Utilizing Emotions for Ethical Decision Making in Leadership

Background

To discuss the role of emotions in decision making, one must first define what an emotion is. Emotions arise due to reactions to a specific event or situation, resulting in shorter, more intense emotional experiences than moods (Forgas, 1992; Lazarus, 1991). These discrete, transient reactions are typically directed towards someone or something and can be powerful enough to interfere with cognitive processes (Schwarz & Clore, 2007). In fact, a growing body of literature underscores the impact that affect has on the cognitive processes involved in interpreting information, reasoning, and making judgments and decisions (e.g., Blanchette & Richards, 2010; Lerner & Tiedens, 2006; Pfister & Böhm, 2008). For example, interpretation of ambiguous stimuli is greatly affected by one’s emotional state by biasing the inferences drawn in the situation (Blanchette & Richards, 2010). Research has also found that more risky judgments and choices occur when individuals are in a positive mood while those in a negative mood tend to avoid risk and make more pessimistic judgments and choices (Bower, 1981; Wright & Bower, 1992). Risk aversion and choices also depend on more discrete emotions as well, underscoring the differential effects of discrete emotions above and beyond their general valence (e.g., Lerner & Keltner, 2000; Raghunathan & Pham, 1999).