How Do We Manage Undesirable Emotions in Groups and Teams?

Abstract: When people interact in groups, emotions often intensify, creating collective emotions that significantly influence group well-being and functioning. Sometimes collective emotions can be undesirable or disruptive for team processes. Regulating these undesirable collective emotions is crucial yet understudied at the group level. This symposium seeks to uncover critical factors and processes that shape the effectiveness of managing undesirable emotions in groups. Using experimental and field methods across diverse contexts, the papers investigate (1) predictors of group emotion regulation capabilities, including collective emotional intelligence and group compositions in emotion regulation difficulty; (2) processes including emotion regulation contagion, the spread of regulation strategies in groups, and emotional culture crafting, where teams collaboratively shape their emotional climate; and (3) the interplay between emotion goals and regulation strategy in collective emotion regulation. These studies offer insights into how groups manage undesirable emotions effectively and provide a base for research and practice in this emerging field.

Keywords: Group Processes, Emotion Regulation, Collective Emotions, Group Conflicts