Fitting decisions: Mood and intuitive versus deliberative decision strategies

Abstract

We investigated the influence of the compatibility between mood and decision strategies on the subjective value of a decision outcome. Several studies have provided evidence for the idea that a sad mood induces people to analyse information carefully, probably fitting well with a deliberative decision strategy. In a happy mood, people tend to act more strongly on their feelings, probably fitting well with an intuitive decision strategy. However, sometimes the situation demands the use of decision strategies that seem incompatible with mood states. We expected that decision makers would value a decision outcome higher in the case of a fit between mood and decision strategy than in the case of a non-fit. After a mood manipulation, participants were instructed to decide either based on their first affective reaction or after deliberation. Results confirmed our expectations: fitting decisions enhanced the subjective value of a decision outcome.

Acknowledgements

The writing of this article was supported in part by VENI-grant 451-04-063 from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to RWH.

The authors would like to thank Piotr Winkielman for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Notes

¹Simple effect tests showed a marginal significant Mood effect for the deliberative decision mode, F(1, 73) = 3.48, MSE=23.56, p<.07 and no effect for the intuitive decision mode, F<1.

²Simple effect tests showed a marginal significant Dispositional Preference effect for the intuitive decision mode, F(1, 39) = 3.22, MSE=20.98, p<.09 and no effect for the deliberative decision mode, F(1, 39) = 2.79, MSE=20.98.