ABSTRACT

This chapter aims to delineate the role of emotions and emotion regulation as a part of employees’ change responses. It examines why change can act as an affective event: what are the reasons for employees to respond emotionally to change. The chapter focuses on the concept and function of emotions, and how emotions relate to organizational change. It discusses J. J. Gross’ process model of emotion regulation, theoretical framework that might explain which strategies employees use during organizational change. Change appraisals can have important consequences for employees’ thoughts, feelings and behaviors toward the change. K. Van Dam found that employees’ efforts to positively reappraise the change situation related positively to challenge appraisals and positive emotions, and negatively to threat appraisals and negative emotions, which in turn predicted employees’ openness to the change. As emotion generation and emotion regulation are inextricably connected, organizations and researchers need to pay more attention to how employees regulate their emotions.