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How does mood influence people's willingness to disclose intimate information about themselves? Based on recent affect-cognition theories and research on interpersonal behavior, 3 experiments predicted and found that people in a positive mood disclosed more intimate, more varied, and more abstract information about themselves. In contrast, people in a negative mood were more attentive to the behavior of others and reciprocated self-disclosure from their partners more accurately. This effect was obtained in hypothetical situations (Experiments 1 and 2) and in realistic computer-mediated interactions as well (Experiment 3). Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed that mood effects on self-disclosure were mediated by information processing style. The role of affect in information processing and relationship behaviors in particular is discussed, and the implications of these findings for everyday interaction strategies and for contemporary affect-cognition theorizing are considered., ((c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)

The subtle relationship between feeling and thinking, affect and cognition has fascinated philosophers and writers since time immemorial, yet, empirical research on this topic was relatively neglected by psychologists until recently. There have been many claims emphasising the beneficial cognitive and behavioural consequences of positive affect. Many recent works suggest that negative affect may also facilitate optimal performance in many situations, consistent with evolutionary theories suggesting the adaptive signalling function of various affective states. This paper reviews traditional and current psychological theories linking affect to social thinking and behaviour. A variety of empirical studies from our laboratory will also be presented, demonstrating that in many situations, negative affect promotes optimal performance in cognitive and social tasks, including tasks such as memory, social judgements, motivation, and strategic interpersonal behaviours. These results will be interpreted in terms of a dual-process theory that predicts that negative affect promotes a more accommodative, vigilant, and externally focused thinking strategy. The relevance of these findings for recent affect-cognition theories will be discussed, and the practical implications of negative affect promoting improved social thinking and performance in a number of applied fields will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selfishness vs. fairness are basic dimensions of relating to others, and many computer-mediated communications among young people involve subtle decisions balancing selfishness vs. fairness. We report five experiments investigating the influence of affect on interpersonal decisions in CMC in strategic games such as the dictator game and the ultimatum game. In the dictator game, proposers have unlimited power to make selfish or fair allocations. In the ultimatum game, decisions by proposers are subject to the veto powers of responders. These experiments predicted and found that negative mood consistently increased, and positive mood reduced concern with the fairness of allocations. Proposers in a negative mood showed greater fairness and offered more resources to a partner than did those in a positive mood, and such decisions also took longer confirming mood-induced processing differences. The results are discussed in terms recent affect-cognition theories, suggesting that positive affect recruits more assimilative, internally focused processing promoting selfishness, while negative affect induces more externally oriented, accommodative thinking and greater concern with social norms. The implications of the findings for everyday interpersonal behaviors and computer-mediated interactions involving selfishness vs. fairness are considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

How do subtle subliminal cues such as perceptual fluency (e.g., the visual clarity of a face) and priming influence the way we form impressions of people? In this experiment, participants ( N = 114) received an affective priming manipulation, and then viewed sharp (perceptually fluent) or slightly blurred (disfluent) photographs of target individuals. Impressions were assessed on a trait checking task, a trait rating task, and open-ended descriptions, and processing latency was also measured. Results indicated that both positive primes and greater fluency increased the positivity of impressions. In an interesting pattern, priming effects were greater for perceptually disfluent (blurred) faces, consistent with disfluent images also triggering more elaborate, constructive, and longer processing. These results are discussed in terms of the important and so far little understood interactive role of priming and fluency cues in impression formation judgments in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Based on recent affect-cognition theories and research on social influence strategies, four experiments predicted and found that people in negative mood produced higher quality and more effective interpersonal persuasive messages than did people in positive mood. This effect was obtained for messages advocating both popular and unpopular positions (Experiments 1 and 2), and arguments produced in negative mood actually induced greater attitude change in naïve recipients (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 replicated these effects in an interactive situation, and mediational analyses showed that mood influenced processing style, resulting in the production of more concrete and thus more effective messages when in a negative mood. The role of negative affect in information processing and the production of interpersonal influence strategies in particular is discussed, and the implications of these findings for everyday interaction strategies, and for contemporary affect—cognition theorizing are considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Does mood influence people’s tendency to engage in evasive, equivocal communication when facing conflict situations? Based on recent affect–cognition theories and research on verbal communication, this experiment predicted that negative mood should increase, and positive mood decrease the level of verbal evasiveness in conflict situations, and that high situational conflict should magnify these mood effects. Participants underwent a happy or sad audiovisual mood induction, and then produced verbal responses to low- and high-conflict situations using structured as well as open-ended responses. Results indicated that affect and conflict severity had an interactive influence on evasiveness and equivocation: negative affect produced significantly more evasiveness than positive affect, and these effects were greater in high than in low-conflict situations. These results are discussed in terms of the cognitive strategies that mediate mood effects on verbal communication. The implications of the findings for everyday communication situations, and for current affect–cognition theorizing are considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the influence of affect on interpersonal behavior. Factors facilitating affective influences on interpersonal behaviors; Details on the principles of the affect infusion model.

