The shared mood or affect of a work group can exert a powerful influence on the group’s social dynamics and effectiveness. However, the mood of others can be difficult to read, leading to divergent perceptions of group affect among members. What happens when individuals perceive the group’s affect differently? We answer this question by investigating how divergence in perceptions of group affect influences individuals’ social integration and the group’s performance. In doing so, we examine the implications of divergence in perceived group affect for individuals and the group as a whole. In a field study of 1,419 individuals in 107 work groups, we found that divergence in perceptions of the group’s positive affect was negatively associated with individuals’ commitment to the team and undermined the positive impact of group affect on group performance. We discuss the implications of our findings for refining theory on group affect, the value of strongly shared affect, and how leaders can foster a stronger sense of shared affect within groups.

工作小组的共同情绪或影响可以对小组的社会动态和效率产生强大的影响。然而，其他人的情绪可能难以解读，导致成员之间对群体影响的不同看法。当个人对群体影响的看法不同时会发生什么？我们通过调查对群体影响的看法差异如何影响个人的社会融合和群体绩效来回答这个问题。在这样做时，我们研究了感知群体影响的差异对个人和整个群体的影响。在对 107 个工作组的 1,419 人进行的实地研究中，我们发现，对团队积极影响的看法分歧与个人对团队的承诺呈负相关，并削弱了团队影响对团队绩效的积极影响。我们讨论了我们的发现对完善群体情感理论的意义、强烈共享情感的价值以及领导者如何在群体内培养更强烈的共享情感。