Moral insight, - the identification of solutions to right-right moral dilemmas that satisfy competing moral norms, - is an important antecedent of ethical decision-making, yet it remains poorly understood. We investigate the impact of discrete emotions of joy, awe, love, positive surprise, negative surprise, fear, loneliness, and anger, on moral insight. Predictions are formulated drawing on negotiational self theory (Nir, 2016) and the appraisal tendency framework of emotions (Lerner & Keltner, 2000), and undergo empirical testing in a pre-registered experiment with a recall-based emotional induction (N=1118). Participants are tasked with finding solutions to moral dilemmas that are both generic and situated in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. We find that discrete emotions may operate differently depending on their associated appraisal tendencies. For example, although both positive surprise and joy are positive emotions, positive surprise fosters moral insight more than joy. We discuss the implications of our findings for the theory and practice of ethical decision-making in organizations.
