| Abstract: | Recent research suggests that moods influence the way people process information in applied settings. There is an ongoing debate, however, about the mechanisms by which mood influences the way information is processed. The present research explored the possibility that task goals, hedonic expectations of the task, and mood interact to predict systematic information processing. The present study hypothesized and found, using a thought‐listing measure of systematic information processing, that (a) consistent with the feelings‐as‐information model, individuals in an unpleasant mood process information systematically, regardless of task goals and hedonic expectations; (b) also consistent with the feelings‐as‐information model, individuals in a pleasant mood fail to process information systematically under a performance task goal, regardless of hedonic expectations; and (c) consistent with the hedonic contingency model, individuals in a pleasant mood process information systematically under an enjoyment task goal for tasks expected to be pleasant, but not for tasks expected to be unpleasant. |
