Faculty Publications

Workplace Emotion and Communication: Supervisor Nonverbal Immediacy, Employee’s Emotional Experience, and Their Communication Motives

Document Type

Article

Keywords

communication motives, emotion in the workplace, emotional response theory, nonverbal immediacy, supervisor–subordinate relationship

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Management Communication Quarterly

Volume

31

Issue

1

First Page

69

Last Page

87

Abstract

Guided by emotional response theory (ERT) and Mehrabian’s theory of nonverbal behavior, the current study examined links between supervisor nonverbal immediacy (NI), employee emotion experience, and employee motives for communicating with a supervisor. Analyses of data collected from 608 participants indicated that supervisor NI significantly predicts subordinates’ emotional experience, including emotion work and perceived emotional support. Subordinates are motivated to attain relationally oriented needs from their supervisor, rather than personal influence needs, through their satisfactory emotion experiences in the workplace. Theoretical contributions and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

2-1-2017

DOI of published version

10.1177/0893318916650519

Link to Full Text

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