Predictors of emotional contagion at work in France

This research addresses the gap in understanding how various factors influence the spread of emotions in workplace settings, with a specific emphasis on the distinct cultural context of French organizations. Questionnaire data were gathered from a large sample of French permanent employees in France and used vignettes of personal and professional events. Participants were asked to reflect on specific colleagues and rate their emotional responses to various scenarios. Multiple regression analyses assessed the predictors of emotional contagion – such as familiarity, susceptibility, empathy, group climate, communication frequency, and similarity – with emotional contagion measured by respondents’ happiness and sadness in response to the scenarios.Emotional contagion was found to occur twice as much in personal events compared to professional events. Moreover, familiarity emerged as the strongest predictor across all scenarios, highlighting the importance of close interpersonal relationships in emotional contagion. Contrary to expectations, communication frequency and empathy did not consistently predict emotional contagion. The findings underscore the importance of fostering strong interpersonal relationships and supportive organizational environments to enhance emotional well-being and productivity. This could be achieved by French companies through team-building activities and creating supportive work environments.