with saliva cortisol levels was also in the expected direction, but not statistically significant. These associations were not found for EC towards positive emotions. Discussion EC towards negative emotions may be an important predictor of trauma exposure outcomes. Further research should clarify its specific contribution in witnessing and undergoing trauma.

Stress can influence health throughout the lifespan, yet there is little agreement about what types and aspects of stress matter most for human health and disease. This is in part because "stress" is not a monolithic concept but rather, an emergent process that involves interactions between individual and environmental factors, historical and current events, allostatic states, and psychological and physiological reactivity. Many of these processes alone have been labeled as "stress." Stress science would be further advanced if researchers adopted a common conceptual model that incorporates epidemiological, affective, and psychophysiological perspectives, with more precise language for describing stress measures. We articulate an integrative working model, highlighting how stressor exposures across the life course influence habitual responding and stress reactivity, and how health behaviors interact with stress. We offer a Stress Typology articulating timescales for stress measurement - acute, event-based, daily, and chronic - and more precise language for dimensions of stress measurement.

Today’s organizations struggle to remain competitive within the contemporary turbulent business environment and are therefore demanded to develop and implement new working processes. Organizations, although striving for innovation, frequently fail to fully benefit from them due to implementation failures. An often-disregarded issue is the entanglement of emotions during this phase. Thus, this thesis aims to investigate how innovation implementation is related to emotions, addressing it towards the team’s working climate and leader’s emotional intelligence. For this purpose, we employ a conceptual research approach to build an integrated conceptual model that, by proposing hypotheses and propositions, may serve as a starting point for future empirical studies. With this model, we suggest that leaders with higher levels of emotional intelligence, by the mindful management of emotions, can consciously influence the emotional contagion process and therefore affect the team climate. By establishing a climate for innovation characterized by a team vision, participative safety, task orientation and support for innovation, emotionally intelligent leaders can thus positively influence innovation implementation. The thesis does thereby contribute to an understanding of the factors that affect innovation implementation within teams.

Stress can influence health throughout the lifespan, yet there is little agreement about what types and aspects of stress matter most for human health and disease. This is in part because "stress" is not a monolithic concept but rather, an emergent process that involves interactions between individual and environmental factors, historical and current events, allostatic states, and psychological and physiological reactivity. Many of these processes alone have been labeled as "stress." Stress science would be further advanced if researchers adopted a common conceptual model that incorporates epidemiological, affective, and psychophysiological perspectives, with more precise language for describing stress measures. We articulate an integrative working model, highlighting how stressor exposures across the life course influence habitual responding and stress reactivity, and how health behaviors interact with stress. We offer a Stress Typology articulating timescales for stress measurement - acute, event-based, daily, and chronic - and more precise language for dimensions of stress measurement.

Stress can influence health throughout the lifespan, yet there is little agreement about what types and aspects of stress matter most for human health and disease. This is in part because stress is not a monolithic concept but rather, an emergent process that involves interactions between individual and environmental factors, historical and current events, allostatic states, and psychological and physiological reactivity. Many of these processes alone have been labeled as stress. Stress science would be further advanced if researchers adopted a common conceptual model that incorporates epidemiological, affective, and psychophysiological perspectives, with more precise language for describing stress measures. We articulate an integrative working model, highlighting how stressor exposures across the life course influence habitual responding and stress reactivity, and how health behaviors interact with stress. We offer a Stress Typology articulating timescales for stress measurement - acute, event-based, daily, and chronic - and more precise language for dimensions of stress measurement.

Today’s organizations struggle to remain competitive within the contemporary turbulent business environment and are therefore demanded to develop and implement new working processes. Organizations, although striving for innovation, frequently fail to fully benefit from them due to implementation failures. An often-disregarded issue is the entanglement of emotions during this phase. Thus, this thesis aims to investigate how innovation implementation is related to emotions, addressing it towards the team’s working climate and leader’s emotional intelligence. For this purpose, we employ a conceptual research approach to build an integrated conceptual model that, by proposing hypotheses and propositions, may serve as a starting point for future empirical studies. With this model, we suggest that leaders with higher levels of emotional intelligence, by the mindful management of emotions, can consciously influence the emotional contagion process and therefore affect the team climate. By establishing a climate for innovation characterized by a team vision, participative safety, task orientation and support for innovation, emotionally intelligent leaders can thus positively influence innovation implementation. The thesis does thereby contribute to an understanding of the factors that affect innovation implementation within teams.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of employee-displayed smiling on customers' affective states (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) and satisfaction. Building on the stimulus-organism-response framework and theories of emotional contagion and feelings-as-information, the main hypothesis was that a smiling (vs non-smiling) employee significantly increases customer satisfaction through the mediating influence of pleasure. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a quasi-experimental two-group between-subjects design. A total of 210 customers at a large retail bank had a brief service encounter at the store entrance with a smiling (vs non-smiling) bank teller. Customers then went into the bank to do what they came to do. Before leaving the bank, customers completed a survey that included demographic information, affect (pleasure, arousal, and dominance), and measures of customer satisfaction. Findings - A smiling (vs non-smiling) employee had a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction. This effect was mediated by pleasure, but also, to a weaker extent, by dominance. These results contradict previous claims that smiling-induced emotional contagion does not remain throughout the completion of a service encounter. Practical implications - Managers should encourage, and potentially train, employees to act in ways associated with positive emotions. Managers could also hire employees based on how good they are at acting and expressing themselves in a genuinely positive manner and create a pleasant store atmosphere so that the feelings and behaviors displayed by frontline employees are genuine rather than inauthentic. Originality/value - This is the first experimental field study to examine the isolated effect that employee-displayed smiling has on customers' affective states and satisfaction. The results provide more direct evidence for the psychological processes justified by emotional contagion and feelings-as-information theori

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of employee-displayed smiling on customers' affective states (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) and satisfaction. Building on the stimulus-organism-response framework and theories of emotional contagion and feelings-as-information, the main hypothesis was that a smiling (vs non-smiling) employee significantly increases customer satisfaction through the mediating influence of pleasure. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a quasi-experimental two-group between-subjects design. A total of 210 customers at a large retail bank had a brief service encounter at the store entrance with a smiling (vs non-smiling) bank teller. Customers then went into the bank to do what they came to do. Before leaving the bank, customers completed a survey that included demographic information, affect (pleasure, arousal, and dominance), and measures of customer satisfaction. Findings - A smiling (vs non-smiling) employee had a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction. This effect was mediated by pleasure, but also, to a weaker extent, by dominance. These results contradict previous claims that smiling-induced emotional contagion does not remain throughout the completion of a service encounter. Practical implications - Managers should encourage, and potentially train, employees to act in ways associated with positive emotions. Managers could also hire employees based on how good they are at acting and expressing themselves in a genuinely positive manner and create a pleasant store atmosphere so that the feelings and behaviors displayed by frontline employees are genuine rather than inauthentic. Originality/value - This is the first experimental field study to examine the isolated effect that employee-displayed smiling has on customers' affective states and satisfaction. The results provide more direct evidence for the psychological processes justified by emotional contagion and feelings-as-information theori