Anger Expressions in Structured Decision-Making Groups and the Moderating Role of Recipient Gender: Online and In-Person Evidence from U.S. Samples

This research explores how anger expression operates in structured group decision-making, a context that differs in important ways from the dyadic bargaining settings that dominate prior research. Using spatial voting theory and experimental designs informed by political science, we examined the effect of anger expression in decision-making groups with bases of power grounded in agenda control and voting position. Early experiments with these forms of power suggested gender differences in reactions that we also examine systematically. Through three experiments (two with programmed groups and one with in-person groups) conducted in the United States with English-speaking participants, we observed that anger expressions failed to consistently yield influence. They sometimes provoked retaliation, particularly among female participants in empowered roles. We proposed and tested the mechanisms behind the retaliation effect from the perspective of the EASI framework. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.