Abstract

GONDIM, Sonia Maria Guedes  and  BORGES-ANDRADE, Jairo Eduardo. Emotional regulation at work: a case study after air disaster. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2009, vol.29, n.3, pp. 512-533. ISSN 1414-9893.

One of the main objectives of this study was to analyze the emotional regulation strategies used by employees of a Brazilian air company after a fatal accident in 2006. It is a qualitative study with the participation of 47 workers, including airport and flight attendants, human resource professionals, pilots and co-pilots. Data collection occurred in January 2007, through group interviews that were coordinated by one of the authors and guided by semi-structured forms. Each interview lasted 1 to 2 hours. These interviews were developed in an airport room or in the company headquarters. Following an explanation of the research objectives and the free consent of the participants, they were recorded for later identification of the working demands which happened after the fatal disaster, as well as the emotional regulation strategies which emerged. Deep action strategies (selection of situation and cognitive reassessment) were the central aspects of the workers’ reports, when compared to superficial action strategies (suppression of emotions and physiological reactions). The findings also suggest that the strong belief that the company could not be held responsible for the disaster had a positive effect. The workers, even under several and diversified demands for emotional work, reported less negative impacts on their well-being, more organizational loyalty and more investments on changing their internal emotional states.

Keywords : Work psychology; Emotional labor; Emotional regulation; Air Disaster.

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