An Integrative Approach to Emotional Agency at Work

The concept of agency has recently emerged as a fruitful construct in understanding organizational practices and development. However, agency has tended so far to be seen as a rational and goal-oriented phenomenon, with little attention paid to the role of emotions within it. There is thus a need fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vocations and Learning 2023-04, Vol.16 (1), p.23-46
Main Authors: Hökkä, Päivi, Vähäsantanen, Katja, Ikävalko, Heini
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Emotional Experience
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Response
Emotions
Interpersonal Relationship
Learning and Instruction
Organizational Climate
Original Paper
Personal Autonomy
Professional and Vocational Education
Work Environment
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Summary:The concept of agency has recently emerged as a fruitful construct in understanding organizational practices and development. However, agency has tended so far to be seen as a rational and goal-oriented phenomenon, with little attention paid to the role of emotions within it. There is thus a need for theoretical discussion on both agency and emotions in organizations, and also on how the two phenomena are related. This paper aims to introduce an elaborated conceptualization of emotional agency at work, based on recent theories on professional agency and emotions in organizational contexts. We suggest that emotional agency can be understood as the competence to perceive, understand, and take into account one’s own emotions and those of others, and further to influence emotions within organizational practices, actions, and interactions. Our paper provides an integrative definition of emotional agency at work (EAW), usable in future research. It also elaborates how emotional agency may function within organizations and their development practices.
ISSN:1874-785X
1874-7868
DOI:10.1007/s12186-022-09299-3