The differential effects of incidental anger and sadness on goal regulation

Individuals commonly enter a task domain with pre-existing emotions. These pre-existing emotions, known as incidental emotions, can potentially shape subsequent goal-setting behaviors without individuals’ awareness, and in unique ways based on the characteristics associated with each emotion. Existing literature, however, does little to inform us about the specific effects of these emotions on goal-setting behaviors. In this paper, we draw on the theory of self-regulation of action and affect to argue that incidental anger and sadness originating from an ostensibly unrelated domain will have distinct effects on individuals’ goal-setting behaviors on a task. The theory suggests that anger is associated with approach behavioral tendencies while sadness is associated with deactivation behavioral tendencies. Hence, we hypothesize that individuals who are experiencing anger from an unrelated source will experience higher self-efficacy and in turn set higher goals after receiving task feedback as compared to individuals who are experiencing sadness. Results from a field study and an experimental study, both with undergraduate samples, supported our hypotheses. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.