Research Details

Abstract

Do cultural differences in emotion play a role in employment settings? We predicted that cultural differences in ideal affect—the states that people value and ideally want to feel—are reflected in: (1) how individuals present themselves when applying for a job, and (2) what individuals look for when hiring someone for a job. In Studies 1-2 (NS1 = 236, NS2 = 176), European Americans wanted to convey high arousal positive states (HAP; excitement) more and low arousal positive states (LAP; calm) less than did Hong Kong Chinese when applying for a job. European Americans also used more HAP words in their applications and showed more “high intensity” smiles in their video introductions than did Hong Kong Chinese. In Study 3 (N = 185), European American working adults rated their ideal job applicant as being more HAP and less LAP than did Hong Kong Chinese, and in Study 4a (N = 125), European American MBAs were more likely to hire excited (vs. calm) applicants for a hypothetical internship than were Hong Kong Chinese MBAs. Finally, in Study 4b (N = 300), employees in a U.S. company were more likely to hire excited (vs. calm) applicants for a hypothetical internship. In Studies 1-4a, differences were related to European Americans valuing HAP more than Hong Kong Chinese. These findings support our predictions that culture and ideal affect shape behavior in employment settings, and have important implications for promoting cultural diversity related to emotion in the workplace.

Type

Article

Author(s)

Lucy Bencharit, Yuen Wan Ho, Helene Fung, Dannii Yueng, Nicole Stephens, Rainer Romero-Canyas, Jeanne Tsai

Date Published

2019

Citations

Bencharit, Lucy, Yuen Wan Ho, Helene Fung, Dannii Yueng, Nicole Stephens, Rainer Romero-Canyas, and Jeanne Tsai. 2019. Should job applicants be excited or calm?: The role of culture and ideal affect in employment settings. Emotion.: 377-401.