Negative emotions in supervisory relationships: The role of relational models

The reasons why supervisory/line management relationships are one of the most frequently cited causes of workplace negative emotions are poorly understood. Existing research on emotions at work provides some clues but largely omits the role of relational context. Drawing on attachment theory, the present research develops a model suggesting that employees hold differing relational models of their supervisory relationship in conjunction with global relational models that they bring with them to the workplace. Together these relational models are associated with different interpretations of supervisor behaviour, which in turn are associated with differences in emotional reactions. The model was tested with a survey of 174 nurses employed in a UK NHS Trust. Some support was found for the propositions. The research highlights that in order to understand why negative emotions occur in supervisory relationships it is important to examine affective events within the historical relational context in which they occur.