ArticlePDF Available

Hope, Pride, and Processing During Optimal and Nonoptimal Times of Day

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

We examine the conditions under which the distinct positive emotions of hope versus pride facilitate more or less fluid cognitive processing. Using individuals' naturally occurring time of day preferences (i.e., morning vs. evening hours), we show that specific positive emotions can differentially influence processing resources. We argue that specific positive emotions are more likely to influence processing and behavior during nonoptimal times of day, when association-based processing is more likely. We show in three experiments that hope, pride, and a neutral state differentially influence fluid processing on cognitive tasks. Incidental hope facilitates fluid processing during nonoptimal times of day (compared with pride and neutral), improving performance on tasks requiring fluid intelligence (Experiment 1) and increasing valuation estimates on tasks requiring that preferences be constructed on the spot (Experiments 2 and 3). We also provide evidence that these differences in preference and valuation occur through a process of increased imagination (Experiment 3). We contribute to emotion theory by showing that different positive emotions have different implications for processing during nonoptimal times of day.
Content may be subject to copyright.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1695651
Hope, Pride, and Processing During Optimal and Nonoptimal
Times of Day
Lisa A. Cavanaugh
University of Southern California Keisha M. Cutright, Mary Frances Luce, and
James R. Bettman
Duke University
We examine the conditions under which the distinct positive emotions of hope versus pride facilitate
more or less fluid cognitive processing. Using individuals’ naturally occurring time of day preferences
(i.e., morning vs. evening hours), we show that specific positive emotions can differentially influence
processing resources. We argue that specific positive emotions are more likely to influence processing
and behavior during nonoptimal times of day, when association-based processing is more likely. We
show in three experiments that hope, pride, and a neutral state differentially influence fluid processing
on cognitive tasks. Incidental hope facilitates fluid processing during nonoptimal times of day (compared
with pride and neutral), improving performance on tasks requiring fluid intelligence (Experiment 1) and
increasing valuation estimates on tasks requiring that preferences be constructed on the spot (Experi-
ments 2 and 3). We also provide evidence that these differences in preference and valuation occur
through a process of increased imagination (Experiment 3). We contribute to emotion theory by showing
that different positive emotions have different implications for processing during nonoptimal times of
day.
Keywords: emotion, cognitive processing, circadian rhythm, positive mood, hope and pride
Different positive emotions can influence cognitive processing
and performance in very specific ways. For instance, hope and
pride are both common positive emotions associated with common
achievement scenarios. However, these two emotions may create
different effects on later processing because of the unique themes,
appraisals, and behavioral tendencies embodied by each emotion.
Specifically, hope may elicit striving toward desired outcomes,
encouraging a cognitive style that stimulates fluid processing and
imagination, while pride may elicit more self-focused reflection on
accomplishments, creating an opposite style. At times, however,
we seem to inhibit, correct, or control for these effects, disengag-
ing even while hopeful or striving even while feeling pride. What
might account for the presence or inhibition of these specific
effects of positive emotions? We demonstrate that one answer to
this question includes individuals’ naturally occurring time of day
preferences for morning versus evening hours. We use time of day
to manipulate the availability of inhibitory resources (Hasher,
Zacks, May, Gopher, & Koriat, 1999; May & Hasher, 1998) and
therefore the amount of association-based (vs. controlled) process-
ing (Bodenhausen, 1990; May, Hasher, & Foong, 2005). Based on
reasoning about distinct emotion associations, we predict and find
that incidental hope (compared with incidental pride and neutral
states)
1
facilitates fluid cognitive processing during nonoptimal
times of day, resulting in better performance on a fluid intelligence
task and a stronger propensity to find value in relatively novel
goods.
Much emotion research has focused on the effects of positive
affect, mood, and positive versus negative emotional states. Al-
though important strides have been made in understanding the
distinct effects of incidental negative emotions (Lerner & Keltner,
2000, 2001), comparatively little work has been done to distin-
guish the different consequences of specific positive emotions.
