Group affective tone represents the consistent or homogeneous affective reactions within a group.
[George, J. M. (1990). Personality, affect, and behavior in groups. ''Journal of Applied Psychology'', 75, 107–116.][George, J.M. (1996). Group affective tone. In M. A. West (Ed.), ''Handbook of work group psychology'' (pp. 77–93). Chichester, UK: Wiley.]
Group affective tone is an aggregate of the
moods of the individual members of the group and refers to mood at the group level of analysis. If the moods of the individual group members are consistent, then group affective tone can be treated as a group property. If, for example, members of a group tend to be excited, energetic and enthusiastic, then the group itself can be described as being excited, energetic and enthusiastic. If the group members tend to be distressed, mistrustful and nervous, then the group can also be described in these terms. Not all groups possess an affective tone; members of some groups do not experience similar moods. Even so, past research indicates that a majority of groups possess an affective tone.
[
Two dimensions of group affective tone have been identified: positive affective tone and negative affective tone.][ Research shows that the two dimensions of affect emerge as independent factors][Organ, D. W., & Near, J. P. (1985). Cognition vs affect in measures of job satisfaction. '']International Journal of Psychology
The ''International Journal of Psychology'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of psychology. It was established in 1966 by Paul Fraisse, and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International Union of Ps ...
'', 20, 241–253.[Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. ''Psychological Bulletin, 98, 219–235.] and display independent patterns of relationships with other variables.[Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: happy and unhappy people. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 38, 668–678.][Warr, P. B., Barter, J., & Brownbridge, G. (1983). On the independence of positive and negative affect. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 44, 644–651.][Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states. ''Psychological Bulletin'', 96, 465–490.]
Group members tend to experience similar moods based on several theoretical mechanisms, including the selection and composition of group members, the socialization
In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cul ...
of group members, and exposure of group members to the same affective events, such as task demands and outcomes.[Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. ''Research in Organizational Behavior'', 18, 1–74.]
Moods tend to be shared among group members through processes such as mood contagion[Neumann, R., & Strack, F. (2000). "Mood contagion": The automatic transfer of mood between persons. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 211–223.] and impression management.[Kelly, J. R., & Barsade, S. G. (2001). Moods and emotions in small groups and work groups. ''Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes'', 86, 99–130.] Group affective tone is associated with various organizational outcomes such as group prosocial behavior.[
George's (1990)][ demonstration that characteristic levels of the ]personality traits
In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, th ...
of PA and NA, within work groups, are positively associated with their corresponding (positive and negative) affective tones. Group affective tone is influenced by characteristic levels of personality traits
In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, th ...
within groups. These characteristic levels of personality have been theorized to be brought about by member similarity resulting from attraction-selection-attrition processes described by Schneider (1987).[Schneider B. 1987. The people make the place. Pers. Psychol. 40(3):437–53] Beyond personality, a number of other factors have been posited to explain why work group members tend to share moods and emotions,[Bartel CA, Saavedra R. 2000. The collective construction of work group moods. Administrative Science Qoeterly 45(2):197–231][George JM, Brief AP. 1992. Feeling good doing good: a conceptual analysis of the mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship. Psychological Bulletin. 112(2):310–29] for example: (a) common socialization
In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cul ...
experiences and common social influences;[Hackman JR. 1992. Group influences on individuals in organizations. In Handbook of I/O Psychology, ed. MD Dunnette, LM Hough, 3:199–267. Palo Alto, CA: Consult. Psychol. Press. 1095 pp.] (b) similarity of tasks and high task interdependence;[Gallupe RB, Bastionatti LM, Cooper WH. 1991. Unblocking brainstorms. J. Appl. Psychol. 76(1):137–42][Heath C, Jourden FJ. 1997. Illusion, disillusion, and the buffering effect of groups. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 69(2):103–16] (c) membership stability; (d) mood regulation norms and rules;[Sutton RI. 1991. Maintaining norms about expressed emotions: the case of bill collectors. Administrative Science Quarterly 36(2):245–68] and (e) emotional contagion
Emotional contagion is a form of social contagion that involves the spontaneous spread of emotions and related behaviors. Such emotional convergence can happen from one person to another, or in a larger group. Emotions can be shared across individ ...
.[Pugh, S. Douglas (2001). Service with a Smile: Emotional Contagion in the Service Encounter. Academy of Management Journal, 44 (5), 1018-27.]
George believes that a group's affective tone will determine how innovative
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...
(and effective) the group will be. An evidence to this belief is that when individuals feel positive they tend to connect and integrate divergent stimulus materials—they are more creative.[Cummings, A. (1998). Contextual characteristics and employee creativity: Affect at work. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Conference, Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology. Dallas, USA, April.][Isen, A.M., & Daubman, K.A. (1984). The influence of affect on categorization. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 47, 1206–1217.][Isen, A.M., Daubman, K.A., & Nowicki, G.P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 52, 1122–1131.]
George suggests that if all or most individuals in a work group tend to feel positive at work (the group has a "high positive affective tone"), then their cognitive flexibility will be amplified as a result of social influence and other group processes. As a result of these individual and group level processes, the group will develop shared (and flexible) mental models. In effect, groups with a high positive affective tone will be creative.
Analyses suggested that positive group affective tone fully mediated, and negative group affective tone partially mediated, the association between leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
mood and group coordination. Successful leaders must efficiently regulate the affective tones of their groups. Leaders who are effective at managing the group's affective tone should have more impact on group processes than will their counterparts.
References
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Emotion
Group processes