Abstract:  In organizational behavior (OB) research, scholars are increasingly interested in the short-term process of individual’s emotion, cognition and behavior. The experience sampling method provides an effective tool for such research topics. While the number of OB research adopting this method is rising, a comprehensive overview is not available so far on the topics suitable for this advanced method. We analyzed 67 empirical articles in four top-tier OB international journals (including Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Personnel Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes), and seven Chinese articles. The results revealed the experience sampling method was mainly adopted to study short-term or transient variables of individual’s current state of mind and emotions. The main research topics could be categorized into four types: feelings at work; thoughts at work; work behaviors; and impacts of work on individuals.

Key words:  experience sampling methodology, trait, state, emotion, stress