Group emotion

A group of people share a range of qualities and characteristics which signifies it from other groups. One facet of the group's entity is its emotional characteristics. Just as individuals have moods, emotions and dispositional affects, Groups posses similar attributes which influence aspects such as cohesiveness, performance and group members. These aspects, in their turn, also influence the group's emotional state.

What is group emotion
Group emotion might be looked upon in a top down or, "the group as a whole" perspective, meaning that an emotional entity is influencing factors such as the individual members' emotional state. However, a different perspective would look upon the issue in a bottom up or, "the group as a sum of its parts" angle, which would assume that the individuals' affective states combined make up for the emotional status of the group as a whole.

The "group as a whole" approach
This view sees the group's dynamic processes as responsible for an elusive feeling state which influences the members' feelings and behavior. This view, that groups have an existence as entities beyond the characters that comprise them, has several angles.

Group emotion as a powerful force that shapes individuals
One angle of this approach was depicted in early works such as Le Bon's and Freud's who reasoned that there is a general influence of a crowd or group which makes the members of the group "feel, think and act" differently then they would have as isolated individuals. The reassurance of belonging to a crowd makes people act more extremely. Also, the intense uniformity of feelings is overwhelming and causes people to be emotionally swept to join the group's atmosphere. Thus, the effect of the group causes emotions to be exaggerated.

Group emotion as norms imposing feelings and expression
Another aspect of the group as a whole perspective sees the normative forces a group has on its members' emotional behavior such as norms for the amount of feelings' expression and even which emotions it is best to feel. The group's norms control which emotions would (or at least should) be displayed at a specific situation according to the group's best interest and goals. The norms help differentiate felt emotions, what the individuals actually feel, from expressed emotions, what they display in the current situation. This perspective has practical implications as shown by researchers. Thus, according to this angle the group causes the emotions to be moderated and controlled.

Group emotion as the binding force of teams
Another perspective emphasizes the importance of emotional attraction in group settings. It defines group emotion as members' desire to be together, and finds that emotional ties are a type of glue which holds groups together and influences the group's cohesiveness and the commitment to the task. This perspective focuses on the positive emotions of liking the other group members and the task at hand.

Group emotion as an indicator for the group's developmental stage
This perspective of the group as a whole approach studies the dynamic development of the group, from its establishment to its disassembly. Along the course the group changes in its interrelationships and interdependence amongst its members. These changes are accompanied by emotional processes which shape the outcome of the group. For instance, the mid point in a group's development is characterized by anxiety and anticipation about the capacity of the team to complete its goals, which drives teams to restructure their interaction patterns following the midpoint. Should the group harness these feelings and overcome the crisis stronger, its chances of completing the group's goals are higher. In other cases, negative emotions towards members of the group or towards the task might jeopardize the group's existence. This perspective sees the temporal changes of the emotions that govern the group.

The "group as the sum of its parts" approach
Contrary to the former approach, this approach views group-level emotion as the sum of its individuals' affective compositions. These affective compositions are actually the emotional features each member brings with him to the group, such as: dispositional affect, mood, acute emotions, emotional intelligence, and sentiments (affective evaluations of the group). The team affective composition approach helps to understand the group emotion and its origins, and how these individual members' affective predisposition combine to become one common entity. For the purpose of combining these individual characteristics, one can embrace several viewpoints:

The mean emotions of the group's members
Research has shown that by averaging the members' dispositional affective tone it is possible to predict group-level behavior such as absenteeism and pro-social behavior. Also, when the average mood of employees was positive, it was positively related to the team's performance.

The degree of emotional variance, or homogeneity, within the group
Affective-homogenous groups are expected to behave differently than heterogeneous ones. The verdict is yet to be decided as to whether homogeneity is better than heterogeneity. In favor of affective homogeneity stand the notion that familiarity and similarity bring feelings of liking, comfort and positive emotions, and thus presumably better group outcomes and performances. It has long been found that people prefer to be in a group similar to them in many perspectives. A support for the positive effects of homogeneity can be found in a study that examined homogeneity in managers' Positive Affectivity (PA) and its influence on several aspects of performance such as satisfaction, cooperation and financial outcome of the organization. On the other hand, according to the view of opposites being beneficial, affective heterogeneity may lead to more emotional checks and balances which could then lead to better team performance. This was found to be true especially in groups where creativity is needed to complete the task appropriately. Homogeneity might lead to groupthink and hamper performance. It is necessary though for group members in heterogeneous groups to accept and allow one another to enact their different emotional roles.

The most emotionally extreme (minimum and maximum) members
Even if there is only one member in an otherwise averaged group which is extremely negative (or positive) in affect, that person might influence the affective state of the other members and cause the group to be much more negative (or positive) than would be expected from its mean-level dispositional affect. This mood shift might happen through emotional contagion, in which members are "infected" by others' emotions, as well as through other processes. It is important to take notice of these "emotional extremists" since one apple can spoil the whole barrel.

Combining the "group-as-a-whole" with the "sum-of-its-parts" approaches
The above approaches can be combined in a way that they maintain reciprocal relations. For instance, members bring dispositional affective states and norms for expressing them to the team. These components are then factors determining the creation of group norms, which may in turn alter the moods, feelings and their expression by the members. Thus, the top-down and bottom-up approaches coalesce along the dynamic formation and lifespan of teams.

How to empirically define the group's affective state
One study compared the reports of team members to reports of outside-observers. It showed that team affect and emotions were observable by and agreed upon by outsiders as well as by members of the team interacting face to face. So, it is possible to identify the group's affective tone by aggregating self-reports of members of the group, as well as by viewing the group from the outside and looking for emotional gestures, both verbal and nonverbal.

Shaping the mood of the group
Studies show that the leader of the team has an important part in determining the moods of his team's members. Such that members of a team with a leader in a negative affective state tend to be more negative themselves than members of teams with a leader in a positive mood. However, any member of the group might influence the other members' emotions. He may do so either by way of implicit, automatic, emotional contagion or by explicit, deliberate, emotional influence in order to promote his interests. Other factors that affect the forming of the group's emotional state are its emotional history, its norms for expressing feelings and the broader organizational norms regarding emotions.

Group emotion and its influence on performance
The emotional state of the group influences team processes and outcomes. For example, a group in a positive mood displays more coordination between members, yet sometimes the effort they apply is not as high as groups in a negative mood. Another role emotions play in group dynamics and performance is the relation between intra-group task-conflicts and relationship-conflicts. It is assumed that conflicts related to the task can be beneficial for achieving the goal, unless these task-conflicts lead to relationship-conflicts among the team members, in which case the performance is hindered. The traits that decouple task from relationship conflicts are emotional attributes such as emotional intelligence, intragroup relational ties, and norms for reducing or preventing negative emotionality. Hence aspects of group emotion have an impact on the outcome. Other findings are that an increase in positive mood will lead to greater cooperativeness and less group conflict. Also, positive mood results in elevated perceptions of task performance.

The evolutionary-psychological perspective on group emotion
According to the evolutionary psychology approach, group affect has a function of helping communication between members of the group. The emotional state of the group informs its members about factors in the environment. For instance, if every                                  one is in a bad mood it is necessary to change the conditions, or perhaps work harder to achieve the goal and improve the conditions. Also, shared affect in groups coordinates group activity through fostering group bonds and group loyalty.