On Making Sense of Odd Couples: Mood Effects on the Perception of Mismatched Relationships

Abstract

Are our judgments of unusual, atypical couples more likely to be distorted due to temporary mood? Two experiments based on a recent multiprocess theory developed by Forgas predicted and found greater mood-consistent bias in judgments of atypical rather than typical relationships. In Experiment 1, happy and sad subjects judged couples who were well-matched or ill-matched in terms of physical attractiveness. In Experiment 2, a false-feedback mood induction was used, followed by judgments of typical and atypical couples. In both studies, mood effects on judgments were consistently greater for mismatched couples. The results are interpreted as suggesting the greater use of mood-based inferences in judgments of unusual targets that require more constructive processing. The role of typicality in mediating mood effects on judgments is discussed, and the implications of the findings for everyday judgments about relationships are considered.