Emotion, Motivation, and Performance

People sometimes express emotions in an attempt to increase others’ motivation and performance. Which emotions are conducive to motivation and performance and which emotions are not? We investigate the consequences of emotional expressions for motivation and performance across different settings. For instance, we study how leaders’ emotional expressions influence the motivation and performance of followers, how instructors’ emotional expressions shape students’ learning performance, and how emotional expressions of coaches and players influence motivation and performance in sports.

Sample publications:

Van Kleef, G. A., Homan, A. C., Beersma, B., & van Knippenberg, D. (2010). On angry leaders and agreeable followers: How leader emotion and follower personality shape motivation and team performance. Psychological Science, 21, 1827-1834.

Van Doorn, E. A., Van Kleef, G. A., & Van der Pligt, J. (2014). How instructors’ emotional expressions shape students’ learning performance: The roles of anger, happiness, and regulatory focus. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 980-984.

Van Kleef, G. A., Anastasopoulou, C., & Nijstad, B. A. (2010). Can expressions of anger enhance creativity? A test of the emotions as social information (EASI) model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 1042-1048.

Gabriel, A. S., Cheshin, A., Moran, C. M., & Van Kleef, G. A. (2015). Enhancing emotional performance and customer service through human resources practices: A systems perspective. Human Resource Management Review, 26, 14-24.

Cheshin, A., Heerdink, M. W., Kossakowski, J. J., & Van Kleef, G. A. (2016). Pitching emotions: The interpersonal effects of emotions in professional baseball. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(178), 1-13.

Van Kleef, G. A., Cheshin, A., Koning, L. F., & Wolf, S. (2019). Emotional games: How coaches’ emotional expressions shape players’ emotions, inferences, and team performance. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 41, 1-11.