Differentiating emotions in relation to deserved or undeserved outcomes: A retrospective study of real-life events

Abstract

A model is described that relates discrete emotions to the perceived deservingness of self or other's positive or negative outcome (Feather, 2006). The model proposes that the evaluation of actions and their contingent outcomes is a key determinant of deservingness. The model was tested in a study in which participants (N=194) described an important recent positive or negative outcome that they deserved or did not deserve and then rated emotions relating to the outcome for their intensity. Results showed outcome effects and interaction effects involving deservingness and outcome for the self-related emotions of pleasure, pride, sadness, sympathy, guilt, regret, anger, and resentment that were consistent with the model. Implications of the model for appraisal theory and for future research on deservingness and emotions are discussed.

Keywords:

• Deservingness
• Evaluative consistency
• Emotions
• Appraisal

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.

Notes

¹The F-values for the Outcome by Deservingness interaction effect for pleasure, sadness, and resentment were not statistically significant at conventional levels but they approached significance (p=.06 for pleasure; p=.09 for sadness; p=.10 for resentment). However, because interaction effects were expected on the basis of a priori hypotheses, we conducted tests of simple effects (Tukey tests) across the four cells for each emotion and we report the statistically significant differences.

²We conducted a content analysis of the descriptions that participants provided about the context of their positive or negative outcomes and the actions that produced them. Most descriptions could be classified as relating to an achievement context at school, university, or work (41.2%) or to a relationship context involving family or friends (37.6%). Further analysis that included context as a factor in a 2×2×2 ANOVA along with Outcome and Deservingness showed that action valence was more positive in the achievement context than in the relationship context; sadness, sympathy, guilt and regret were all higher in the relationship context. There was a virtual absence of effects involving the interaction of context with the other two factors except that both responsibility for action and deservingness were higher for a positive outcome than for a negative outcome in an achievement context, and also higher when a positive outcome occurred in an achievement context than in a relationship context. Perceived responsibility was also higher when a negative outcome occurred in a relationship context than in an achievement context.