How daily work events affect employee emotions

We can’t always maintain a professional façade in the workplace. As humans, we feel happy after praise from superiors, surprised by an unexpected change, or angry when we’re assigned an unfair workload that leads to working overtime. At times, we may be overwhelmed by many emotions at once.

Work can be stressful, but a new 2026 report from Gallup on the State of the Global Workplace gives cause for concern about employee wellbeing. The report found that in 2025, only 20% of employees globally are engaged in their work, and the levels of stress, anger, and sadness reported are above pre-pandemic levels.

But what if, instead of simply asking whether employees are happy, stressed, or engaged, we examine the nuances of what actually happens during their working day and what leads to these emotions?

That’s exactly what Rita Rueff-Lopes (Esade), José Navarro, and Malena Otero (University of Barcelona) explored in a 2026 paper. The researchers examined the everyday events that trigger six basic emotions at work, offering a more comprehensive picture of workplace experience.

What researchers discovered

The study surveyed 102 employees who recorded 1,499 diary entries about important events during a period of 10-15 work days. Happiness was the most frequently reported emotion, appearing in 67% of recalled events. However, the results show that measuring workplace emotions isn’t as simple as pigeonholing them as just ‘positive’ or ‘negative’.

Fear and disgust featured, albeit less frequently, and could still be powerful. Surprise was also common following an unexpected event. As in life outside the workplace, the researchers found that the nature of an event helped explain which emotion emerged, and how strongly.

This is worth considering when organizations rely on annual employee surveys to understand workplace wellbeing. Such surveys can provide a useful snapshot, but research and expert opinion suggest that response and social-desirability biases can distort the picture, particularly when employees do not feel able to speak openly. The researchers’ approach offers a different perspective: rather than treating emotions as a general characteristic of employees, what if organizations asked what actually happened to make people feel that way?

It’s not just whether an event is good or bad

Not all emotion-triggering events in the workplace lead to the same intensity of emotional response.

The researchers measured event strength in terms of factors such as relevance, novelty, and disruption. A positive event that is highly significant can therefore produce a stronger emotional response than a routine positive experience. Likewise, a negative event that is disruptive or personally important can result in a particularly strong impact.

The co-authors argue that event strength provides additional explanatory power beyond simply considering whether an event is positive or negative. In other words, understanding employees’ emotions requires attention not only to what happened, but also to how significant the event was to them.

The workplace provides a rich context for the manifestation of basic emotions. People at work aren’t simply performing tasks like robots. It is where everyday interactions, decisions, successes, disappointments, unexpected events, and the ups and downs of their working relationships define their emotional experience.

What actually makes us feel emotions at work?

When you zoom in on the responses of study participants, it becomes clearer how events influence emotions.

Some people felt anger when dealing with a work overload, unfair policies, poor communication, conflicts, unprofessional behavior, and technical problems. As one frustrated participant said: “Yesterday I was sent a lot of work at the last minute. And I had to work overtime. They demanded it too.”

Another respondent described receiving a thank-you note from a departing boss, saying: “It was incredibly flattering to read all the things he said about me, and it made me feel really happy and appreciated.”

Understandably, happiness was linked to achievement, professional growth, supportive relationships, and recognition.

Other emotions had their own specific triggers. The study documented how disgust was associated with discrimination, hypocrisy, exploitation, and bullying. Sadness emerged as a result of loss, conflict, unmet expectations, and difficult working conditions. Surprise often followed unexpected organizational changes, decisions, or interactions. Fear was linked to confrontation, safety concerns, unstable working conditions, and uncertainty around demanding tasks.

This participant’s response is particularly concerning: “Yesterday, I had an argument with the company. They speak to me very rudely, demanding that I do all the work even though I’m just an intern, and when I ask a question, they’re extremely dismissive. I got really overwhelmed, and I’m scared about the meeting on Friday.”

As complex humans, we can experience several emotions in response to one event. A conflict may produce both anger and sadness. The emotional experience of being at work is more complex than a simple measure of employee satisfaction.

It can’t just be business as usual

So why should organizations care? Keeping employees happy and engaged is crucial to prevent high staff turnover. The findings suggest that organizations should strive to have a deeper understanding of workplace emotions. Bosses cannot simply tell employees to manage their emotions better. They can, however, pay greater attention to the events they create.

Recognition, meaningful achievement, and supportive relationships are not just ‘nice-to-haves’. They help foster positive emotional experiences. Conversely, unclear communication, unfair treatment, excessive workloads, discrimination, and poorly managed conflict do not result in happy employees.

When survival instinct kicks in

Fear, however, behaves differently than other emotions. Employees tended to automatically experience fear in response to big events with uncertain outcomes because we are wired to see uncertainty as a potential threat. For example, if the boss announces a big important meeting for tomorrow, but doesn’t say what it’s about, employees may fear it will be bad news. Evolutionarily, it was safer for humans to assume a rustle in the bushes was a tiger rather than a friendly rabbit.

The paper also found that gender only has a limited effect on emotional intensity, suggesting that the nature and strength of workplace events is more important than general assumptions about how different groups of employees experience work.

How to nurture workplace wellbeing

Employees don’t simply arrive at work feeling happy, stressed, angry, or anxious. Something happens.

Be it an awkward conversation, an unexpected meeting, recognition from the boss, or an unfair demand—all these things can change how a person feels within minutes. If organizations want to influence employee emotions at work, perhaps they should be asking: what, exactly, are we making them feel?