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Dissatisfaction-related emotions in decision-making
Tunç,M.N.
Tunç,M.N.
Abstract
This dissertation focuses on the multifaceted roles of dissatisfaction-related emotions (e.g., anger, envy, regret, and disappointment) in human decision-making and attitude formation. Following the functionalist accounts of emotion, it presents empirical tests of the hypothesis that although these emotions are typically categorized as negative, they frequently play a crucial role in the formation of adaptive responses to suboptimal circumstances. It also provides corroborative evidence that although these emotions are similar in terms of their valence and they often emerge simultaneously in reaction to the same stimuli, they have distinct antecedents. This dissertation presents four empirical chapters. Chapter 2 reports a longitudinal study conducted during the 2017 UK General Election to investigate how different forms of dissatisfaction-related emotions (regret, disappointment, and anger) impact electoral behaviors. The main findings were that voters who regretted voting for a party were more likely to switch parties in the subsequent election. In contrast, disappointment about electoral participation and party preference anger were negatively associated with participating in the 2017 election. Chapter 3 tested if "deviant failures mainly elicit regret" and "compliant failures mainly elicit disappointment" a series of five pre-registered experiments. Additionally, an alternative hypothesis that posits that "norm deviant failures elicit more intense negative emotions" was also examined. The results of these experiments provided support for the regret hypothesis in Experiment 1, 4, and 5, and for the disappointment hypothesis in all experiments, except for Experiment 2. The evidence provided support for the alternative negative emotions’ hypothesis in all experiments (except for Experiment 5 which, owing to its design, was not testing the aforementioned hypothesis). Thus, the outcomes of this study indicated that while nonconformity to social norms may indeed elicit a greater level of negative emotions as compared to adherence to such norms after failure, the exact shape that the negative emotion would take is dependent on the normative nature of failures. Chapter 4 reports five preregistered studies investigating the antecedents and consequences of benign and malicious envy toward rich people in the context of redistributive policy support. As predicted, in all five studies malicious envy was positively associated with support for redistribution. Benign envy was negatively associated with the support for redistribution in three out of five studies. Concerning the antecedents of envy, the results suggested that both benign and malicious envy towards billionaires were positively associated with personal relative deprivation. Also consistent with the proposed model, perceived fairness of the economic system was negatively associated with malicious envy and positively associated with benign envy. Social mobility was negatively associated with malicious envy as expected but the results did not support the link between social mobility and benign envy. Chapter 5 reports on three studies (two of them were preregistered) that investigate how beliefs in political efficacy, or perceived democratic responsiveness of different actors in a political system (the incumbents, the regime and its institutions, and the citizens themselves), are associated with emotional reactions to terrorism. One consistent finding across three studies was that those with stronger beliefs about the incumbent efficacy experience diminished derogatory emotions, such as anger, disgust, and contempt, after a terrorist attack. The results also suggested a relatively robust effect regarding how fear-related responses are associated with political efficacy beliefs. However, fear-related emotional reactions were negatively related to internal efficacy, suggesting that those who more strongly believe in their ability to influence national politics feel less apprehensive after a terrorist incident. Each study examined a different configuration of dissatisfaction-related emotion, context, and behavioral outcome, but together they suggest a unifying picture: dissatisfaction is not a monolithic emotional response but a family of emotions with distinct antecedents and consequences.
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2025-10-20
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Proefschriftmaken
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Tunç, M N 2025, 'Dissatisfaction-related emotions in decision-making', Doctor of Philosophy, Tilburg University, s.l.. https://doi.org/10.26116/tsb.89145372