Understanding emotion and emotionality in a process of change
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 1 October 2001
Abstract
Aspects of the psychodynamics of organisation change are explored and in particular how emotion and emotionality should be conceived. A case is made to go beyond the dichotomous world of “rational” versus “emotional” and develop a greater appreciation of how the rational and the emotional can be “fused” or act in a co‐existent and co‐dependent fashion where one cannot be understood in the absence of the other. Read through the optic of identity, acts of so called rationality may simply be an expression of a deeper, albeit unconscious realm – psychodynamics in which emotion and emotionality are significant. It is through the optic of identity that the individual’s attachment to the organisation is described and the meaning of behaviour in the midst of change is canvassed. It is noted that, depending upon the degree of identification with the organisation, one encounters behaviours that reflect dislodgement of identity and those more commonly associated with the processes of grieving. Some tentative strategies are advanced in managing these behaviours.
Keywords
Citation
Carr, A. (2001), "Understanding emotion and emotionality in a process of change", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 421-436. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005873
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited