Learning outcomes

The course aims at explaining the current views on emotions, as well as how scholars describe functional and dysfunctional affective processes. The main purpose is to assist students in the identification of affective dynamics, in order to develop competences in terms of describing and managing these dynamics at individual, group and organizational levels. Particular attention will be paid to the processes related to empathy, and to the emotion regulation mechanisms.
By the end of the course students will be able to:
- develop the ability to identify the affective dynamics that individuals adopt in various settings, with particular attention to the areas in which these dynamics are posed on individual, group, and organizational levels;
- develop the ability to analyse both functionality and dysfunctionality of these dynamics with reference to the context in which these are implemented, in particular taking into account the regulation processes of the emotions that are used.

Program

Course topics:
Birth and the development of the Psychology of Emotions
The evolutionary-functionalist perspective on emotions and theories of basic emotions
The cognitive perspective on emotions and appraisal theories
The communicative and socio-constructionist perspective on emotions
Some recent theoretical proposals and the concept of emotional networks
The regulation of emotions: various theoretical perspectives
The relationship between emotion regulation and impulsivity
Types of emotion regulation
Regulatory strategies, in particular reappraisal and rumination
Emotion regulation and research
Emotion regulation and psychopathology
Emotional dynamics applied to organisational contexts.

Texts:
BOOKS
A) Galati D. (2002). Prospettive sulle emozioni e teorie del soggetto, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri. CHAPTER: 6
B) Caruana F., Viola M. (2018). Come funzionano le emozioni, Bologna: Il Mulino.
C) Matarazzo O., Zammuner V.L. (2015). La regolazione delle emozioni (Seconda Edizione). Bologna: Il Mulino. CHAPTERS: 1, 2, 4, 7.
ARTICLES
D) Ashkanasy N.M. & Dorris, A. D. (2017). Emotions in the workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 67-90.
E) Aldao, A. (2013). The future of emotion regulation research: Capturing context. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(2), 155-172.

Examination Methods

Written exam with three open questions. The aim of these questions is to assess the students’ knowledge of the subjects described in the books/chapters/articles listed in the syllabus. The final mark will be the mean score of the evaluations of the student’s responses to the three questions expressed in thirtieths. The assessment methods and criteria will be the same for attending and non-attending students. Students from the 2018-19 academic year (and previous years) who still have to pass the exam can refer to the books/chapters listed in the syllabus for their course year.