The Ripple Effect: Emotional Contagion and its Influence on Group Behavior
Sigal Barsade ran a laboratory study of managerial decision making to see how moods spread through a work group. A trained confederate displayed different moods in a two-by-two design, and both outside coders and participants' own reports showed that the moods spread to the group. A positive mood improved cooperation, reduced conflict and raised perceived task performance. The pleasantness and the energy of the displayed mood did not produce the differences in spread that were predicted.
Sigal Barsade ran a laboratory study of managerial decision making to see how moods spread through a work group. A trained confederate displayed different moods in a two-by-two design, and both outside coders and participants' own reports showed that the moods spread to the group. A positive mood improved cooperation, reduced conflict and raised perceived task performance. The pleasantness and the energy of the displayed mood did not produce the differences in spread that were predicted.
Written from the crossref abstract record, read 2026-10-23.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), 644-675. doi:10.2307/3094912. Read at the level of the abstract.