Examines the role of affect in social thinking and behavior. Influence of discrete emotions on social judgments and behavior; Classification and definition of functionally different affective states; Difference between substantive processing versus perceptual simulation.

Are happy people more likely to be cooperative and successful negotiators? On the basis of the Affect Infusion Model (AIM; Forgas, 1995a), Experiment 1 predicted and found that both good and bad moods had a significant mood-congruent effect on people's thoughts and plans, and on their negotiation strategies and outcomes in both interpersonal and intergroup bargaining. Experiment 2 replicated these results and also showed that mood effects were reduced for persons more likely to adopt motivated processing strategies (scoring high on machiavellianism and need for approval). Experiment 3 confirmed these effects and demonstrated that the mood of the opposition also produced more mood-congruent bargaining strategies and outcomes. The results are discussed in terms of affect priming influences on interpersonal behaviors, and the implications of these findings for real-life cognitive tasks and bargaining encounters are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does mood influence our information search and decision strategies when choosing a partner? In Experiment 1 (N = 60), sad Ss preferred rewarding to competent partners and remembered information supporting that choice better. In Experiment 2 (N = 96), mood effects on information selectivity, decision speed, and processing strategy in partner choices were found. In Experiment 3 (N = 42), a computerized stimulus presentation revealed mood-induced differences in the latency, self-exposure, and eventual recall of interpersonal information. These results are interpreted as evidence for mood-induced selectivity in information search and decision strategies when making realistic partner choices. The implications of the findings for research on interpersonal relations and for contemporary affect-cognition theories are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do emotional states influence the social judgments made b), groups and individuals? Based on affect-cognition theories and research on group judgmental shifts, we predicted that group discussion will enhance positive mood effects on judgments, but inhibit affectively-based distortions in dysphoric moods. Positive, neutral and negative moods were induced using audiovisual presentations. Individual and group consensus judgments of nine person categories on three judgmental dimensions (evaluation, competence and self-confidence) were obtained in two experimental sessions separated by a two-week interval. Results showed that individuals made more positive judgments when happy, and more negative judgments when sad than did controls. Group discussion resulted in a further polarization of positive judgments, and the attenuation of negative judgments. The findings are interpreted as evidence for the important role affect plays in mediating both individual cognitive processes and interactive social behaviours. The implications of the results for contemporary affect-cognition theories and models of group behaviour are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments investigated the role of short-term affective states on the way people perceive various aspects of their personal relationships. Using an unobtrusive mood induction in a field setting, Experiment 1 found significant mood congruency in evaluative judgments about well-established intimate relationships. Experiment 2 used a controlled laboratory procedure and found that evaluations of the relationship and the partner, as well as preferred styles of conflict resolution were all significantly affected by the respondents' transient mood state. Increasing relationship longevity did not reduce affective influences on judgments in either study. The results arc discussed in terms of the role of affective states in cognition and judgments, and the influence of affect on everyday judgments about personal relationships is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different social episodes on interpersonal perception were studied in a well-established academic group consisting of male and female faculty members, research students, and staff. Group members (N = 16) were asked to rate one another on a number of personality dimensions in each of four social episodes commonly occurring in their social milieu. The relevance of the rating scales used for each of the episodes was previously established in a pilot study. Interpersonal judgments were analyzed by (a) a multidimensional scaling technique, and (b) by subsequent discriminant analyses of the group spaces. Results indicated that (a) the traits used were different in the four episodes, (b) the number of dimensions used varied with the episode, (c) the status of group members was differentially relevant in different episodes, and (d) status groups differed in their perceptions of the group structure in each of the four episodes. The importance of situational variables in social perception was discussed, and the role of different social episodes in defining and structuring our view of the social world was considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]