Bureaucratie et émotions. Des injonctions paradoxales ?

Whereas management literature about emotions is particularly rich and diverse, emotions within bureaucracies are still considered to be controlled, and even denied. It appears paradoxical, not only from a theoretical point of view but also from an empirical approach. We conducted a qualitative case study in four French Family Allowance Offices and we observed an unexpected result : the managers had been dealing with excessive negative emotions for several years. Both considering organizational studies on emotions and empirical data, we enhance the traditional model of the bureaucratic vicious circle in a double way. We highlight the emotional dimension of the vicious circle, and the non-intentional involvement of top managers in the deepening of this emotional vicious circle. Consequently, what are the perspectives for bureaucracies ? A second-order change ?