I Feel Your Pain
It is no secret at this point that emotions are contagious. Youth treatment staff could have told you that decades ago. This edition of Know Your Sheet features an article by then Yale professor Sigal Barsade that tells us that one person's emotional template can shift an entire group. Do you run groups at your facility? What Dr. Barsade’s research describes about negative contagion might help you redesign your staff retention programs.
The Article: The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and Its Influence on Group Behavior (2002)
Authors: Sigal G. Barsade
Publishing Journal: Administrative Science Quarterly
Research Agency/University: Yale University
Funding Source: None disclosed
In a Nutshell:
The emotional template of a group is the fulcrum between cooperation, and cohesion, or conflict, and low morale. The emotional template of a single person can affect the entire group. Individuals can infuse positive emotions into a group, which increases cooperation, and reduces conflict. Negative emotional contagion in a group escalates quickly; this can cause an entire group to feel angry, anxious, and dejected. Even if the verbal content is identical, the positive or negative valence of the emotional contagion remains the deciding element in whether a group can achieve a common task, and how they feel about the work they are doing and the people they are doing that work with.
A quote to keep:
“people are walking mood inductors continuously influencing the moods and then the judgments and behaviors of others.”
Why this Article Matters to you:
Staff who are able to generate healthy emotional contagion are better equipped to run safer, more therapeutic units.
Rehabilitation is more likely to take place in a milieu with good morale and cohesion.
Facilities that diligently foster healthy emotional contagion are more likely to experience less morale and cohesion problems, which affects turnover, burnout, and staff retention.
Generating healthy emotional contagion is the fulcrum between a smooth shift and chaos on a unit. Anyone in your facility that invites negative emotional contagion increases the likelihood of contention, behavioral sequences, and restraints, and can ultimately threaten the strength of a good facility.
Opportunities for Immediate Application:
Make sure anyone who runs groups is skilled at creating and sustaining healthy emotional contagion
Focus first on the template in the room and the group, then on the content being delivered
Address all instances of negative contagion, they can spread like wildfire in a facility