Is it OK to Cry at Work?

Managing emotions in the workplace Managing emotions in the workplace is a challenge for many organizations. Emotions are not measurable, and cannot easily be predicted, and this can be difficult for management. Emotional outbursts are still often seen a sign of weakness or as an indication of irrational thought or behavior (Robbins, 2015, p. 95). Emotions are not easy to regulate, although emotional regulation as part of the study of emotional intelligence is being studied (Robbins, 2015, p. 107). The ability to control emotions may be a “strong predictor of job performance” (Robbins, 2015, p. 107).
The show of emotion is inherent in each of us, and individuals can show very different emotional response to the same stimuli, so response to the same event can be very different, based on the individual’s current mood and others factors. Many people can become very good at masking emotions, and in fact in some jobs it might be very important to achieve a high level of emotional dissonance, however this disparity between what we are feeling and what we are displaying can be counterproductive. In fact, in one study it was determined that “individuals with highly developed self-monitoring capabilities are more negatively affected by emotional dissonance” (Abraham, 1999, p. 451).
Another factor that may come into play in attempting to manage emotion in the workplace is gender differences. It is commonly believed that in the US men are taught from a young age to mask emotional response, but women are not discouraged from exhibiting emotion. In the workplace this disparity can create a divide, and the strong show of emotion then becomes a women’s issue. In a study reported in Science in 2011 done at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, it was determined that “sniffing negative-emotion–related odorless tears