Fear, Anger, and Risk Preference Reversals: An Experimental Study on a Chinese Sample

Abstract

Fear and anger are basic emotions of the same valence which differ in terms of their certainty and control dimensions according to the Appraisal Tendency Framework, a theory addressing the relationship between specific emotions, and judgments and choices. Past research based on the Appraisal Theory revealed contradictory results for risky choice decision-making. However, these conclusions were drawn from Western samples (e.g., North American). Considering potential cultural differences, the present study aims to investigate whether the Appraisal Tendency hypothesis yields the same results in a Chinese sample. Our first study explores how dispositional fear and anger influence risk preferences through a classic virtual “Asia Disease Problem” task and the second study investigates how induced fear and anger influence risk preferences through an incentive-compatible task. Consistent with previous research, our results reveal that induced fear and anger have differential effects on risky decisions: angry participants prefer the risk-seeking option, whereas fearful participants prefer a risk-averse option. However, we find no associations between dispositional fear (or anger) and risky decisions.

The impact of emotions on shopping behavior during epidemic. What a business can do to protect customers

“…Researchers have found that specific emotions differently influence appraisal tendencies and risk perceptions (Campos‐Vazquez & Cuilty, 2014; Lerner & Keltner, 2000, 2001; She, Eimontaite, Zhang, & Sun, 2017). Feelings of anger lead to evaluation of negative events as predictable, being under one's control and to lower risk perception.…”

Applying the Theory of Affective Intelligence to Support for Authoritarian Policies and Parties

“…And, second, specific to threat, as we outlined above (see Figure ), AIT points to two different frequently co‐occurring appraisals as pivotal in determining how people address the situation. If this is indeed the case, then conventional accounts are theoretically under‐, and hence misspecified (She, Eimontaite, Dangli, & Sun, ).…”

Cooperation across multiple game-theoretical paradigms is increased by fear more than anger in selfish individuals

“…A long-standing view contends that fear and anger arise from a common underlying threat system 12 , with fear promoting the avoidance of threats [13][14][15] , and anger their approach 16,17 . In line with this, both inter-individual differences in disposition to experience fear and anger [18][19][20] , as well as experimental inductions of fear and anger [21][22][23][24][25][26] , have been shown to oppositely affect judgment and decision making, with fear contributing to avoidance, and anger to approach of risk in non social decisions. However, it is unclear how this may extend to social decisions, such as those related to cooperation and punishment 27 .…”

“…These results extend previous findings in several ways. In non social decisions, induced fear and anger have been respectively associated with avoidance and approach of risk 18,19,[21][22][23][24][25][26] . Our results extend this by showing that, in the context of social decision making related to cooperation, induced fear is more likely to increase cooperation, relative to induced anger.…”