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Abstract
Anger is an emotion frequently experienced in negotiations. However, the effect of anger in negotiations has only recently received empirical attention. The primary aim of this thesis was to explore how anger and anger regulation affects negotiation outcomes. Moreover, this thesis adopted a multi-method approach by examining the behavioural, physiological, hormonal, and neural correlates and consequences of anger.
Chapter 2 experimentally investigated the effect of intrapersonal anger (feeling angry) on prosocial behaviour (proposing generous offers) and punishing behaviour (rejecting offers) in the Ultimatum Game, which is an economic bargaining game. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of intrapersonal anger on bargaining by using a direct anger provocation. Both provocation conditions received unfair offers during bargaining, whilst the control condition received fair offers. To heighten anger, some participants self-disclosed with the bargaining partner prior to unfair treatment. As expected, these participants reported the greatest anger; however, they accepted more offers than those who received unfair offers but did not self-disclose.
Experiment 2 added a stronger provocation to the self-disclosure paradigm. Experiment 2 investigated whether anger generally negatively affects bargaining behaviour or heightens direct punishment toward a provocateur. Participants self-disclosed and were provoked or not by the speech counterpart. The speech counterpart and two control counterparts proposed identical offers during bargaining. Participants in the provocation condition reported greater anger, proposed a less fair offer, and accepted fewer offers from the speech counterpart relative to those in the no-provocation condition. Anger induced direct retaliation toward the provocateur and negatively affected financial gains. Self-disclosure increased prosocial behaviour for participants in the control condition.
Experiment 3 investigated the effectiveness of reappraisal, distraction, and rumination for reducing anger and decreasing retaliatory bargaining behaviour. Prior research supports the effectiveness of reappraisal for reducing anger, and suggests that rumination typically maintains or augments anger. Participants were provoked, engaged in one of three directed emotion regulation tasks, and then bargained using the same paradigm as Experiment 2. Reappraisal, which involves reinterpreting events into neutral terms, reduced anger for the duration of bargaining. Participants who reappraised proposed marginally fairer offers than those in the distraction condition. These findings suggest that reappraisal may benefit affect and bargaining. The rumination manipulation check failed. However, post hoc coding of the written responses suggested that participants who self-distanced reported less anger and greater prosocial behaviour than those who self-immersed.
Experiment 4 directly contrasted the self-immersed and self-distanced vantage perspective. The self-distanced perspective was expected to decrease anger, physiological responding, value claiming in a commons dilemma, and punishment relative to a self-immersed perspective. The results were inconclusive as the perspective manipulation check failed.
In Chapter 3, Experiment 5 investigated the interactive effects of anger, superior and subordinate negotiation roles, and individual differences in testosterone, cortisol, and trait dominance on negotiation outcomes. Participants wrote about an anger provoking or ordinary negotiation experience and then played the role of candidate or recruiter while negotiating a simulated job contract. For participants high in testosterone, candidates claimed more points than recruiters, consistent with the social status hypothesis. In line with the dual-hormone hypothesis, testosterone was positively correlated with claiming more value for participants who were in the anger condition, low in cortisol, and low in trait dominance. Moreover, candidates claimed more value than recruiters if they were in the anger condition, high in cortisol, and low in trait dominance. However, recruiters claimed more than candidates when they were in the neutral condition, low in cortisol, and high in trait dominance. These latter two findings supported the mismatch effect hypothesis, which was extrapolated from testosterone to cortisol for the first time. Replicating prior work, dyads with a recruiter in the anger condition created the most value relative to dyads with participants in the neutral condition and dyads with candidates in the anger condition. These findings inform how to select appropriate negotiators to maximise gains given specific individual difference profiles and negotiation situations.
Because little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying anger regulation, Experiment 6 in Chapter 4 investigated the neural regions involved in reappraisal, analytical rumination, and experiential rumination using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants recalled an anger-inducing autobiographical memory and engaged in three counterbalanced emotion regulation strategies. Reappraisal produced the least self-reported anger followed by analytical rumination and angry rumination. Rumination was associated with increased functional connectivity of the inferior frontal gyrus with the amygdala and thalamus. This pattern of functional connectivity distinguished rumination from reappraisal.
In summary, these findings are theoretically consistent with past work showing negative and retaliatory consequences of intrapersonal anger in bargaining contexts. In instances when anger is detrimental, emotion regulation may help to curb negative bargaining behaviour. Consistent with the process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998b) antecedent reappraisal had longer lasting effectiveness for reducing anger than distraction. Strategies that involve reappraisal or self-distancing may be more effective for reducing anger than methods that involve distraction, self-immersion, or rumination. Practical implications including potential strategies for increasing negotiation gains are considered.