Frustrating Events and Dynamic Choice: An Event-Based Approach to Negative Emotions
-
Series
-
Speaker(s)Clément Staner (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
-
FieldBehavioral Economics
-
LocationUniversity of Amsterdam, Campus Roeterseiland, E0.14
Amsterdam -
Date and time
October 16, 2025
12:00 - 13:00
Abstract
This paper develops a general theory of how negative emotions, triggered by outcomes that fall short of expectations (“frustrating events”), influence forward-looking behavior. Rather than modeling specific emotions, I characterize them by their triggering events and decompose the incentive channels through which they influence behavior. The decomposition clarifies how these channels interact and identifies when their joint effect is unambiguous. In these cases, comparative statics deliver testable implications when the triggered emotion is known. More importantly, comparative dynamics provide testable implications even when the specific emotion is unknown. I illustrate this through an application to a high-stakes sports environment.