The Effect Of Sadness And Anger On Pro-social Decision Making:The Role Of The Interpersonal Attribution Of Responsibility

Based on the theory of Appraisal Tendency Framework(ATF),the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of sadness and anger on the pro-social decision making and analyze the role of the interpersonal attribution of responsibility in this relationship,and investigates the differences of gender in decision-making situations by using study 1 and 2.Both of the researches use film clips to induce specific emotions to conducted.Study 1 is a single factor experiment design,emotions as a between-subject variable,consists of three levels(sadness,anger,and neutral),the dependent variable is pro-social decision making,concrete operation was asked to participants how much time they could spend to help researcher;Research is a two factors mixed experiment design with a 2(emotions : sadness / anger)×3(interpersonal attribution of responsibility: controllable situation and recipient own / uncontrollable and external situation / ambiguity)with emotions as a between-subject variable,interpersonal attribution of responsibility as a inter-subject variable,the dependent variable is pro-social decision making,concrete operation were asked to cost money for others.The results of the study showed that :(1)sadness and anger had different effects on the pro-social decision making,and the participants of sadness were likely to spend more money and help than anger for those who need to help.(2)the interpersonal attribution of responsibility as a boundary condition for emotions and pro-social decision making.Only when the inter-subject variable in the ambiguity,the participants of sadness were likely to spend more money and help for people.(3)Both Study 1 and Study 2 have no significant differences on the level of gender in pro-social decision-making situations.The findings of this study may help explain the impact of Incidental Emotion on pro-social decision making,enrich the theory of Appraisal Tendency Framework(ATF)research evidence and have important implications understanding of the interpersonal attribution of responsibility in pro-social decision making,and provide evidence for future study.