Emotions in Audience Decision Making 321fi nds substantial agreement among appraisal theorists on the appraisal dimensions that differenti-
ate the various emotions. The fi ve dimensions appraisal theorists have commonly proposed are
unexpectedness, valence (positive or negative), certainty (certain or uncertain), agency (caused by
another, oneself, or no one), and norm violation (committed by another or oneself).^134
Cross-cultural studies demonstrate that audiences in the United States, much of Western Europe,and parts of Africa, Asia, and South Asia make similar appraisals when experiencing similar emo-
tions.^135 In one study, almost 1,000 people in the United States, Japan, and the People’s Republic of
China were asked to recall emotional situations and to describe how they had appraised them.^136
The study found few differences from one country to another in terms of the appraisal dimensions
associated with each emotion. For example, in all of the cultures studied, anger involved moderately
negative valence and fairly high other-agency, whereas fear involved both negative valence and
uncertainty.
The Sequence of Emotional Appraisals
Emotionally signifi cant stimuli appear to be appraised one dimension at a time in a fi xed sequence
with the audience member’s emotional experience changing each time a new dimension is
appraised.^137
The fi rst appraisal audiences make is that of unexpectedness—something in their environ-ment unexpectedly changes and attracts their attention.^138 The appraisal of unexpectedness also
serves a purely rational function: It indicates to the audience that they need to update or change a
schema they have activated.^139 Once the audience recognizes something unexpected has occurred,
they generally display the orienting response, at which point they stop any ongoing activities and
become ready to make additional appraisals.^140 Together with the orienting response, audiences
also display the emotion of surprise, with the degree of unexpectedness determining the intensity
of the surprise felt.^141
The second appraisal audiences make is that of valence, positive or negative, which can also bethought of as like or dislike.^142 Liking encourages approach; disliking or aversion leads to avoid-
ance.^143 Valence appraisals occur quickly, sometimes so quickly that they cannot be distinguished
from the experience of attention.^144 Occasionally the same stimulus that is conducive for one of
the audience’s goals or values is obstructive for another. When this happens, the audience experi-
ences mixed emotions and emotional confl ict.^145 For example, an employee might be both happy
and somewhat sad to learn that a respected and well-liked supervisor is at last able to retire from
the workforce. Although the audience can simultaneously experience low levels of bad feelings
with low levels of pleasant feelings, they cannot experience both strong positive and strong negative
emotions at the same time.^146
The third appraisal audiences make is that of certainty. Anger, disgust, and happiness are associ-ated with the appraisal of certainty—something either positive or negative has defi nitely happened.
Hope, fear, and worry are associated with the appraisal of uncertainty—something either positive
or negative may possibly happen.^147
The attribution of agency, determining who caused an event, is the fourth appraisal in thesequence. The attribution of agency is especially important in distinguishing among the negative
emotions.^148 Anger is evoked when the audience understands someone else to be the cause of the
problem or agent and sadness when the cause or agent is thought to be the circumstances (e.g., an
unavoidable accident).
The last appraisal audiences make is that of norm violation. Societies depend upon their mem-bers to abide by shared rules or norms of acceptable behavior. Violations of norms lead audiences
to experience contempt or disgust when judging the behavior of others and guilt or shame when