No Reward Will Flourish Out Of Guilt - 2271 Words

No reward will flourish out of guilt Noble laureate, Herbrert Simon, introduced bounded rationality in decision making with respect to situations and emotions. Since then, the effect of emotions on decision making has been widely explored in various disciplines ranging from philosophy (Solomon, 1983) to neuroscience (Phelpes et al., 2014). Many studies have shown that different experimentally primed positive or negative emotions lead to various tendencies in decision making (cite). According to previous accounts, negative emotions tend to reduce processing capacity (Conway Giannopoulos, 1993; Ellis Ashbrook, 1988; Eysenck, 1982; Sanbonmatsu Kardes, 1988); however, recent studies have shown that different negative emotions with the†¦show more content†¦Kugler Jones (1992) superbly define guilt: â€Å"Guilt may be denned as the dysphoric feeling associated with the recognition that one has violated a personally relevant moral or social standard†. Guilt can be analyzed through two lenses, namely, trait guilt, a continuing sense of guilt beyond immediate circumstances, and state guilt, present guilty feelings based on current or recent transgressions. In this work we aim to investigate the impact of state guilt on subsequent intertemporal decisions. Drawing on conceptual models of emotion and cognition (Schwarts Clore, 1983; Forgas, 1995; Lerner Keltner, 2000; Lerner et al. 2012), we hypothesize that experimentally primed state guilt may affect subsequent decisions regarding intertemporal choice. State guilt is defined as the emotion that is experienced after violating internalized standard of moral behaviour (Kugler Jones, 1992). Previous studies in the areas of clinical psychology and social psychology have found that guilt plays a vital role in behaviourial tendencies (Baumeister et al., 1994; Bozinoff Ghingold, 1983; Freedman et al., 1967; Darlington Macker, 1966). Ghingold (1980) states dissonance theory can provide a theoretical structure for understanding guilt induced behaviour. The primary basis underlying the theory of dissonance is the need for an individual to maintain cognitive consistency (Festinger, 1957). Festinger (1957) states individuals follow to one