A Study of the Triggers of Conflict and Emotional Reactions

Authors

Michael Caldera, Amazon.com, Inc.
Michael T. McBride, University of California, Irvine
Matthew W. McCarter, Chapman UniversityFollow
Roman M. Sheremeta, Chapman University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-20-2017

Abstract

We study three triggers of conflict and explore their resultant emotional reactions in a laboratory experiment. Economists suggest that the primary trigger of conflict is monetary incentives. Social psychologists suggest that conflicts are often triggered by fear. Finally, evolutionary biologists suggest that a third trigger is uncertainty about an opponent’s desire to cause harm. Consistent with the predictions from economics, social psychology, and evolutionary biology, we find that conflict originates from all three triggers. The three triggers differently impact the frequency of conflict, but not the intensity. Also, we find that the frequency and intensity of conflict decrease positive emotions and increase negative emotions and that conflict impacts negative emotions more than positive emotions.

Comments

This article was originally published in Games, volume 8, issue 21, in 2017. DOI: 10.3390/g8020021

Recommended Citation

Caldara, M., McBride, M., McCarter, M., & Sheremeta, R. (2017). A study of the triggers of conflict and emotional reactions. Games, 8(21), 1-12. doi: 10.3390/g8020021

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.