A Career Human Agency Theory Perspective of Emotion Regulation in the Workplace

Abstract

Emotion is an integral aspect of our personal and professional lives. Individuals engage in emotion regulation when they encounter emotional events in professional settings to maintain a level of professionalism and meet workplace norms and expectations. The framework of Career Human Agency Theory (CHAT) proposed by Charles P. Chen recognizes that individuals exercise agency through intention formation, goal setting, action and behaviour monitoring, and outcome reflection. This study positioned emotion regulation within CHAT, aiming to examine the underlying intentions driving individuals’ engagement in emotion regulation, recognize their goals and expected outcomes associated with the practice of emotion regulation, understand their reactions when encountering emotional workplace events, and explore the influence of such events on their self-perception and anticipation of future events. Using a phenomenological approach, 30 narratives were collected from fifteen employees in Canada to identify key themes of emotion regulation in relation to the pillar principles of CHAT.