Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Aug 21:8:1371.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01371. eCollection 2017.

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

Shengxiang She  1   2 , Iveta Eimontaite  3 , Dangli Zhang  2 , Yan Sun  4
Affiliations

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

Shengxiang She et al. Front Psychol. .

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.

Keywords: anger; emotion; fear; framing effect; risk preference reversals.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Chaiken S., Trope Y. (1999). Dual-Process Theories in Social Psychology. New York: The Guilford Press.
    1. Chen S. (2011). Psychology of Emotion. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.
    1. Chentsova-Dutton Y., Tsai J. L. (2010). Self-focused attention and emotional reactivity: the role of culture. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 98 507–519. 10.1037/a0018534 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chentsova-Dutton Y. E., Tsai J. L., Gotlib I. (2010). Further evidence for the cultural norm hypothesis: Positive emotion in depressed and control European American and Asian American women. Cultur. Divers. Ethnic Minor. Psychol. 16 284–295. 10.1037/a0017562 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Martino B., Kumaran D., Seymour B., Dolan R. J. (2006). Frames, biases, and rational decision-making in the human brain. Science 313 684–687. 10.1126/science.1128356 - DOI - PMC - PubMed