MGMT2100 Chap.11 Visual Communication and Emotions at Work
Visual Communication and Emotions at Work
Week 9 pairs two kinds of communication that work below the level of words. The visual half covers categorical and continuous data, which chart suits which purpose, the five errors in graphical construction and the lecture's fixes, including small multiples and uniform scales.
The emotions half explains the myth of rationality, emotions as noise, display rules and what shapes them, research on anger toward co-workers, supervisors and customers, emotional labour and dissonance, surface and deep acting, emotion regulation, emotional intelligence, emotions as social information, the SCREAM check before expressing anger, crying and emotional contagion at work.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Categorical and continuous data
- 02
Bar, pie, line and histogram choices
- 03
Five errors in graphical construction
- 04
Display rules and what shapes them
- 05
Emotional labour, surface acting and deep acting
- 06
Emotional intelligence and emotions as information
- 07
SCREAM, crying and emotional contagion
Worked example · free
Measure how a truncated axis exaggerates growth
- 2Real growth = (103 - 96) / 96 = 7 / 96, about 7.3%.
- 2On the axis starting at 94, bar heights are 96 - 94 = 2 and 103 - 94 = 9, so the last bar looks 9 / 2 = 4.5 times taller.
- 1The error is misrepresentation of data: the picture suggests the series more than quadrupled when it grew by about 7%.
Key terms
- Categorical data
- Data sorted into separate groups that do not overlap, for example grades or yes and no answers.
- Small multiples
- A set of simple charts with identical axes that can each be read alone and compared together.
- Display rules
- Norms setting out which emotions are appropriate to show, and which to hide, in a given situation.
- Emotional dissonance
- Projecting one emotion while feeling another, which can lead to burnout if unmanaged.
- Deep acting
- Trying to modify one's true feelings to match display rules.
- Emotional contagion
- Emotions passing from one person to another.
- Emotional intelligence
- The ability to recognise and understand emotions in yourself and others and to manage emotional cues.
Visual Communication and Emotions at Work FAQ
Which chart should I use for which purpose?
Use a bar graph to compare categorical values, a pie chart to show the proportions of one set of data, a line graph to show trends over time, and a histogram to show how cases fall within defined intervals. Choose the chart from the question the reader needs answered.
What is the difference between surface acting and deep acting?
Surface acting hides inner feelings and suppresses expression to meet display rules, so the gap between felt and displayed emotion remains. Deep acting tries to change the felt emotion itself, for example by reappraising the situation, which narrows that gap and its strain.
What does SCREAM stand for?
It is a check before expressing anger: self, how important the matter is to you; context, whether the time and place are right; receiver, whether this is the right person; effect, what you want to achieve; aftermath, the long-term repercussions; and message, what to say and how.
How can a cluttered chart be fixed?
Do not try to show everything on one graphic. Split it into small multiples with the same axes, keep time scales uniform, take care with very small categories, decide what matters and highlight it, and label everything in full. Several simple graphs communicate more than one crowded graph.
Exam move
For visual communication, collect three charts from news or company reports and audit each against the five errors, then redraw one on paper with the lecture's fixes. Learn the four chart types with the data each suits. For emotions, learn the vocabulary as a chain: display rules create a required display, the gap from felt emotion is dissonance, and surface or deep acting manages it. Memorise SCREAM in order.
In a case, look for a character who must show one emotion while feeling another, or whose displayed anger shapes others' reactions, and analyse it with these terms before recommending a regulation strategy.
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