This project starts from the premise that emotions expressed by others influence ones own emotions and inclinations to be fair, to trust, and to cooperate. We will conduct a series of experiments making use of experimental games, in particular different versions of multi-round ultimatum games. In the dyadic version of this game, Player A decides how to divide resources between herself and Player B; Player B then either accepts this division or rejects it, in which case neither player receives anything. We will examine (a) how different social emotions (e.g., anger vs. disappointment vs. happiness) expressed by Player B influence Player As decisions in subsequent rounds of the game and (b) how different emotions expressed by a team-mate of Player A in a group version of the game influence Player As resource division. It will be examined to what extent emotional expressions serve as veridical social information and to what extent they function as strategic, and possibly deceptive, messages. This research will contribute to a fuller understanding of the social functions of emotion and of how individuals emotions and behaviours are socially regulated.
