Processing goals, task interest, and the mood–performance relationship: A mediational analysis.

Abstract

The authors examined the role of intrinsic interest in mediating the relationship among mood, processing goals, and task performance. Participants in induced happy, neutral, or sad moods generated similarities and differences between TV shows using performance-based, enjoyment-based, or no stop rule (cf. L.L. Martin, D.W. Ward, J.W. Achee, & R.S. Wyer, 1993). Pretask interest and both quantitative (time spent, number generated) and qualitative (creativity) performance were assessed. Happy participants spent more time and generated more items than other participants when using an enjoyment-based stop rule but spent less time and generated fewer items when using a performance-based stop rule. Happy participants also expressed greater pretask interest and were more creative than other participants regardless of stop rule. Regression-based path analyses indicated that pretask interest partially mediated the effects of mood on quantitative performance but not on creativity.

The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?

“…For example, in the helping literature, experimental inductions of positive affect produce increased prosocial behavior, whereas inductions of negative affect do not necessarily decrease helping (e.g., Aderman, 1972;Berkowitz, 1987;Isen & Levin, 1972;Rosenhan et al, 1974). Regarding social interactions (e.g., Cunningham, 1988aCunningham, , 1988b, creativity (e.g., Hirt et al, 1996;Richards, 1994), and evaluations of strangers (e.g., Baron, 1987Baron, , 1993, it appears that positive mood inductions do not produce symmetrical effects. Experimental laboratory research-for example, on helping, creativity, and task performance-also often includes neutral mood conditions, which do not parallel the effects of happy mood (e.g., Berkowitz, 1987;Cunningham, 1988a;Estrada et al, 1994;Isen, 1970Isen, , 1993Isen et al, 1985;Rosenhan et al, 1974).…”

“…Laboratory studies have shown that induced happy moods lead participants to derive greater enjoyment from whatever task they are instructed to perform. For example, individuals in an induced positive mood are more likely to enjoy category-sorting tasks (Hirt, Melton, McDonald, & Harackiewicz, 1996;Murray, Sujan, Hirt, & Sujan, 1990), and groups put in a positive mood are more likely to take pleasure in a group negotiation task (Carnevale & Isen, 1986).…”

“…Many investigators, led by Isen and her colleagues, have shown that laboratory inductions of positive affect lead to elevated scores of originality and flexibility, often labeled creativity in these studies. The manipulations used to induce positive moods have been diverse, and several different types of assessments of flexible and original thinking have been used (e.g., Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1994;Hirt et al, 1996;Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985;Sinclair & Mark, 1995). It should be noted that, occasionally, people in a sad mood are also more original than those in a neutral mood (Adaman & Blaney, 1995).…”

On being sad and mistaken: Mood effects on the accuracy of thin-slice judgments.

“…Happiness alone is associated with both impaired and enhanced judgments, depending in large part on the type of task involved. Hirt, Melton, McDonald, and Harackiewicz (1996) suggested that positive mood may enhance performance on creativity tasks yet impair performance on tasks requiring more detailed, systematic processing. In support of this distinction, positive mood reliably leads to more creativity in problem solving (e.g., Estrada, Young, & Isen, 1994;Greene & Noice, 1988;Isen, Daubman & Nowicki, 1987;Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985), improved integration of available information (e.g., Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1997), and more flexible classification of material (e.g., Isen & Daubman, 1984;Isen, Niedenthal, & Cantor, 1992;Kahn & Isen, 1993).…”

The Parent-Child Relationship during Beginning Reading

“…Although a more standardized measure of fluency might have resulted in greater precision, such a measure would have altered the dynamics of the interaction, reducing external validity. It was important that the measure of fluency be embedded in, not independent of, the situation in which the other measures were taken, because research suggests that situational variation in emotions affects situational variation in cognitive performance (Hirt, Melton, McDonald, & Harackiewicz, 1996). Other researchers have discussed what constitutes valid and authentic assessment of reading ability, with some suggesting that children be assessed while reading connected text from books that are likely to be found in their school (Mathes & Torgesen, 2000;Taylor, Anderson, Au, & Raphael, 2000).…”