Does expressing genuine emotions foster engagement? A within-person longitudinal study

Purpose Research linking authenticity to work engagement has largely focused on global perceptions, leaving specific behaviours through which authenticity is enacted at work less examined. This study examines whether authentic emotional expression – expressing felt emotions rather than masking or fabricating them – prospectively predicts work engagement, and whether engagement reciprocally predicts authentic emotional expression. Design/methodology/approach We used a three-wave monthly panel of 1,033 Turkish white-collar employees and analysed the data with a multiple-indicator random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), which separates stable between-person differences from occasion-specific within-person deviations. Findings Higher-than-usual month-level appraisals of authentic emotional expression predicted higher-than-usual work engagement one month later. The reverse within-person pathway from engagement to subsequent authentic emotional expression was not supported. At the between-person level, the random intercepts were positively associated, indicating that employees who typically express genuine emotions also tend to report higher engagement. Practical implications Human Rersource practitioners may review whether workplace display rules and professionalism norms create unnecessary pressures for chronic emotional masking, train managers to respond constructively to appropriate genuine expression, and avoid compulsory emotional disclosure. Originality/value By focusing on a concrete authenticity-relevant behaviour and using an RI-CLPM to separate within-person deviations from stable between-person differences, this study provides temporally specific evidence that higher-than-usual authentic emotional expression can precede higher engagement over successive monthly periods.