Anger and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

In this dissertation I focus on the behavioral consequences of anger in third-party situations and argue that anger can lead to prosocial behavior when the option to do so is included. More specifically, it is investigated when, why and how anger leads to prosocial behavior. Overview of Chapters The chapters in this dissertation are based on individual papers that are published or under review. As a consequence, the co-authored chapters contain "we" instead of "I". Furthermore, the chapters are written such that they can be understood separately, but they can also be read as part of a set. The order of the chapters reflects the development of my reasoning about anger 1. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on behavioral consequences of anger, and proposes that the behavioral consequences can be explained from an equity perspective (i.e., the idea that angry people want to right wrongs/restore equity). Chapter 3 is aimed at experimentally establishing whether anger leads to prosocial behavior. The most important finding is that prosocial consequences stem from thirdparty anger (where there is a possibility to act prosocially towards a victim), and that acting prosocially towards a victim is preferred over punishment of a perpetrator. These prosocial effects of anger seem to occur independently from empathic concerns. Chapter 4 investigates when anger leads to prosocial behavior, by testing the equity perspective as proposed in Chapter 2. The most important finding is that anger leads to prosocial behavior when one can still restore equity with that behavior; when equity is already restored by compensation of the victim or punishment of the perpetrator, one's anger and one's own motivation to act prosocially towards the victim decrease.

Risk behavior for gain, loss, and mixed prospects

“…We have reason to believe that anger, which has hitherto been associated largely with third-party punishment (e.g., Fehr and Gächter 2002;Lotz et al 2011b), can also motivate third-party prosocial acts. Both punishment of a perpetrator and compensation of a victim can act as a means to the end of restoring unjust or inequitable relations (e.g., Frijda 2004;Van Doorn et al 2014). We believe that in interpersonal situations the general concern of anger, namely goal blockage (e.g., Berkowitz and Harmon-Jones 2004;Kuppens et al 2003), translates into a concern for equity (e.g., Stillwell et al 2008).…”

“…Still, research showing a direct relation between anger and prosocial or helping behaviors is lacking (for a review, see Van Doorn et al 2014). In this paper we examine the effect of anger on subsequent prosocial behavior of third-parties and seek to explain both antagonistic and prosocial consequences of anger in terms of equityrepair concerns.…”

Costly third-party interventions: The role of incidental anger and attention focus in punishment of the perpetrator and compensation of the victim

“…Accordingly, incidental anger should only enhance punishment, but not compensation tendencies. However, Van Doorn et al (2014) conceptualized anger as a reaction to unjust or unfair situations (i.e., moral outrage, indignation) that triggers the tendency to restore fairness. In that sense, anger is appraised as perceiving the blockage of a desired goal (e.g., achieving equality) and triggers an effort to remove the obstruction (Carver & Harmon-Jones, 2009).…”

“…This runs counter to the idea that third-party compensation is based on focusing on, feeling close to, and experiencing empathic concern for the victim of a violation (e.g., Leliveld et al, 2012;Van Prooijen, 2010). Yet, Van Doorn et al (2014) proposed that anger is experienced as a reaction to violations of moral standards, fairness, or equality. This type of reaction, also called moral outrage or indignation (Carpenter & Matthews, 2012), motivates third parties to restore equality either through punishment or compensation.…”

Half a Loaf Is (Not) Better Than None: How Austerity-Related Grievances and Emotions Triggered Protests in Spain*

“…Scholars characterize anger as a group-based (Frijda 1986), negative emotion that manifests when people are confronted with obstacles that impede their attainment of rewards (Brader and Marcus 2013). The emotion has previously been found to amplify grievances (Klandermans et al 2008) and foster participation (for literature reviews see Jasper 2014;van Doorn, Zeelenberg, and Breugelmans 2014), because anger, along with enthusiasm, belongs to disposition system-related emotions that drive action (Berkowitz and HarmonJones 2004).…”