Functional Approach to the Study of Emotions,

¶ … functional approach to the study of emotions, the current study by Larissa Z. Tiedens examines whether the expression of anger is related to the conference of social status. "Anger and Advancement vs. Sadness and Subjugation: The Effect of Negative Emotion Expressions on Social Status Conferral" incorporates the results of four separate research designs. Prior research in the area focuses on negative emotions for two main reasons: negative events encourage an active awareness of one's surroundings; and negative events may lead people to question the existing social hierarchies. The ways people deal with negative situations and the emotions they express in public largely determine their perceived competence and their social status. Past studies have also distinguished between different negative emotions as well as different ways of exercising power. There are two main ways of exercising power according to prior research: through coercion and intimidation or through legitimate and endorsed power. Power exercised through intimidation is relatively unstable, for the person in power is not highly respected and compliance is involuntary and fueled mainly by fear of retribution. ON the other hand, power conferred legitimately is stable because the individual in power is viewed with respect. All socially stratified groups require mechanism of status conferral, as the nature of hierarchy demands it. Therefore, Tiedens' research can apply to all types of social and organizational behaviors and results can be beneficial in helping political and business leaders to thrive.

The current study by Tiedens examines status conferral in two distinct situations: politics and business. The former relates to democratically elected conferred power and the second to voluntary promotional decisions within an organization. Expressions of anger are relevant to status conferral in both political and business arenas. Because past research points to a connection between anger expressions and social influence, Tiedens postulates similar results. Anger is related to social power because anger is naturally intimidating, anger can create the impression of strength, and anger can create compliance. However, anger must also correlate with respect if the individual is to maintain a position of social power.

The directional hypothesis in all four studies builds on the findings of past literature. Because anger affects the perception of social status, a target who expresses anger should appear more deserving of power than a target expressing sadness. Sadness was chosen as a corresponding negative emotion because unlike anger, sadness increases likeability, even if it does not necessarily lead to the conference of power. Therefore, a secondary hypothesis for the four studies included in this research questions whether people will confer power on people they like or on people they perceive as competent. If people prefer to confer power on people they like then they would be more likely to confer power on an individual expressing sadness rather than anger.

Tiedens performed four separate research projects. The first two study the differences in subjects' responses to anger vs. sadness in political figures. The second two study the differences in subjects' responses to anger vs. sadness in business situations involving promotions or hiring. Independent and dependent variables differed in each study but were related to facial expressions, voice intonations, and related behaviors. In the first study, "The effects of President Clinton's emotional expressions on support for impeachment," the independent variables were two videotaped clips of the President's grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky case. The dependent variables in the first study include subjects attitudes about Clinton's future: whether or not they felt Clinton deserved to remain in power or be impeached based on what they had seen in the video clips. Variables were measured using questionnaires.

In the second study, "The Emotional Expressions of an Unknown Political Candidate," an actor read the same script twice, once expressing sadness and once expressing anger. Therefore, as with the first study, the independent variables are the two emotional conditions. Similarly, the dependent variables measured in the second study were measures of participant's attitudes regarding the perceived competence of the "politician" they watched in the video clip. Again, the dependent variables were measured using questionnaires. For both the first and the second studies, subjects were college students. 54 students participated in the first study, and 76 participated in the second.

In the third study, "Negative Emotional Expressions and Career Promotion," the independent variables were the real-life emotional expression of the participants' colleagues. The participants were asked to evaluate these emotional expressions. The dependent variable in this case was status conferral: whether the participant would be willing to confer status on the target, and whether the target deserved a promotion. Both independent and dependent variables were measured using questionnaires. Subjects for this study were 24 employees at a software company.

The fourth study, "Negative Emotions in a Job Interview," the independent variables were the emotional expressions demonstrated by interviewees, as seen on videotape. Targets either expressed anger or sadness, as they did in the three previous studies. Participants were asked to watch the tapes and based on their observations, recommend certain candidates for hire. Dependent variables were measured using questionnaires. Subjects for this study were students in a required college level business course.

The first research designs had a low internal validity because the different tapes of President Clinton showed not only different emotional expressions but also different speeches altogether. The remaining three studies corrected for this by having the actors read exactly the same material. Results were measured and tabulated in a reliable fashion, as questionnaire answers were assigned numerical values. All of the studies deliver promising results in the study of status conferral and the perception of competence. Results of the studies have a practical implication in the working world and within the world of politics.