Asymmetric Associations and Affective Evaluations: Influences of Positive and Negative Affect

In two experiments, we investigate mood as it relates to the structural asymmetry between positive and negative affective judgments reported by Herr and Page (2004). Mood was found to influence, but not form the sole basis of the asymmetry. The manner of mood’s influence was demonstrated to be consistent with a view of mood effects that posit positive affect-induced processing efficiency. Specifically, our findings suggest that positive moods result in more efficient processing of positive and negative affective queries, attenuating (if not eliminating) the asymmetry, while negative moods appear to exacerbate the asymmetry, making all judgments more effortful