Effects of preexisting moods on observers' reactions to helpful and nonhelpful models

Two experiments investigated the effects of preexisting mood on observers' reactions to helpful and nonhelpful models. The major predictions, derived from a social learning analysis of altruism and Isen's “cognitive loop” hypothesis, where that (1) subjects experiencing positive moods would be prosocially inclined if exposed to a helpful but not a nonhelpful model, and (2) subjects experiencing negative moods would accede to a request for assistance regardless of the type of model they had observed. Introductory psychology students underwent a positive, negative, or (in Experiment 1) a neutral mood induction. They then observed a model respond either positively or negatively to another person's request for assistance, and were subsequently provided an opportunity to assist the help-seeker. The results were highly consistent across the two experiments. The model's behavior had a stronger impact on subjects' help giving than did preexisting moods. However, internal analyses revealed that the intensity of moods that subjects were experiencing affected their reactions to modeling cues. The prosocial behavior of good mood subjects was positively correlated with the positivity of their moods if they had witnessed a helpful but not a nonhelpful model. By contrast, the helpfulness of subjects experiencing negative moods was positively correlated with the negativity of those moods, regardless of the type of model subjects had observed. The implications of these outcomes for the social learning analysis of altruism and the “cognitive loop” hypothesis are discussed.