Most research involving positive affect and emotion argues that
various positive emotional states have similar effects on behavior
(Fredrickson, 1998, 2001; Isen, 2001; for notable exceptions see
Algoe & Haidt, 2009; Algoe, Haidt, & Gable, 2008; Bartlett &
DeSteno, 2006). A large body of research has suggested that
positive affect universally increases cognitive flexibility (Isen,
2001; Isen & Daubman, 1984) and improves problem-solving
(Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1997). Additional research has suggested
that positive emotions function to broaden momentary thought-
action repertoires (Fredrickson, 2001), extend habitual ways of
1
We manipulated emotions via an incidental emotion task (Lerner &
Keltner, 2001). We examine the effects of incidental emotion (i.e., emotion
generated by an initial task that is irrelevant to the focal task, which is the
source of dependent measures) as opposed to integral emotion (i.e., emo-
tion that is relevant to or generated by the focal task).
Lisa A. Cavanaugh, Department of Marketing, Marshall School of
Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California;
Keisha M. Cutright, Mary Frances Luce, and James R. Bettman, Depart-
ment of Marketing, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina.
We thank Barb Fredrickson, Sara Algoe, and the members of the
Positive Emotion and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a. PEPLab) at the
University of North Carolina for their helpful comments on a draft of this
article.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lisa A.
Cavanaugh, University of Southern California, Marshall School of Busi-
ness, Department of Marketing, 3660 Trousdale Parkway, Room ACC
306E, Mail code: 0443, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0443. E-mail:
lisa.cavanaugh@usc.edu
Emotion © 2011 American Psychological Association
2011, Vol. 11, No. 1, 38– 46 1528-3542/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0022016
38
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1695651
thinking (Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005), and build cognitive
resources (Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008;
Fredrickson, Tugade, Waugh, & Larkin, 2003). In this article, we
contribute to emotion theory by showing that different specific
positive emotions can differentially influence cognitive flexibility.
Researchers have found that the influence of emotion can be
quite labile. Work on mood freezing (Bushman, Baumeister, &
Phillips, 2001; Hirt, Devers, & McCrea, 2008; Manucia, Baumann,
& Cialdini, 1984) shows that individuals’ beliefs about their emo-
tion can change whether or not the emotion influences behavior.
Moreover, the effect of emotion is often contingent on cognitive
load, which has been shown to affect emotional processing in
different consumption contexts (Rottenstreich, Sood, & Brenner,
2007; Shiv & Fedorikhin, 2002). These findings suggest that the
magnitude of emotion’s effect can be increased or decreased based
on the availability or perceived availability of an individual’s
resources.
One naturally occurring factor that influences the availability of
resources is an individual’s circadian rhythm. During different
times of day (i.e., morning vs. evening), individuals have been
found to feel and operate at their personal best or not (i.e.,
optimally or nonoptimally) based on their personal circadian
rhythms. Individuals’ circadian rhythms influence cognitive re-
source availability (Kruglanski & Pierro, 2008) and govern cog-
nitive function (Yoon, May, & Hasher, 2000). Thus, one important
factor that may amplify or lessen the effects of emotion is time of
day. Specifically, during nonoptimal times of day resources are
less readily available, and therefore automatic, association-based
processing (Kahneman & Frederick, 2005; Stanovich & West,
2002) is more likely (Bodenhausen, 1990; May et al., 2005).
In this article, we investigate whether specific positive emotions
can affect cognitive performance through their unique, learned
associations. We argue that the core relational themes, appraisals,
beliefs, and action tendencies associated with any particular emo-
tion are learned and automatic, serving a “steering function” and
helping to generate emotion-appropriate behavior (Lang, 1994;
Leventhal & Tomarken, 1986). These unique associations have
different implications for processing. Thus, we predict distinctions
among specific positive emotions under conditions that encourage
more automatic and association-based processing.
We contend that association-based emotion mechanisms are
likely to be more prevalent during nonoptimal times of day when
processing resources are reduced and inhibitory control is lower
(Hasher et al., 1999). At these times, associative type processing is
likely to be more prevalent, leading to a greater influence for
specific emotional associations on cognitive task performance
(Stanovich & West, 2002), including the valuation of items. In
summary, although the vast majority of empirical work has treated
positive emotions as an undifferentiated group producing similar
effects for processing, we propose differential effects for distinct
positive emotions under conditions favoring more association-
based processing.
