Emotional Hijacking is vital for all us to be aware of to ward off its pitfall and ill effect.

1. By
Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd)
Based on Goleman’s blog

3.  Amygdala hijack is a term coined by Daniel Goleman in his 1996 book
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Drawing on the
work of Joseph E. LeDoux, Goleman uses the term to describe emotional
responses from people which are immediate and overwhelming, and out of
measure with the actual stimulus because it has triggered a much more
significant emotional threat.
 Emotional hijacks – this priming, this mechanism, which is usually so
positive in evolution – can take us over. During these hijacks we can
become very angry. When the dust settles we often think, "Oh, why did I say
that?“

4.  From the thalamus, a part of the stimulus goes directly to the amygdala
while another part is sent to the neocortex (the "thinking brain").
◦ If the amygdala perceives a match to the stimulus, i.e., if the record of
experiences in the hippocampus tells the amygdala that it is a fight,
flight or freeze situation, then the amygdala triggers the HPA
(hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal) axis and hijacks the rational brain.
◦ This emotional brain activity processes information milliseconds earlier
than the rational brain, so in case of a match, the amygdala acts before
any possible direction from the neocortex can be received.
◦ If, however, the amygdala does not find any match to the stimulus
received with its recorded threatening situations, then it acts according
to the directions received from the neo-cortex.
◦ When the amygdala perceives a threat, it can lead that person to react
irrationally and destructively.

6.  Goleman states that "Emotions make us pay attention right now - this is
urgent - and gives us an immediate action plan without having to think
twice. The emotional component evolved very early: Do I eat it, or does it
eat me?" The emotional response "can take over the rest of the brain in a
millisecond if threatened.”
◦ An amygdala hijack exhibits three signs: strong emotional reaction,
sudden onset, and post-episode realization if the reaction was
inappropriate.
 Goleman later emphasised that "self-control is crucial ...when facing
someone who is in the throes of an amygdala hijack” so as to avoid a
complementary hijacking - whether in work situations, or in private life.
◦ Thus for example 'one key marital competence is for partners to learn to
soothe their own distressed feelings...nothing gets resolved positively
when husband or wife is in the midst of an emotional hijacking.’
◦ The danger is that 'when our partner becomes, in effect, our enemy, we
are in the grip of an "amygdala hijack" in which our emotional memory,
lodged in the limbic center of our brain, rules our reactions without the
benefit of logic or reason...which causes our bodies to go into a "fight or
flight" response‘.

7.  Negative moods - especially chronic anger, anxiety, or a sense of
futility - powerfully disrupt work, hijacking attention from the task
at hand.
◦ For instance, in a Yale study of moods and their contagion, the
performance of groups making executive decisions about how
best to allocate yearly bonuses was measurably boosted by
positive feelings and was impaired by negative ones.
◦ Significantly, the group members themselves did not realize the
influence of their own moods.
 Of all the interactions at an international hotel chain that pitched
employees into bad moods was talking to someone in management.
◦ Interactions with bosses led to bad feelings - frustration,
disappointment, anger, sadness, disgust, or hurt - about nine out
of ten times.
◦ These interactions were the cause of distress more often than
customers, work pressure, company policies, or personal
problems.

8.  Not that leaders need to be overly "nice"; the emotional art of leadership
includes pressing the reality of work demands without unduly upsetting
people.
◦ One of the oldest laws in psychology holds that beyond a moderate level,
increases in anxiety and worry erode mental abilities.
◦ Distress not only erodes mental abilities, but also makes people less
emotionally intelligent.
◦ People who are upset have trouble reading emotions accurately in other
people - decreasing the most basic skill needed for empathy and, as a
result, impairing their social skills.
 Another consideration is that the emotions people feel while they work,
according to findings on job satisfaction, reflect most directly the true
quality of work life.
◦ The percentage of time people feel positive emotions at work turns out to
be one of the strongest predictors of satisfaction.
◦ In this sense, leaders who spread bad moods are simply bad for business
- and those who pass along good moods help drive a business's success.

