Emotion dynamics, how people¿s emotions fluctuate across time, represent a key source of information about people¿s psychological functioning and well-being. A key component of emotional dynamics is represented by emotional inertia, which refers to the degree of which a current emotional state can be predicted by a previous emotional state. Despite considerable evidence to support that inertia represents a relevant marker of psychological maladjustment, its correlates at a physiological level are yet to be cleared. In addition, the few studies about emotional inertia in the workplace indicate that it is associated by work related stress (i.e., exhaustion). The aim of this project is to investigate inertia of negative emotions at work and its association to physiological activation in terms of heart rate. As previous studies suggest that high emotional inertia is related to several markers of psychological maladjustment such as neuroticism (Suls, Green, & Hillis, 1998), depression (Koval & Kuppens, 2012; Koval, Sütterlin, & Kuppens, 2015), low self-esteem (Kuppens et al., 2010) and rumination (Brose et al., 2015), we hypothesize that high inertia of negative emotions may be related to autonomic inflexibility (i.e., lower heart rate variability). Following experience sampling method, workers will (1) complete six brief questionnaires per day, for five working days, (2) wear a heart rate monitor for 24 consecutive hours. To our knowledge, this will be the first study addressing this research question in the workplace.
Emotional inertia is a relatively recent construct and it represents a form of psychological inflexibility, which is linked to several forms of psychopathology (Kashdan, 2010; Koval et al., 2012).
Empirical studies showed that high NE inertia is related to several indicators of maladjustment (Houben et al., 2015).
Interestingly, recent evidence suggests that emotional inertia is related to both current and future health. Indeed, higher levels of emotional inertia may increase the risk of depression (Kuppens et al., 2012; van de Leemput et al., 2014) and health problems (Wang et al., 2012).
All in all, previous studies seem to underline the importance of investigating the patterns of changes and fluctuations in individuals' emotional sates (Koval & Kuppens, 2012). However, given the novelty of the construct, studies on emotional inertia are quite scarce and they have generally involved samples of university students or young adolescents.
In two previous studies (De Longis et al., in press), we found moderate effects of (1) exhaustion in predicting NE inertia; (2) of NE inertia in moderating the association between negative emotions and counterproductive work behavior. Our results attested the relevance of emotional inertia in the work setting, suggesting that prolonged states of work-related stress are associated with a reduced ability to adapt emotional states to the occurrence and the nature of work events, which in turn may have an impact on organizational behavior.
As for HR, high tonic HRV has been associated with effective self-regulation as well as adaptive and flexible responses to meet various situational demands. While phasic HRV suppression is considered a physiological response to stress that represents the withdrawal of cardiac vagal control and the activation of the defensive systems (Ottaviani et al., 2016; Park, Vasey, Van Bavel, & Thayer, 2014; Thayer et al., 1996). In addition, lower prolonged heart rate variability has been associated with physiological problems, such as cardiovascular disease, systemic inflammation, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, arthritis, and renal dysfunction in initially healthy people (e.g., Hillebrand et al., 2013; Jarczok, Koenig, Mauss, Fischer, & Thayer, 2014; Jarczok, Li, Mauss, Fischer, & Thayer, 2013).
In line with our results and with literature on inertia and HRV, it seems reasonable that NE inertia at work may also be associated with autonomic inflexibility. Yet, we are not aware of
previous studies that have examined this association. To address the gap in the literature, this project aims at investigating the relation between NE inertia and HRV in the workplace.
This research project could make a number of important contributions. First, it may contribute to the understanding of emotional dynamics at work. Secondly, it may advance the literature by exploring for the first time the emergent construct of NE inertia in the work environment and its underlying physiological mechanisms (i.e., HRV).
In evaluating the innovative potential of this project, one should keep in mind that the assessment of HRV represents an innovative technique to explore the functioning of the
autonomic nervous system (ANS) at work. Higher HRV characterizes a healthy person with efficient autonomic mechanisms and good adaptation ability, while lower HRV is an indicator of abnormal and insufficient adaptation of the ANS (McMillan, 2002; Vanderlei et al., 2009).
Since reduced HRV has been found to be associated with harmful events in health (Pumprla, 2002), it is crucial to investigate it in the workplace.
To conclude, the main innovative aspects of this project concern:
- The use of electronic diaries at work while simultaneously recording physiological activity (24 hours recording duration);
- The use of an intensive experience sampling method at work (6 prompts per day during working hours, for five working days);
- The look at emotions at work as truly dynamics phenomena, by focusing on the principle of inertia of emotional states.