Bill is in a bad mood. When he gets to work, he sits down at his desk in a huff. He doesn’t say hello to his colleagues and when one of them asks him a question, Bill snaps. Everyone is in a bad mood as a result of Bill’s bad mood. What phenomenon does this capture?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The scenario describes a chain reaction where Bill's bad mood influences others around him, spreading negative affect to coworkers. This suggests a social-psychology mechanism where emotions propagate from person to person.
Option 1: Emotional labour. This term refers to managing or faking emotions as part of a job role, such as a service worker keeping a pleasant appearance despite feelings. It does not explain mood spreading or contagion among colleagues, so this is not a fit here.
Option 2: Negative emotions. While the event involves negative emotions, this label is too generic and does not specify the process by which those emotions transfer between people. It describes the content rather than the mechanism, making it incomplete for the phenomenon in question.
Option 3: Emotional contagion. This is the idea that emotions can be contagious, spreading from one person to others through social cues, mimicry, and shared affect. The described effect—Bill’s mood influencing the mood and behavior of the entire group—aligns well with this concept, making it the most accurate choice.
Option 4: Emotional intelligence. This term refers to the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions in oneself and others. It would more likely help someone handle such a situation, not explain why the mood spreads. Therefore, it does not capture the phenomenon observed here.
Option 5: Activation. In psychology, activation can refer to arousal or readiness for action, but it is not specifically about the spread of emotions between people. It does not capture the contagion aspect evident in the scenario.

Bill is in a bad mood. When he gets to work, he sits down at his desk in a huff. He doesn’t say hello to his colleagues and when one of them asks him a question, Bill snaps. Everyone is in a bad mood as a result of Bill’s bad mood. What phenomenon does this capture?

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