Angry (or Disgusted), but Adjusting? The Effect of Specific Emotions on Adjustment From Self-Generated Anchors

Many numerical judgments are made by adjusting from a salient anchor value. This research examines the effect of high-certainty emotions—emotions associated with feelings of confidence about what is happening, what will happen, and how to respond—on the adjustment process. The authors examined whether such emotions would induce people to engage in adjustment more confidently and thoroughly, leading to greater adjustment. In two studies, the authors found that people feeling anger (Study 1) and disgust (Study 2)—emotions associated with appraisals of certainty—adjusted more from self-generated anchors than did people feeling fear (Study 1) and sadness (Study 2)—emotions associated with appraisals of uncertainty. Study 2 found that this effect does not occur for experimenter-provided anchors, from which adjustment tends to be less consistently observed.