طراحی الگوی عاملیت هیجانی در محیط کار: پژوهشی کیفی با رویکرد نظریه داده‌بنیاد

صالح سیاوشی زنگیانی; امیر رحیم پور; حامد خراسانی طرقی

Authors

Saleh Siavoshi Zangiani Department of Management, Boj.C., Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1912-2513
Amir Rahimpour Department of Management, Boj.C., Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9685-7863
Hamed Khorasani Toroghi Department of Management, Boj.C., Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7077-8982

Keywords:

Grounded theory approach, Agency, Emotion, Emotional Agency, Workplace

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to develop and explain a comprehensive model of emotional agency in the workplace by identifying its causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening factors, strategies, and consequences among employees and managers of municipalities in Golestan Province.

Methods and Materials: This applied-developmental study employed a qualitative grounded theory design. The study population consisted of employees and managers working in municipalities of Golestan Province. Seventeen participants were selected through purposive and convenience sampling, with recruitment continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. Credibility was enhanced through prolonged engagement and member checking, while coding reliability was assessed using inter-coder agreement. The inter-coder agreement coefficient was 0.84, indicating adequate reliability of the qualitative analysis.

Findings: Analysis yielded 203 open codes and resulted in a paradigmatic model of emotional agency. The causal conditions comprised understanding the causes and sources of emotions, the ability to express emotions, emotional meaning-making of experiences, emotional learning, and development of internal emotional-control capacities. Contextual conditions included shared emotional beliefs and values, norms governing emotion management and expression, professional identity, and psychological safety. Empathy enhancement, development of collaboration, and emotional leadership emerged as intervening factors. The principal strategies comprised emotional self-regulation, emotional flexibility, reframing emotional situations, managing negative thoughts, and strengthening positive emotions. The identified consequences included goal-directed action, emotional innovation, development of professional capabilities, personal growth and transformation, and continuous learning and development of emotional competencies.

Conclusion: Emotional agency in the workplace is a multidimensional, contextual, and relational phenomenon emerging from the interaction between individual emotional capacities and organizational-social conditions. Strengthening emotional regulation, psychological safety, empathy, collaboration, and emotional leadership can facilitate purposeful action, professional development, emotional innovation, and continuous growth of employees’ emotional competencies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abrahamsen, V. W., Haver, A., & Akerjordet, K. (2026). Navigating emotional demands: a qualitative study of emotion regulation among physiotherapists managing private practice clinics. Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, 4, 1815272. https://doi.org/10.3389/forgp.2026.1815272

Ashkanasy, N. M., & Dorris, A. D. (2017). Emotions in the workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 67-90. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113231

Benesch, S. (2018). Emotions as agency: Feeling rules, emotion labor, and English language teachers' decision-making. System, 79, 60-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.015

Day, C. (2018). Professional Identity Matters: Agency, Emotions, and Resilience. In P. Schutz, J. Hong, & D. Cross Francis (Eds.), Research on Teacher Identity. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_6

Fink, G., & Yolles, M. (2015). Collective emotion regulation in an organisation-a plural agency with cognition and affect. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(5), 832-871. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-09-2014-0179

Gustafsson, S., & Kärreman, D. (2024). Emotions careers: The interplay between careers and emotions in professional organisations. Human Resource Management Journal, 34(4), 904-920. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12536

Hajeb, N. (2022). Investigating the effect of emotional labor on employees' mental health: A study of government offices in Bushehr Province [Master's thesis in Human Resource Management, Kherad Institute of Higher Education, Bushehr].

Han, X. (2024). A Career Human Agency Theory Perspective of Emotion Regulation in the Workplace [Doctoral dissertation,

Hökkä, P., Vähäsantanen, K., & Ikävalko, H. (2023). An integrative approach to emotional agency at work. Vocations and Learning, 16(1), 23-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-022-09299-3

Hökkä, P. K., Räikkönen, E., Ikävalko, H., Paloniemi, S., & Vähäsantanen, K. (2022). Emotional agency at work: the development and validation of a measure. Frontiers in Education, 7, 852598. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.852598

Kroon, D. P., Klein, J., & Klok, Y. (2026). The Role of Emotions During Organizational Change: A Review and Research Agenda. Journal of Change Management, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2026.2617665

Madani, M. (2023). Emotional self-regulation and the predictive power of agency and autonomy among Iranian teachers of English as a foreign language [Master's thesis in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Khatam University, Faculty of Humanities].

Mehler, M., Balint, E., Gralla, M., Pößnecker, T., Gast, M., Hölzer, M., & Gündel, H. (2024). Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis. BMC psychology, 12(1), 718. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02198-3

Mohannad Razzaq, H., Farhadi, H., Mayeh Mazi, A., & Mahdad, A. (2025). The mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship of social competence and perceived social support with employees' quality of working life. Cognition, Behavior, Learning, 2(3), 45-59.

Ngo, N. Q. N., & Phung, Q. H. (2025). The Effects of Organizational Emotions on Corporate Innovation: US Evidence (SSRN, Issue.

Vanhanen, S., Turjanmaa, E., & Kähäri, O. (2026). Emotions and emotional agency at work: the perspective of trust. Vocations and Learning, 19(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-025-09380-7

Zaidi, Z. (2025). Primal Leadership in Healthcare: A Phenomenological Study of Emergency Medicine Physicians and Their Perspective on Effective Leadership [Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts Global].

Zietsma, C., Toubiana, M., Voronov, M., & Roberts, A. (2019). Emotions in Organization Theory. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108628051