In the mood to face the facts: When a positive mood promotessystematic processing of self-threatening information

摘要

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that apositive mood can increase attendance to, and systematicprocessing of, threatening health information, particularlywhen the information is self-relevant. In Study 1, a positivemood increased differentiation between strong and weakarguments in a threatening health message about RSI onlyfor participants who had received false feedback regardingtheir high vulnerability to RSI. Mood had no effects underconditions of low vulnerability. In Study 2, a positive moodspeeded up responses to self-threatening words—comparedwith neutral words—for smokers who had just read athreatening health message about smoking. The authorsconclude that fostering a positive mood may promoteattendance to and systematic processing of information thatthreatens the self, and hence contribute to the success ofhealth campaigns targeted at individuals who are vulnera-ble to specific health risks.