The differential effects of incidental anger and sadness on goal regulation

•Individuals commonly enter a work domain with incidental emotions from other sources.•We examine the effects of incidental anger versus sadness on goal setting.•Anger is approach-oriented while sadness is avoid-oriented.•Subjects with incidental anger (vs. sadness) set higher goals after feedback receipt.•Self-efficacy mediates the link between spillover anger (vs. sadness) and goal setting.