Effects of multiple discrete emotions on risk-taking propensity

Previous studies have examined the effects of discrete emotions on risk taking. One unstudied question in this literature involves comparisons of multiple discrete emotions, not limited to two (e.g., anger vs. sadness, anger vs. fear) on the same risky judgment and decision making (JDM) task. This study examined the effects of five different discrete emotions on the same risky JDM task assessing risk propensities. Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and a neutral condition were elicited in participants (N = 307 university students participating in partial fulfilment of course requirements) using a standard emotion eliciting procedure, after which they completed a self-report measure of risk propensities. Elicitation of a neutral state produced the lowest risk scores, while being emotionally elevated in general increased risk scores. Importantly, the emotions produced differential degrees of risk propensities with sadness producing the highest risk. These findings were discussed vis-à-vis differential functions of different discrete emotions.
Author(s): David Matsumoto [sup.1] , Matthew Wilson [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.263091.f, 0000000106792318, Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University, , 1600 Holloway Avenue, 94132, San Francisco, CA, USA Research [...]