PSY369e: We hide Emotions in an Attempt to stay in Control, look Strong, and keep Things at arm’s Length: Emotion Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Question 1

Good Leaders Get Emotional

We hide emotions in an attempt to stay in control, look strong, and keep things at arm’s length. But in reality, doing so diminishes our control and weakens our capacity to lead because it hamstrings us. We end up not saying what we mean or meaning what we say. We beat around the bush. And that never connects, compels, or communicates powerfully.

Yes, being too emotional in business can create problems. It clouds objective analysis, screws up negotiations, and leads to rash decisions. But in nearly two decades of working with leaders, I’ve found that showing too much emotion is far less of a problem than the opposite — showing too little.

Emotions are critical to everything a leader must do: build trust, strengthen relationships, set a vision, focus energy, get people moving, make trade-offs, make tough decisions, and learn from failure. Without genuine emotion, these things always fall flat and stall. You need emotion on the front end to inform prioritization. You need it on the back end to motivate and inspire.

a) This article assumes that a leader can learn how to be emotional at the workplace. Judge if emotional intelligence can be learned.

b) Evaluate how the Somatic Marker Hypothesis can or cannot explain how CEOs use emotions to guide their decisions to lay off their employees owing to financial struggles.

c) Although emotions are important to leaders at the workplace, it is also equally important for leaders to manage their emotions. Propose how a leader can regulate his or her negative emotions effectively at the workplace using the Process Model of Emotion Regulation.

Question 2

Frisson is a sensation of overwhelming emotional response that results in goosebumps. Recently, researchers have discovered that people who experience frisson when listening to their favourite music have denser fibres that connect the sensory processing areas in the superior temporal gyrus to the emotional and social processing areas in the insular and medial
prefrontal cortex (Sachs, Ellis, Schlaug, & Loui, 2016).

a) Examine the roles of the insular cortex and prefrontal cortex in emotions and how it could play a part in the experience of frisson when listening to a person’s favorite music.

b) Demonstrate your understanding of the three basic theories of emotion by explaining how music evokes emotions.

Question 3

The use of emoticons such as =) and emojis such as to communicate is omnipresent in our virtual social interactions. Compare personality and cultural differences in the use of emoticons and emojis. Based on your answer, describe the person who would more likely use emoticons and emojis in virtual social interactions.