Others' Anger Makes People Work Harder Not Smarter: The Effect of Observing Anger and Sarcasm on Creative and Analytic Thinking

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Miron-Spektor, Ella; Efrat-Treister, Dorit; Rafaeli, Anat; Schwarz-Cohen, Orit
• 署名单位: Bar Ilan University; Technion Israel Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0023593
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1065-1075
• 关键词: anger; sarcasm; cognitive complexity; creativity; prevention orientation

摘要

The authors examine whether and how observing anger influences thinking processes and problem-solving ability. In 3 studies, the authors show that participants who listened to an angry customer were more successful in solving analytic problems, but less successful in solving creative problems compared with participants who listened to an emotionally neutral customer. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors further show that observing anger communicated through sarcasm enhances complex thinking and solving of creative problems. Prevention orientation is argued to be the latent variable that mediated the effect of observing anger on complex thinking. The present findings help reconcile inconsistent findings in previous research, promote theory about the effects of observing anger and sarcasm, and contribute to understanding the effects of anger in the workplace.