9.  “Emotions are contagious from the leader outward,” says Daniel
Goleman
 The spread of emotions is not a new discovery.
◦ Studies show that in as little as two minutes, silent strangers
transmit emotions to each other, and the more emotionally
expressive person’s feelings prevail.
 But neuroscience researchers have struggled to explain this
phenomenon.
◦ More recently, the discovery of “mirror neurons” has prompted
further exploration of the social brain, and findings reveal an
emotional subtext in every human interaction.
 The dynamic is notably different in hierarchies than in peer groups:
◦ In groups where there are power differences – in the classroom, at
work, in organizations generally – it is the most powerful person
who is the emotional sender, setting the emotional state for the
rest of the group.

10.  Therefore, in organizations, a leader’s attitude rubs off on his team, either
enhancing or impeding the group’s overall performance.
 Emotional outbursts known as amygdala hijacks are particularly destructive.
◦ As the oldest part of the brain, the amygdala prioritizes survival and
regulates the fight-or-flight response.
◦ Faster than the neocortex (i.e., the thinking brain), it reacts to threatening
scenes before rational thinking occurs.
 In one episode, two recovering addicts – a man and a woman – unloaded on each
other.
◦ The man unknowingly channeled his resentment toward his mother for abandoning
him, and the woman transferred her fear of a physically abusive ex-boyfriend.
◦ Like they say, “hurt people, hurt people.”
 The signs of a hijack are simple: a quick onset, an unusually intense reaction
relative to the circumstances, and subsequent regret (i.e., “why did I do
that?”). There are four common workplace triggers:
◦ Not being treated with respect
◦ Not being appreciated
◦ Not being listened to
◦ Being criticized or blamed

11.  Beware of triggering a hijack from a leader: it poisons an entire organization.
 Digital technology has reduced communication costs but increased the
likelihood of blowups.
 At Caliper’s 2012 Global Conference, Goleman said that “the new normal is
an assault on the social brain.”
◦ Email, for instance, has few emotional signals and, compared to an in-person
meeting or phone call, is easily misinterpreted.
 Co workers need to balance virtual communication and face time.
◦ Human moments occur when two people share the same physical space
while giving each other their emotional and intellectual attention.
◦ Harvard’s Dr. Edward M. Hallowell laments their disappearance and
reiterates their importance in our lives:
 To make the human moment work, you have to set aside what you’re
doing, put down the memo you were reading, disengage from your
laptop, abandon your daydream, and focus on the person you’re
with…Together you quickly create a force field of exceptional power.
 Next time you need to communicate sensitive information, consider the
pros and cons of each delivery option.
 Your organization’s emotional health will thank you.

12.  Hijacks tend to reoccur.
◦ They hint at unconscious, ingrained emotional patterns simmering below
the surface. Of the 10 noted in Tara Bennett-Goleman’s book, Emotional
Alchemy, the following are those that surface most often in the workplace:
 Emotional deprivation. People who feel deprived are never fully satisfied, and
an unavailable boss stirs their old wounds.
 Subjugation. Characterized by repeatedly putting the needs of others first (to
an unhealthy extent), this pattern leads to compliance with underlying
resentment.
 Perfectionism. Those with this tendency are driven to perform their best at
the expense of other areas in their life. The smallest criticism focuses their
attention on only what is wrong.
 Narcissism. The rules don’t apply to those with this pattern. As adults, they
feel entitled and struggle to delay gratification.
 Toxic emotions affect you at work. Be especially aware of those emanating
from your boss; they’re silently shaping your attitude and performance.
 If you think businesses don’t run on emotion, think again.

13.  Goleman points out that 'not all limbic hijackings are distressing.
 When a joke strikes someone as so uproarious that their laughter is almost
explosive, that, too, is a limbic response. It is at work also in moments of
intense joy‘.
 He also cites the case of a man strolling by a canal when he saw a girl
staring petrified at the water.
◦ Suddenly, 'before he knew quite why, he had jumped into the water - in
his coat and tie.
◦ Only once he was in the water did he realize that the girl was staring in
shock at a toddler who had fallen in - whom he was able to rescue'.[10]
 Emotional relearning
 LeDoux was positive about the possibility of learning to control 'the
amygdala's hair-trigger role in emotional outbursts: "Once your emotional
system learns something, it seems you never let it go.
 What therapy does is teach you how to control it - it teaches your
neocortex how to inhibit your amygdala.
 The propensity to act is suppressed, while your basic emotion about it
remains in a subdued form"‘.