Your bad mood can be a reflection of your co-workers

Have you ever experienced the desire to yawn as you observed someone else yawning?

Has someone else’s laughter provoked your own desire to laugh aloud?

Effective communicators often capitalize on their ability to create a certain mood. They suggest certain emotions to their audience by displaying the emotion themselves.

Crowds can be “led” to feel angry, enthusiastic, forgiving, charitable, or even saddened by suggestions given to them by the body language of the speaker.

Mood contagion, the spread of emotions from one person to another, often occurs very subtly through mechanisms below the level of consciousness. Its effect are very important in many situations in life, such as within a family, in a business or simply between two individuals.

If management and supervisory level personnel display genuine enthusiasm and optimism, others within the organization are most likely to think and feel the same way. Leaders who frequently display pessimism and a negative outlook often reap what they sow.
Research has also shown that individuals in conversation often quickly match each other’s facial expressions and other elements of body language and posture. Lacking feedback, such as with a mirror or a video camera, we are often unaware of the body language that we emit. If we are willing to receive verbal feedback from someone, we can increase awareness of our own behavioral and emotional messages.

In families, a chronically unhappy parent creates a mood often mirrored by the child or children. This parent’s unhappy outlook becomes the child’s outlook on life and the cycle may often repeat itself from one generation to the next.

In certain work settings, like those of the helping professions, the caregiver is frequently exposed to situations involving tragedy, depression, or intense stress. In these situations, over time, the mood and emotions of those being cared for is often transferred to the caregiver. Occupations where high empathy is required often produce difficulties for the person giving the help. In order to reduce the risk of burnout, it is necessary for the caregiver to remain sensitive and empathetic without letting the troubled person’s mood and emotions become his or her own.

The next time you find yourself in a bad mood, investigate the possibility that you are a reflection of the mood of someone that you are living with, working for or giving care to.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 2002