P16 Emotions in Public Management: Advancing Sentiments in Digital Governance
Panel Member(s) & Contact Details
Corresponding Chair: Eran Vigoda-Gadot, Division of Public Administration & Policy, University of Haifa, Israel: eranv@poli.haifa.ac.il
Panel Co-Chairs:
- Yvonne Brunetto, Southern Cross University, AUS
- Riccardo Correa Gomes-FGV Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Zehavit Levitats- Bar-Ilan University, ISR
- Galina Vissoky, University of Haifa, ISR
- Evgeny Styrinn, HSE Moscow, RF
- Anna Sannina, HSE St. Petersburg, RF
Summary
This panel proposal explores the critical yet underexamined role of emotions in public administration, emphasizing their influence on cognition, perception, and behavior in both traditional and digital governance contexts. It argues that emotional responses—shaped by mental models and cognitive appraisal—impact how public servants and citizens engage with governance systems, especially during complex or stressful situations. The panel invites interdisciplinary contributions to advance understanding of emotional dynamics in public management, covering topics such as emotional intelligence, digital governance, citizen reactions, and new methods for studying emotions in public administration.
Description
The extensive understanding of emotions in human behavior stems from neuroscience and psychological studies, particularly concerning mental models of cognition, perception, and behavior (Ments & Treur, 2021; Marcus, 2022). While approaches to studying emotions vary (e.g., Kleinginna & Kleinginna, 1981), as do measurement and analysis techniques (e.g., Kosonogov et al., 2017), emotions are frequently defined as "episodic, relatively short-term, biologically based patterns of perception, experience, physiology, action, and communication that occur in response to specific physical and social challenges" (Keltner & Gross, 1999, p. 468). Alternatively, they are seen as a "rapid response system" that appraises experience and prepares individuals for diverse situations (Cole et al., 2004, p. 319). Ekman (1992) and Prabhu et al. (2022) emphasize that fundamental emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are central to human behavior, making them highly relevant to human-machine interactions and, consequently, to governance in the digital age.
However, the role of emotions in public management and governance remains significantly understudied. When public servants and citizens interact, their initial authentic emotional responses, whether towards other humans or technologies, shape experiences. These experiences are then filtered through mental-emotional models, influencing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. Mental models, a concept from cognitive psychology, suggest individuals’ reason by envisioning scenarios based on their knowledge, beliefs, and feelings (Craik, 1943; Byrne, 2005; Ments & Treur, 2021). In complex situations, such as navigating both traditional and digital governance, people form mental images and react with intertwined emotional and cognitive responses, often guided by prior predispositions, values, and attitudes. These mental models are intrinsically linked to emotions (e.g., Thornton & Tamir, 2017), indicating that emotional responses to governance are shaped by underlying cognitive frameworks. Reinforcing this connection, Cognitive Appraisal Theory (CAT) posits that emotions result from individuals’ subjective interpretations of situations, rather than being direct responses (Moors, 2020).
This panel aims to advance knowledge on emotions as a crucial, albeit nascent, concept in public administration. We seek to highlight the emotional dimension of public management as a burgeoning field with potential impacts on both intra-organizational changes and extra-organizational developments within public agencies. We invite scholars interested in the intersection of emotional aspects of management (e.g., types of emotions, emotional intelligence, emotions during stressful times and emergencies, emotions towards digital governance) and modern public management (e.g., managing citizen-governance relations, HR public management, performance management, leadership, team management). We encourage interdisciplinary proposals that offer significant contributions to modern governance and advanced public management in the digital age. Major topics include, but are not limited to: exploring types of emotions in public spheres; how emotions differ among various public stakeholders; the meaning of emotions in digital governance; emotions and management practices during peaceful and turbulent times of governance; theories of emotional reactions to public management; emotions as drivers and outcomes of policy decisions; citizens’ reactions to new governance technologies; emotions and artificial intelligence; emotional intelligence and public management; and new methods for studying emotions in public management and digital governance.
Relevance
Emotions have become increasingly important in generic management studies, especially over the past three decades. However, their presence in public management research remains quite marginal, despite some recent progress. We believe it's time for an IRSPM panel dedicated to exploring the evolving nature of human emotions and sentiments in the context of new governance models and their increasing digital interfaces. This timing is crucial as emotions are now taking center stage in human-machine interactions, moving beyond traditional human-to-human exchanges. We feel this topic is essential for contemporary public management, particularly as technology becomes vital for delivering public administration services and achieving ambitious goals across various governance sectors. This panel aims to address emotions and public management in a more comprehensive and sophisticated manner. It directly addresses the 20th IRSPM conference theme, "Beyond Boundaries," in three keyways:
Theoretically: By offering new explanations to understand public management through the lens of emotions.
Methodologically: By highlighting new tools and research designs, with an emphasis on experimental models, to study emotions.
Practically: By suggesting tools and management implications for public servants navigating emotionally infused environments