Jena Economic Research Papers Listen: I Am Angry! an Experiment Comparing Ways of Revealing Emotions Listen: I Am Angry! an Experiment Comparing Ways of Revealing Emotions *

We report on an experiment designed to explore whether allowing individuals to voice their anger prevents costly punishment. For this sake, we use an ultimatum minigame and distinguish two treatments: one in which responders can only accept or reject the offer, and the other in which they can also scold the proposer. By an unannounced successive two-person public goods game, with either the same partner or a different one, we additionally explore how “having a voice” affects later behavior. The evidence supports the conclusion that voicing one’s outrage crowds out the need to harm oneself and the other. Yet, this emotional reaction does not lead to increased future cooperation. JEL Classification: C72, C78, C92, H41