Do Employees’ Emotions Contaminate Organisations? The Relationship between Emotional Contagion and Organisational Identification

Abstract

This article presents empirical research that aimed to determine the direction and strength of the relationships between emotional contagion and organisational identification. Our study examined the effect of aviation sector employees’ emotional contagion levels on organisational identification and the moderating role of career characteristics, such as age differences and seniority, in this effect. Data collected from 296 aviation employees were analyzed using SPSS 25 and SPSS Process Macro programs for determining moderating effects. The findings revealed that emotional contagion has a positive and significant effect on organisational identification. It has been determined that individuals’ age and seniority differences have a moderating role in the effect of emotional contagion on organisational identification. The fact that the scope of the research is a single sector and organisation hinders the findings’ generalizability. Additionally, the cross-sectional design limits the ability to explain the cause-and-effect relationships between psychological factors. The results proved that positive emotions affect individuals faster than negative emotions and are more effective on OI. Hence, the establishment of an organisational climate dominated by feelings of love and happiness and devoid of feelings of fear and anger is recommended for managers seeking to foster OI. By revealing the implicit relationships among the concepts with empirical evidence, we aim to fill a significant gap, particularly with respect to organisational psychology, and to represent new insights to scholars and practitioners.