Vol.:(0123456789) Science and Engineering Ethics https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-018-00082-z 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Self‑Focused Emotions and Ethical Decision‑Making: Comparing the Efects of Regulated and Unregulated Guilt, Shame, and Embarrassment Cory Higgs 1  · Tristan McIntosh 2  · Shane Connelly 1  · Michael Mumford 1 Received: 24 September 2018 / Accepted: 16 December 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Research has examined various cognitive processes underlying ethical decision- making, and has recently begun to focus on the diferential efects of specifc emo- tions. The present study examines three self-focused moral emotions and their infuence on ethical decision-making: guilt, shame, and embarrassment. Given the potential of these discrete emotions to exert positive or negative efects in decision- making contexts, we also examined their efects on ethical decisions after a cog- nitive reappraisal emotion regulation intervention. Participants in the study were presented with an ethical scenario and were induced, or not induced, to feel guilt, shame, or embarrassment, and were asked to reappraise, or not reappraise, the situ- ation giving rise to those emotions. Responses to questions about the ethical case were evaluated for the quality of ethical sensemaking, perceptions of moral inten- sity, and decision ethicality. Findings indicate that guilt, shame, and embarrassment are associated with diferent sensemaking processes and metacognitive reasoning strategies, and resulted in diferent perceptions of moral intensity. Additionally, cog- nitive reappraisal had a negative impact on each of these factors. Implications of these fndings for ethical decision-making research are discussed. Keywords Embarrassment · Emotion regulation · Ethical decision-making · Guilt · Shame * Cory Higgs chiggs@ou.edu 1 Department of Psychology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73072, USA 2 Division of General Medical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA