Emotions as Data: The Interpersonal Effects of Emotions in Organizations

ABSTRACT

Emotions function as critical data with profound interpersonal consequences in organizational life. This talk presents a research program examining how emotional expressions and emotion-regulation mechanisms shape cognition, judgment, and behavior across service encounters, digital platforms, and leadership contexts. Using multimethod data — including self-reports, peer reports, and behavioral measures — this work identifies how emotional cues influence key organizational decisions such as product evaluation and use, candidate selection, and leadership endorsements. I will highlight findings showing how emotional intensity and authenticity shape perceptions of trust and performance, as well as ongoing work on digital emotional labor in hybrid human–technology environments. The talk also introduces current research on extrinsic affect regulation, demonstrating how individuals’ ability to influence others’ emotions predicts leadership emergence in high-stakes selection settings. This stream of research contributes to the current literature by bridging behavioral science with data-driven approaches, highlighting the role of emotions as valuable data offering and a framework for understanding how emotional dynamics within hybrid human-digital ecosystems impact the future of organizational life.