ABSTRACT
Both individual and collective affective experiences are important in this chapter. Individual affective experiences can influence motivation, cognition and performance; and also, because much of the work people do is carried out in groups and/or teams. Affect is defined as the feelings that give rise to people's experiences. Such feelings based on experiences, in turn, can influence cognition and motivation through efficacy beliefs. In addition, felt feelings (which are characterised as moods and emotions) can influence collective work activities and team climate.Many people who work in high-consequence environments enjoy the challenges and the complexities they face. A number of research studies have shown that positive affect can influence people's work activity such as their quality of problem solving, decision making and caution in dangerous situations. Yet, research shows that people working in high-consequence environments are also prone to negative affective experiences, which includes not having sufficient time to recover emotionally between critical incidents (Alexander and Klein) and psychological distress.
