Exploring the Paradox-Emotion Nexus in Organizational Life

In organizations, individuals often confront paradoxical tensions—contradictory yet interdependent demands that persist over time (Quinn & Cameron, 1988; Smith & Lewis, 2011). For instance, creative professionals stive to create both artistic and economic values (Eikhof & Haunschild, 2007), while team members wrestle with the exploration-exploitation tension (Smith, 2014). Senior managers, too, grapple with the dual challenge of profit maximization and social responsibility (Margolis & Walsh, 2003), cooperative competition (Raza-Ullah et al., 2014), and granting employees autonomy while retaining control (Sundaramurthy & Lewis, 2003). Although the extant literature on paradoxes acknowledges that intensified forms of these tensions can evoke anxiety, frustration, and even paralyzed feelings (e.g., Schad et al., 2016; Cunha et al., 2023), a comprehensive understanding of how these paradoxes are intertwined with emotions and the likely performance implications cross multiple levels (e.g., at individual, team, organizational, inter-organizational) remains limited.

Likewise, research in psychology and emotions recognizes that individuals often experience complex emotional dynamics including emotional ambivalence (Pratt & Doucet, 2000), emotional dissonance (Diestel & Schmidt, 2011), and emotional labour (Grandey, 2000), particularly when engaged in the pursuit of paradoxical logics, demands, or goals (see Ashforth et al., 2014 and Rothman et al., 2017 for more details). Yet, a systematic investigation of why, how, when, and at what levels paradoxes generate such emotional complexity, and how the paradox-emotion interplay shapes outcomes at individual, team, and organizational levels, is lacking.

Hence, this research project invites proposals for an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between paradoxes and emotions. By integrating insights from both domains and utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods, this project aims to uncover the underlying mechanisms behind paradox-induced emotions, their manifestations, implications, and management across various organizational levels.