Abstract
The authors used a critical incident interview provided by a female manager and her statements (e.g., “I'm very ineffective emotionally”) as a starting point of an alternative analysis of the term emotional competence. Using reflexive inquiry and deconstruction, the authors argue that terms such as emotional competence , rather than being a reflection of something perceivable as a quality of the subject, are socially produced using language. However, such language is not value free and neutral but—based on the analysis—gendered and subject to power differentials. The authors elaborate on how such terms tend to be regarded as naturalized and reified in more conventional studies and on the implications for organizational members and organizational change.
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