An article in the New York Times, The Rationality of Rage, summarizes the findings of several studies about when expressing anger can be productive.
Despite the catchy title of the article, expressing rage generally isn’t helpful. But expressing anger can be useful in some situations.
The article distinguishes three types of negotiations – primarily cooperative (e.g., starting a business), primarily competitive (e.g., dissolving a business), and a mixture (e.g., selling a business to a buyer). According to the findings of a forthcoming paper:
In two experiments, negotiators made greater concessions to those who expressed anger — but only in balanced situations. When cooperating, hostility seems inappropriate, and when competing, additional heat only flares tempers. But in between, anger appears to send a strategically useful signal.
