Self-Referential Emotion Regulatory Model of Work Design

Abstract

Work design has largely overlooked cognitive–emotional interactions in understanding employee motivation and satisfaction. My aim in this chapter is to develop a conceptual model that integrates what we know about these interactions from research on emotions and neuroscience with traditional and emergent work design perspectives. I propose that striving for universal goals influences how a person responds to the work characteristics, such that an event that is personally relevant or “self-referential” will elicit an emotional reaction that must be regulated for optimal performance, job satisfaction, and well-being. A Self-Referential Emotion Regulatory Model (SERM) of work design is presented.

Citation

Kiffin-Petersen, S. (2015), "Self-Referential Emotion Regulatory Model of Work Design", New Ways of Studying Emotions in Organizations (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 241-269. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120150000011010