Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk‐Taking: Empirical and Meta‐Analytic Evidence for Differences Between Males and Females

Rebecca A. Ferrer,Alexander Maclay,Paul M. Litvak,Jennifer S. Lerner

doi:10.1002/bdm.1971

Abstract

AbstractThat anger elicited in one situation can carry over to drive risky behavior in another situation has been described since the days of Aristotle. The present studies examine the mechanisms through which and the conditions under which such behavior occurs. Across three experiments, as well as a meta‐analytic synthesis of the data, results reveal that incidental anger is significantly more likely to drive risky decision making among males than among females. Moreover, the experiments document that, under certain circumstances, such risk‐taking pays off financially. Indeed, the present experiments demonstrate that, because the expected‐value‐maximizing strategy in these studies rewarded risk‐taking, angry‐male individuals earned more money than did both neutral‐emotion males and angry females. In sum, these studies found evidence for robust disparities between males and females for anger‐driven risk‐taking. Importantly, although men did not experience more anger than women, they did show a heightened tendency to respond to anger with risk‐taking. Published 2016. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Highlights

That anger elicited in one situation can carry over to drive risky behavior in another situation has been described since the days of Aristotle
These data suggest that the effect of incidental anger on risk-taking may differ for men and women, supporting Hypothesis 2
We designed Experiment 3 to systematically test the main effect of and interaction between gender and anger on risk-taking, as well as to provide additional evidence that could contribute to a meta-analytic synthesis

Summary

Introduction

According to the Appraisal Tendency Framework (ATF; Han, Lerner, & Keltner, 2007; Lerner & Keltner, 2000; 2001), anger’s influence on risk perception is partially explained by the fact that anger is characterized by high levels of the cognitive appraisal dimensions of certainty and control (Smith & Ellsworth, 1985) Such effects might be especially strong when individuals consider risks associated with redressing a transgression or deterring future transgressions (Frijda, 1986; Lerner & Tiedens, 2006). We extend previous findings (Fessler et al, 2004; Kugler et al, 2010) by examining how anger influences risk-taking in the context of uncertainty and experientially-learned risk perceptions This is an important step, given that risky behaviors often are undertaken without understanding of the precise probability of a consequence. Smoking one cigarette is not itself a strong risk factor for lung cancer, but rather influences cancer risk by predicting a pattern of smoking that compounds into a higher risk for lung cancer

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