How Organizational Approach Emotions Influence Sharing of Sensitive Information.

Superior organizational performance depends on employees sharing sensitive information--including sharing mistakes and seeking feedback for improvement. Much of the literature has focused on cognitive and social factors that influence knowledge sharing; we focus on perceived organizational emotions that influence sharing sensitive information at work. We explore, specifically, the effects of what we call positive organizational approach emotions--employees' perceived organizational hope, pride, and empathy--on registered nurses' actual behaviors in sharing mistakes with their peers and seeking feedback for improvement in a hospital. Our research advances the emotion-based perspectives of the behavioral strategy literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]