Are people in their best moods on the weekends? As Exhibit 4-3 shows, people tend to be in their worst moods (highest negative affect and lowest positive affect) early in the week, and in their best moods (highest positive affect and lowest negative affect) late in the week.34
What about time of the day? (See Exhibit 4-4.) We often think we are either “morning” or “evening” people. However, most of us actually follow the same pattern. Regardless of what time we go to bed at night or get up in the morning, levels of positive affect tend to peak at around the halfway point between waking and sleeping. Negative affect, however, shows little fluctuation throughout the day. What does this mean for organizational behavior? Monday morning is prob- ably not the best time to ask someone for a favor or convey bad news. Our work- place interactions will probably be more positive from midmorning onward and
also later in the week.