Positive mood boosts the expression of a dispositional need for closure

Abstract

Three studies (N=539) examined the hypothesis that positive mood increases the degree to which epistemic motivation, i.e., the need for closure (NFC), affects the way in which an individual processes information (heuristic vs. systematic processing). In each of the studies, different methods of operationalising mood were used: in Study 1, mood was measured as a state; in Study 2, mood was induced by asking participants to recall emotional events; and in Study 3, mood was induced by emotional pictures. The styles of information processing that were utilised by our participants were operationalised in terms of their preferences for (Study 1) and ability to recall (Studies 2 and 3) schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent information. Taken together, the results of the three studies show that only under positive mood, NFC level of an individual is consistent with his or her style of information processing, that is, only under positive mood is there a negative relationship between the NFC level of an individual and the utilisation of schema-inconsistent information. Our results can be explained in terms of the effect that mood has on an individual's perceived ability to achieve NFC.

Keywords:

• Positive mood
• Heuristic processing
• Need for closure
• Ability to achieve closure
• Schema-inconsistent information

We would like to thank Paweł Mrozowicz for collecting the data for Study 2.

We would like to thank Paweł Mrozowicz for collecting the data for Study 2.

Notes

¹ The lay epistemic theory emphasises that both achieving certainty and reducing uncertainty motivate both high- and low-NFC individuals. That is, the NFC level of an individual affects the way in which that person prefers to achieve certainty and does not affect the level of certainty or uncertainty actually experienced.

² Because there were two types of schemas, honest and dishonest, the inconsistent information also consisted of either honest (positive) or dishonest (negative) behaviours.

³ The numbers of the IAPS slides used in this study were as follows. Positive images: 1441, 1463, 1710, 1750, 2080, 2091, 2150, 2165, 2208, 2216, 2332, 2340, 2345, 2387, 2435, 2530, 2550, 2579, 2598, 2655, 8200, 8210, 8300, 8496, 8370, 8380, 8400, 8470, 8490, 8031. Negative images: 1120, 1300, 1301, 1930, 2811, 2730, 2981, 3015, 3016, 3030, 3051, 3101, 3102, 3110, 3120, 3140, 3168, 3530, 6312, 6313, 6315, 6250,7380, 9008, 9040, 9140, 9181, 9300, 9301, 9320.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by grant MNiSW N N106 023238 awarded to Małgorzata Kossowska.