The Role of Affect
in Knowledge Transfer
Management and Global Business Dept.
Rutgers Business School
– Newark and
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Management and Global Business Dept.
Rutgers Business
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Fax (732) 445-6987
kurtzberg@business.rutgers.edu
Management and Organizations Department
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
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Management and Human Resources Department
Fisher College of Business
The Ohio State University
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Columbus, OH 43210
lount@fisher.osu.edu
Group Dynamics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2010,
pp. 123-142
Abstract
In two experimental studies of two-party information sharing, we demonstrate that affective state plays a role in the knowledge-transfer process. Study 1 (N = 108 MBA students) found that affective state has a larger impact on those in need of knowledge (“receivers”) than on those in possession of knowledge (“senders”), with elated/happy receivers more likely than angry/frustrated receivers to absorb and act on new information. Study 2 (N = 180 undergraduates) replicated this finding and also demonstrated that having receivers and senders in the same high-arousal affective state as each other (affective congruence) enhances knowledge transfer, regardless of whether the affective state is positive (elated/happy) or negative (angry/frustrated). These findings help fill an important gap in the literature regarding the influence of affect on knowledge transfer in groups.
Keywords: information sharing, affect, emotion, hidden-profile task
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