Regulatory functions of social emotions in cooperation

Confronted by a situation in which one can choose whether or not to cooperate, to what extent are one's thoughts, feelings and actions influenced by emotional information? This project starts from the premises: that emotions expressed by others influence one's own emotions and inclinations to be fair, to trust and to cooperate that an important reason to be fair, to trust and to cooperate lies in the negative emotions experienced or anticipated when one's failure to do these things evokes negative emotions in others. In keeping with these ideas, theories from social psychology and behavioural economics suggest that certain emotions promote cooperative conduct and help to keep antisocial or unduly competitive behaviour in check. This notion - that emotions are important in bringing about cooperative behaviour - is the main hypothesis of this project. A series of studies will make use of experimental games. How does emotional information affect thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in these games? The emotions will be ones that encourage players to frame the decision in competitive or cooperative terms. The outcome measures will be the decisions that players make, along with their appraisals of the game and the emotions they experience and express.