Anger and Moral Reasoning in Decision Making

Abstract

The aim of the research was to examine the impact of anger on moral reasoning and decision making. We were interested in whether anger leads to more punitive attributions and to greater willingness to help when one perceives immoral behavior. Participants (N=61) of the experimental design were randomly divided into two groups. The results show that anger may lead to more automatic information processing and also to an intuition based judgment. Angry participants chose harsher punishments and considered it more morally correct. It was also shown that anger does not lead to greater willingness to help in an immoral situation. The research notes that actual emotional states can influence the process of moral reasoning and determine moral judgment.