Emotions and Sensemaking: How Anger, Guilt, and Emotion Regulation Impact Ethical Decision Making

Abstract

Affect plays an important role in cognition and behavior, but how discrete emotions influence decision making is still unclear. To contribute to the understanding of this process, this study investigated the impact of guilt and anger in ethical decision making. By taking a sensemaking approach, the findings demonstrated that experiencing integral guilt and anger have important and differential impacts on sensemaking processes and resultant ethical decision making. Overall, guilt was more beneficial than anger, but both emotions drew participants’ attention to particular aspects of the situation. Specifically, anger prompted reflection on the past and the causes of the situation while guilt helped participants focus on the future and the outcomes of the current situation. The moderating impact of two emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and suppression, was also investigated, and results indicated that emotion regulation may be markedly difficult in ethical decision-making situations. In addition, suppressing anger may be particularly harmful for making ethical decisions via its impact on selfishness. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.