An Investigation into the Emotional Relationships Involved in Performance Dyads

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Performance dyads exist across a range of domains; including healthcare, emergency services, sport and the military. Within these performance domains, positive relationships are integral for success (Price & Weiss, 2010) and ineffective interactions can have serious consequences (Milliken, Morrison & Hewlin, 2003). Emotional considerations play a major role in the quality of these relationships, however, very little research has been dedicated to investigating the effect of emotions upon complex performance dyadic relationships. The importance of good emotional dynamics within performing groups has been widely presented (Lazarus, 2000), and emotional contagion, the transfer of mood and affect between individuals (Hatfield, Cacioppo & Rapson, 1994), is currently the most prominent theory used to explain the emotional transfer within these performing groups (Barsade, 2002). Despite this, emotional contagion and its associated factors are yet to be identified and examined within performance dyads. Throughout this research, methodologies including quantitative surveys, interviews and focus groups, and sensory system experimentation will be employed to examine factors that may affect the strength and direction of intra-performance dyad emotional transfer. The measured factors will include leadership characteristics, trait susceptibility to emotional contagion, within-dyad power relationships and dyad efficacy. Furthermore, due to the substantial crossover between emotions and sensory systems, the proposed work will also examine the influence that olfactory systems have upon the emotional contagion process, and endeavour to establish whether odour sensitivity is related to an individual's sensitivity to emotional contagion. All investigations will have applied performance implications and help to further our understanding of emotional phenomena within social groups.