Noga Prat

This series of studies examines the role of two emotions (anger and guilt ) in influencing promotion decisions  The studies build on a theoretical framework that relates anger and guilt to responsibility attribution. The studies use the vignette methodology: In short stories a case of organizational failure involving two employees is described and participants were asked to report who of the employees described will be promoted to a higher-ranking position. Systematic changes of the scenarios allowed for testing of multiple research hypotheses.

The data confirmed that individuals feeling anger were perceived as more likely to receive a promotion than individuals who felt personal guilt about the same failure. Anger feelings had a stronger effect on perceived promotion opportunities when they was associated with employees in a senior position as compared to a more junior position. The promotion chances of a female employee feeling anger were found to be identical to those of female employee feeling guilt, suggesting a sex difference wherein anger expression does not relate to the promotion probability of female employees. But when anger was associated with a female managers the dynamics were similar to those observed with a male manager, wherein expressions of anger were perceived as improving promotion opportunities.