Cookies, Disposition, and Job Attitudes: The Effects of Positive Mood-Inducing Events and Negative Affectivity on Job Satisfaction in a Field Experiment

Abstract

Reasoning from findings in a variety of literatures, three hypotheses were advanced: (1) negative affectivity (NA), a disposition to experience aversive emotional states, is associated negatively with job satisfaction; (2) positive mood-inducing events at the time of questionnaire administration increases job satisfaction; and (3) NA and positive mood-inducing events interact such that the effects on job satisfaction of positive events are weaker among high NA individuals than it is among low NAs. Support was obtained for all three hypotheses among a sample of 57 hospital workers randomly assigned to attend on-site questionnaire administration sessions at which small gifts (e.g., cookies) were or were not distributed. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the need to broaden further theoretical perspectives on job satisfaction. More generally, they also are discussed in reference to the study of the effects of NA and mood on judgments.