emotion

Emotions enable an actor to commit him/herself unconditionally to a >decision such that there are no longer problems like time-inconsistency and credibility. In binding behavior, emotions are not only functional in strategic interaction with other actors, but also in solving internal conflicts over contradictory needs and drives. Emotions are therefore an essential aspect of human >reason.

Emotions have been evolved during human phylogeny as a genetically encoded non-referential knowledge, however, their triggering events are learned through socialization. Although emotions are a human universal, they remain context-dependent, which is a major aspect of >culture. The identification of contexts ("frames") is a cognitive act, so that in human behavior emotions and cognition are always inextricably linked with each other.

Basic References
The modern classic on the role of emotions in economics is:
Robert H. Frank, Passions Within Reason. The Strategic Role of Emotions, New York/London: Norton, 1988.

The idea goes further back to Thorstein Veblen's concept of "instincts".
Thorstein Veblen, The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of Industrial Arts, New Brunswick/London: Transaction, 1914/1990.

Philosophy is useful here:
On emotions

Semantic Field
reason
culture   emotion   cognition