Q Academy of Management Review 2017, Vol. 42, No. 2, 190–206. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0368 MOVING BEYOND FIGHT AND FLIGHT: A CONTINGENT MODEL OF HOW THE EMOTIONAL REGULATION OF ANGER AND FEAR SPARKS PROACTIVITY R. DAVID LEBEL University of Pittsburgh Although the experience of negative emotions is generally associated with negative behaviors and outcomes, researchers have largely overlooked the possibility that negative emotions can lead to proactive behavior. For instance, emotions such as anger and fear can spark proactive behavior by signaling a need to change the status quo. Whereas theory and research on the topic have produced conflicting arguments and inconsistent results, I integrate a discrete emotions perspective with theories of proac- tivity to determine the conditions under which anger and fear prompt proactive be- havior. In doing so I provide a conceptual framework that enables understanding of specific factors that determine when anger is directed away from fight that harms others and toward fight that benefits others, and when fear is directed away from flight and toward increased protective effort (fight). This article contributes to theory with a con- tingent model that specifies when and why anger and fear spark proactive behavior and generate functional outcomes. It also offers practical advice for organizations to effec- tively manage emotional experiences and thereby increase proactive behavior resulting from experienced anger or fear. Can anger and fear spark proactive behavior? It is widely recognized that negative emotions often produce destructive effects in organizations by increasing counterproductive or uncivil behavior and limiting employees’ efforts toward organiza- tional improvement (Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Maitlis & Ozcelik, 2004; Morrison & Milliken, 2000; Spector & Fox, 2002). Unfortunately, negative emo- tions commonly arise in organizations, resulting from uncertain and changing economic conditions (Ashford, Lee, & Bobko, 1989; Jordan, Ashkanasy, & Hartel, 2002), difficult interpersonal interactions in- volving abuse or a lack of support (Glomb & Hulin, 1997; Tepper, 2000), and inherent power differences between employees and supervisors (Detert & Edmondson, 2011). However, the experience of negative emotions in organizational settings can also be functional by signaling that the current sit- uation needs to be changed, thereby motivating employees to rectify or even prevent unfavorable situations (Elfenbein, 2007; George, 2011). Employees experiencing negative emotions may thus be motivated to initiate change, the hallmark of proactive behavior, which is defined as anticipatory action aimed at improving the situation or the self (Crant, 2000; Grant & Ashford, 2008). Scholars examining the link between negative emotions and proactivity have only tentatively developed arguments regarding the possibility of positive or negative effects (Bindl, Parker, Totterdell, & Hagger-Johnson, 2012; Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010), in part because affect has been broadly con- ceptualized as a stable dispositional or state emo- tional experience (e.g., negative trait affect or mood). In the handful of studies examining the relation- ship between negative emotions and proactivity, scholars have produced mixed and inconsistent findings, variously suggesting a positive relation- ship (Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007: Study 1), a neg- ative relationship (Fay & Sonnentag, 2012; Fritz, Yankelevich, Zarubin, & Barger, 2010), or no re- lationship (Bindl et al., 2012; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007: Study 2; Fritz & Sonnentag, 2009). These com- peting arguments and inconsistent empirical re- sults suggest that organizational scholars lack a systematic understanding of whether and when negative affective experience influences proactive behavior. I would like to thank my dissertation committee members, Adam Grant, Sigal Barsade, Katherine Klein, and Nancy Rothbard, for their insightful advice, as well as Drew Carton, Carrie Leana, Shefali Patil, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and partici- pants in the Wharton Micro-Meso Brown Bag series for their helpful feedback on previous versions of this paper. Generous financial funding for this project was provided by the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership of the Katz Graduate School of Business, through the BNY Mellon Foundation of Western Pennsylvania. 190 Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be copied, emailed, posted to a listserv, or otherwise transmitted without the copyright holder’s express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles for individual use only.