This study examined the impact of mood, age, and gender on decision processes of adolescents and adults. A total of 161 7th through 12th graders and adults completed a computer-administered decision task (choosing a part-time job). Each job varied on eight categories of information. Positive, neutral, and negative moods were induced; participants then used the computer to review information about the jobs. The computer recorded the amount of time spent viewing each piece of information, categories that were discarded, and the sequence of these views. Type of information processing (careful vs. superficial) was affected by mood, but only for females, who discarded more information and took longer to decide in negative vs. positive or neutral moods. Age affected participants’ estimates of the probability of obtaining their desired job and predecision search strategy: Junior high females were more pessimistic about their chances, and adults used more sophisticated decision strategies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Medical Information, Inc.
(Producer). (1989). Back pain [Video].
2.
Bower, G. H.
, & Cohen, P. R. (1982). Emotional influences in memory and thinking: Data and theory. In M. S. Clark & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition: The Seventeenth Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition (pp. 291-331). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
Brown, J. E.
, & Mann, L. (1990). The relationship between family structure and process variables and adolescent decision making. Journal of Adolescence, 13, 25-37.
4.
Couturie, B.
, & Bird, T. (Producers), & Couturie, B. (Director). (1987). Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam [Video]. New York: HBO Video.
5.
Deldin, P. J.
, & Levin, I. P. (1986). The effect of mood induction in a risky decision-making task. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 24, 4-6.
6.
Fine, G. A.
, Mortimer, J. T., & Roberts, D. F. (1990). Leisure, work, and the mass media. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 225-252). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
7.
Fiske, S. T.
(1982). Schema-triggered affect: Applications to social perception. In M. S. Clark & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and Cognition: The Seventeenth Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition (pp. 55-78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Forgas, J. P.
(1989). Mood effects on decision making strategies. Australian Journal of Psychology, 41, 197-214.
9.
Forgas, J. P.
(1991a). Emotion and social judgments: An introductory review. Oxford, England: Pergamon.
10.
Forgas, J. P.
(1991b). Affect and social judgments: An introductory review. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Emotion and social judgments: An introductory review (pp. 3-29). Oxford, England: Pergamon.
11.
Freeman, M.
, Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1986). Adolescence and its recollection: Toward an interpretive model of development. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 32, 167-185.
12.
Furby, L.
, & Beyth-Marom, R. (1992). Risk taking in adolescence: A decision-making perspective. Developmental Review, 12, 1-44.
13.
Gardner, W.
(1993). A life-span rational-choice theory of risk-taking. In N. J. Bell & R. W. Bell (Eds.), Perspectives on adolescent risk-taking (pp. 66-83). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
Gardner, W.
, Scherer, D., & Tester, M. (1989). Asserting scientific authority: Cognitive development and adolescent legal rights. American Psychologist, 44, 895-902.
15.
Gati, I.
, & Tikotzki, Y. (1989). Strategies for collection and processing of occupational information in making career decisions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 430-439.
16.
Isen, A. M.
, & Means, B. (1986). The influence of positive affect on decision-making strategy. Social Cognition, 2, 18-31.
17.
Isen, A. M.
, Means, B., Patrick, R., & Nowicki, G. (1982). Some factors influencing decisionmaking strategy and risk taking. In M. S. Clark & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition: The Seventeenth Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition (pp. 243-261). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
Janis, I. L.
, & Mann, L. (1977). Decision making. New York: The Free Press.
19.
Jacobs, J. E.
, & Ganzel, A. K. (1993). Decision-making in adolescence: Are we asking the wrong question? In P. R. Pintrich & M. L. Maehr (Eds.), Motivation in adolescents: Advances in achievement and motivation (pp. 1-31). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
20.
Klayman, J.
(1985). Children’s decision strategies and their adaptation to task characteristics. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35, 179-201.
21.
Klitzner, M. D.
, Vegega, M. E., & Gruenewald. P. (1988). An empirical examination of the assumptions underlying youth drinking/driving prevention programs. Evaluation and Program Planning, 11, 213-235.
22.
Larson, R. W.
(1987). On the independence of positive and negative affect within hour-to-hour experience. Motivation and Emotion, 11, 145-156.
23.
Larson, R.
, Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Graef, R. (1980). Mood variability and the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 469-689.
24.
Larson, R.
, & Lampman-Petraitis, C. (1989). Daily emotional states as reported by children and adolescents. Child Development, 60, 1250-1260.
25.
Leith, K. P.
, & Baumeister, R. F. (1996). Why do bad moods increase self-defeating behavior? Emotion, risk-taking, and self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1250-1267.
26.
Lewis, C. C.
(1981). How adolescents approach decisions: Changes over grades seven to twelve and policy implications. Child Development, 52, 538-544.
27.
Melton, G. B.
, & Russo, N. F. (1987). Adolescent abortion: Psychological perspectives on public policy. American Psychologist, 42, 67-72.
28.
Moshman, D.
(1993). Adolescent reasoning and adolescent rights. Human Development, 36, 27-40.
29.
Nakajima, Y.
, & Hotta, M. (1989). A developmental study of cognitive processes in decisionmaking. Information searching as a function of task complexity. Psychological Reports, 64, 67-79.
30.
Namerow, P. B.
, Lawton, A. I., & Philliber, S. G. (1987). Teenagers’perceived and actual probabilities of pregnancy. Adolescence, 22, 475-485.
31.
Payne, J. W.
, Bettman, J. R., & Johnson, E. J. (1990). The adaptive decision maker: Effort and accuracy in choice. In R. M. Hogarth (Ed.), Insights in decision-making: A tribute to Hillel J. Einhorn (pp. 129-153). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32.
Phelps, C. E.
(1987). Risk and perceived risk of drunk driving among young drivers. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 6, 708-714.
33.
Ross, J. A.
(1981). The measurement of student progress in a decision-making approach to values education. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 27, 1-15.
34.
Simon, H. A.
(1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69, 99-118.
35.
Starmaker Entertainment
. (Producer). (1991). Saturday Night Live [Video]. Alexandria, VA: Time Life Video.
36.
Tversky, A.
(1972). Elimination by aspects: A theory of choice. Psychological Review, 79, 281-299.
37.
Weithorn, L. A.
, & Campbell, S. B. (1982). The competency of children and adolescents to make informed treatment decisions. Child Development, 53, 1589-1598.
38.
Wilson, T. D.
, & Schooler, J. W. (1991). Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 181-192.
39.
Wright, G.
(1984). Behavioral decision theory: An introduction. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
