ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of emotions on identity. In organizational settings, displays of negative (e.g., anger or sadness) and positive (e.g., happiness or joy) emotions, whether authentic or feigned, can be counterproductive to both task and relational outcomes (e.g., Allred, Mallozzi, Matsui, & Raia, 1997; Côté, 2005; Hochschild, 1983; Pillutla & Murnighan, 1996). Strategic response to counterproductive emotional displays impact the responder’s experienced emotions and subsequent behavior (Kopelman, Gewurz, & Sacharin, 2008). We suggest that emotion management—strategic response and display of emotions—will not only lead to improved interdependent outcomes (Barry, 1999; Frank, 1988; Kopelman, Gewurz, & Sacharin, 2008; Kopelman, Rosette, & Thompson, 2006) but also will influence the social construction and reconstruction of interpersonal relational identities. Adopting a framework that conceptualizes identity as narrative (Gergen, 1991; McAdams, 1985; Omer & Strenger, 1992; Spence, 1982), a relational identity (Sluss & Ashforth, 2007) is a shared narrative that emerges from both parties’ self-narration of the social interaction (see Figure 12.1). When relational threats such as a counterproductive display of a positive or negative emotion are strategically managed, people in interdependent role relationships can cocreate, renarrate, and maintain positive relational identities.
