100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, 2nd Edition

95 Mood Influences the Decision-Making Process

You have just been offered a new job. The work is interesting, and there’s more money, but there are downsides too. You’ll probably have to travel more and work longer hours. Should you take the new job or stay where you are? Your gut tells you to go for it, but when you sit down and make a list of pros and cons, the cons outweigh the pros, and the logical method tells you to stay put. Which will you follow: your gut or your logic?

Marieke de Vries (2008) and her team conducted research to find out. They were interested in the intersection between mood and decision-making strategies.

Participants were shown a video clip of a funny part from a Muppets movie (happy mood) or a clip from the movie ...