Emotions and Decision-Making Processes in Management Teams: A Collective Level Analysis

discrete emotions are rarely studied in relationship with group decision-making. using data from 20 simulated companies run by a total of 106 managers attending executive education programs, the current research examined to what extent four classes of emotions (positive achievement, positive approach, negative resignation, and negative antagonistic) were related to team decision-making processes (alternative generation and alternative evaluation). significant intra-class coefficients confirmed that aggregation of emotion and decision-making processes was feasible. correlations at the collective or aggregated team level showed that approach emotions were related to alternative generation, particularly in the developing phase of a group decision-making task. finally, a ratio of positive emotions over negative emotions correlated positively with a better team decision process. future research extending emotion influence in decision process is suggested, and practical implications are discussed.