The associations of anger and hope with project retention decisions: A case study

Abstract

The role of emotions and cognition in entrepreneurship and strategic decision-making research has thus far been relatively neglected. In this research, we investigate how anger and hope may influence managers’ project retention decisions. While case studies can never test theories, our research aims to expose the Appraisal Tendency Framework (ATF) to empirical reality in a new context. A Palestinian research context characterized by extreme uncertainty is chosen as one that arguably amplifies the effects of high levels of emotion. Three businesses within a holding company were identified and twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers responsible for strategic decision-making, with data analysed using Content and Thematic Analyses. The emotions of hope and anger were each independently found to be associated with project retention decisions. However, when hope and anger were experienced together, hope complemented a positive association between anger and retention. The AFT proposes that emotions with different valence (i.e., negative anger and positive hope) may be associated with corresponding thought processes (heuristic or systematic) and still result in similar behavioural outcomes. The findings also highlight implications of decision-making under uncertainty, for practitioners who may benefit from differentiating between the positive and negative influences of anger on decisions.