Appraisal of Emotions and Public Policy Preferences

The purpose of this research is to empirically test the relationship between the appraisal tendency framework (ATF) (Lerner & Keltner 2000, 2001) on public policy preferences. The ATF predicts that emotions can trigger cognitive processes to assess events along various appraisal dimensions that influence judgment and decision-making. This theory goes beyond positive or negative valence of emotions, which are used by various policy process theories including the Social Construction and Policy Design Framework (Schneider & Ingram 1993). Specifically, this research tests the influence of anger compared to fear and sadness along with a control group on policy preferences using experimental surveys of the public. Based on previous research of the ATF, it is hypothesized that angry respondents will be associated with more extreme policy positions, greater burdens for target populations, and support for major policy changes in comparison to sad or fearful respondents. The survey will assess members of the U.S. public's responses to immigration, social welfare and criminal justice issues. This research will demonstrate the utility of an appraisal approach for studying the influence of emotions on policy preferences.