title: Does mood really influence comparative optimism? Tracking an elusive effect.
abstract: Methodological limitations call into question prior evidence that positive moods are associated with greater comparative optimism. Experiments 1-4 tested if mood affects comparative optimism using a mood manipulation that minimized experimenter demand. While the procedure was successful in inducing mood, we found no evidence for a mood effect on comparative optimism. The absence of a mood effect was not due to participants correcting their judgments in response to a presumed mood bias (Experiments 2, 3 and 4) or to participants proactively regulating their mood (Experiments 3 and 4). Experiment 5 compared the mood manipulation of Experiments 1-4 with an autobiographical recall procedure. Although the two methods were equally effective in inducing mood, only autobiographical recall influenced participants' comparative optimism. Study 6 provides preliminary evidence that experimenter demand may be responsible for the effects of autobiographical recall on comparative judgments.
authors.affiliation: Université de Savoie, Chambéry, France.
authors.forename: Sasa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Drace
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Desrichard
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Shepperd
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hoorens
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology; D009341:Negativism; D010465:Perception; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult