Anger and fear in decision-making: The case of film directors on set

Anger and fear are frequently felt and impactful workplace emotions, espe­ cially in times of crisis when critical decisions need to be made. An important question is how these emotions might influence decision makers' depth of processing: whether when feeling angry or fearful decision-makers engage in more conscious and analytical rational decision making, or less-conscious and heuristic intuitive decision making. To date research on the effect of these strong emotions has been limited to laboratory studies where the complexity and pressures of real-world managerial decisions are absent, and focused on generalized mood rather than on direct emotional experience. This study asks two research questions: Do anger and fear facilitate the use of intuitive or rational decision-making? And what is the impact of these emotions on decision effectiveness? We examine these phenom­ ena in the crisis-laden field setting of film directors actively engaged in directing motion pictures. Data were gathered by shadowing and interviewing seven film directors. A qual­ itative analysis of the video and audio transcripts revealed that film directors engage in two types of intuitive decision-making, based on whether the decision was driven by exper­ tise or personal emotional experience. Rational decision-making occurred when directors, driven by feelings of moderate fear and little previous experience with a situation, relied on a more conscious, deliberative decision-making process. Four types of decision effective­ ness are identified: task, personal, growth, and leadership. The implications of emotiondriven decision-making on each of these types of effectiveness are explored. Published by Elsevier Ltd.