Emotions and Decision Making in Real-World Settings

The effect of emotions on decision making transcends daily life. Although some emotions like fear can focus decisions, other affective states like anger can bias judgements and lead people to engage in behavior they otherwise know is not in their self-interest. A growing body of research now suggests emotions play an important role in rule breaking. However, because crime cannot easily be examined in laboratory or real-world settings, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between emotions and criminal involvement have largely been left in the background. To observe the processes linking emotions and crime more directly, the current study uses Virtual Reality technology, which can immerse study participants in realistic environments where the opportunity to transgress can occur. Specifically, we employ a 360º virtual scenario in which participants encounter situations that occur in bars, some of which are designed to induce criminogenic emotions such as anger and sexual arousal. With this methodology, we can identify the elements of a criminal opportunity that evoke emotional responses, and in turn, shape decision-making processes fundamental to offending behavior.