Negative affect (e.g., mood) is generally assumed to be toxic to both employees and organizations. Research also indicates that the majority of negative emotions employees experience at work are evoked from interpersonal mistreatment from supervisors (e.g., Hershcovis & Barling, 2010). Despite how negative emotions are highly central to this phenomenon, extant studies to date have taken a broad and over simplified approach (e.g., PA/NA) to understanding how negative emotions influence the workplace. In this dissertation, I draw on appraisal theory to examine the behavioral implications of discrete negative emotions of fear and anger. By doing so, I provide a more fine-grained investigation of when employees experience fear versus anger, and how each emotion can lead to a wide range of organizational outcomes that are both positive and negative. Further, as individuals make inferences based on the emotional cues from those around them, I also hypothesize the influences of a collective emotional orientation, collective fear and anger. A multi-source field sample is utilized to test my hypotheses.--Abstract.
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