Cited by 48Emotional Intelligence and PerformanceMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsSocial Skills and Education

Awakening Compassion in Managers—a New Emotional Skills Intervention to Improve Managerial Compassion

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Paakkanen, Miia, Martela, Frank, Hakanen, Jari, Uusitalo, Lotta, Pessi, Anne·2021·Journal of Business and Psychology

Abstract

Compassion is in high demand within organizational research, with important implications for leadership, well-being, and productivity. However, thus far only meditation-based interventions have been implemented to increase compassion in organizations. Our aim was to explore whether compassion could be increased among managers through improving their emotional skills. We implemented a quasi-randomized controlled trial with pre-test and post-test design of a new emotional skills cultivation training among managers, measuring the treatment group (N = 68), the control group (N = 90), and their followers (N = 85 and N = 72). Compared to the control group, the managers exhibited significantly increased sense of emotional skills, with some evidence for an improved sense of compassion. We also found that emotional skills mediated the impact of participating in the intervention group and compassion. Additionally, servant leadership behaviors in the intervention group improved following the intervention. These results demonstrate that instead of being something innate, compassion is a skill that can be increased through training emotional skills, with observable benefits for the organization.

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Crossref · 10.1007/s10869-020-09723-2

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  • Servant leadership showed signs of improvement after the emotional skills training.

    “Servant leadership showed signs of improvement after the training”

    From Whither compassionate leadership? A systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Paakkanen et al. (2021)

  • Emotional Skills Cultivation Training (ESCT) is related to significant improvement in managers' sense of compassion.

    “Emotional Skills Cultivation Training (ESCT) was related to significant improvement in managers sense of compassion”

    From Whither compassionate leadership? A systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Paakkanen et al. (2021)

  • Emotional skills can improve compassion.

    “Emotional skills could improve compassion”

    From Whither compassionate leadership? A systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Paakkanen et al. (2021)

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1 of the 80 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Baard, P. P., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Intrinsic need satisfac- tion: A motivational basis of performance and well-being in two work settings. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 2045- 2068.
  2. Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., Matos, M., & Rivis, A. (2011). Fear of com- passion: Development of three self-report measures. Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 84, 239-255.

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Authors
Paakkanen, M., Martela, F., Hakanen, J., Uusitalo, L., & Pessi, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • Aalto University (FI)
  • Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FI)
Corresponding author
Paakkanen, Miia
Venue
Journal of Business and Psychology
Published
2020-10-29
Volume
36
Issue
6
Pages
1095-1108
ISSN
  • 0889-3268 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-353X
OpenAlex
W3095920337
Cited by
48
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
FWCI
5.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Business and Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Aaltodoc (Aalto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Tekes
  • Helsingin Yliopisto
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotional Intelligence and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Education › Social Skills and Education
Keywords
emotional competence, emotional skills training, servant leadership, managers, followers, mediation, organizational well-being, leadership development

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