MOOD AND THE SUBJECTIVE RISK OF FUTURE EVENTS

In three experiments we investigated the relationship between mood and risk estimation. In Experiment 1, mood was changed by having subjects imagine a series of either positive or negative events. Judgements of future event likelihoods were biased in a global fashion; i.e. events which were used in the mood manipulation did not change to a greater degree than similarly valenced events not used in the manipulation. The results of Experiments 2 and 3 suggest that the failure to find specific biasing for those events used to change mood state is most likely due to interference resulting from presentation of multiple stimuli. It is concluded that events which influence mood can have both global and specific priming effects, consistent with expectations based on an activation/availability model.