More specifically, in our studies, we contrast the emotions hope
and pride. The unique associations with hope suggest that a valued
goal is possible, while associations with pride suggest a valued
goal has already been achieved. Hope is differentially associated
with concepts such as striving, possibility, effort, or the future,
whereas pride is associated with concepts such as achievement,
fulfillment, or the past. We believe that the distinct set of associ-
ations for each emotion can have important processing implica-
tions, particularly for fluid processing tasks requiring mental ex-
ploration or cognitive flexibility.
Hope and pride were selected as the emotions of interest for this
research not only because they are distinct positive emotions but
also because they both regularly occur in a variety of achievement
contexts across an individual’s life span. Some common situations
that elicit both hope and pride include athletic contests; getting fit
or losing weight; and finding a job. Individuals regularly experi-
ence hope and pride in these contexts, and the same individual is
likely to experience this pair of emotions in succession (i.e., before
and after an important outcome). Because hope and pride often are
intimately linked to desirable important outcomes, both emotions
are likely to be triggered throughout the day by numerous stimuli
that bring valued outcomes to mind. In such situations, an indi-
vidual’s valuation of items may be higher under certain conditions
(i.e., emotional states and times of day).
In sum, we predict that hope versus pride will affect processing
in distinctly different ways during nonoptimal times of day, par-
ticularly for fluid-processing tasks such as construction of valua-
tions. Next, we examine more specifically how different positive
emotions and nonoptimal times might, in combination, influence
processing on specific decision tasks. We then present evidence
from three experiments demonstrating that hope and pride differ-
entially influence fluid processing during nonoptimal times of day.
We show that during nonoptimal times of day hope improves
performance on a fluid intelligence task (Experiment 1) and in-
creases valuation estimates for a task where preferences for novel
objects must be determined in real time (Experiment 2). We further
show that hope impacts preference and valuation through the
process of imagination (Experiment 3).
Positive Emotions
In this article, we focus on the core themes, beliefs, thoughts,
and action tendencies associated with two distinct positive emo-
tions—hope and pride—and suggest some important ways in
which these specific positive emotions may differ. We argue that
these different emotion associations for hope and pride are learned
and automatic, serving a “steering function” (Lang, 1994; Lev-
enthal & Tomarken, 1986) for goal-oriented behavior.
Hope is an emotion characterized by an individual’s “yearning
for better and believing the wished-for improvement is possible”
(Lazarus, 2006, p. 16). Hope signals not only that a “current life
circumstance is unsatisfactory” (Lazarus, 1999, p. 653) but also
that a concrete positive goal is expected (Staats & Stassen, 1985).
Hopeful thought reflects a capability to derive pathways to desired
goals and to motivate goal pursuit (Snyder, Harris, Anderson, &
Holleran, 1991). Hope-related cognitions and associations involve
visualization and mental representation of positively valued ab-
stract future situations (Stotland, 1969) as well as tendencies
toward cognitive flexibility and mental exploration of novel situ-
ations (Breznitz, 1986; Snyder, 1994). High-hope individuals also
demonstrate better problem-solving abilities than low-hope indi-
viduals (Chang, 1998). In sum, hope is associated with motivated
goal-striving, problem-solving, and mental exploration of novel
situations. Thus, the associations with hope seem likely to elicit
flexible, goal-oriented behavior in the moment, often leading to
changes in one’s current state.
39
POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND TIME OF DAY
Pride has been characterized as “enhancement of one’s ego-
identity by taking credit for a valued achievement” (Lazarus, 2006,
p. 16) and experiencing enhancement of one’s self, or one’s social
worth, by being credited for a highly valued accomplishment
(Lazarus, 1991). Pride may have evolved to provide information
about an individual’s current level of status and acceptance (Tracy
& Robins, 2007a, 2007b; Tracy, Robins, & Lagattuta, 2005). Pride
involves specific self-evaluative processes and thoughts and is
considered a self-conscious emotion (Tangney, Dalgleish, &
Power, 1999). Thus, pride-related cognitions involve internal at-
tributions and self-credit for valued events (Smith & Lazarus,
1993; Weiner, 1985) and reflect experienced success in which an
individual currently feels good about him or herself. In sum, pride
is associated with goal-satiation, achievement, and self-
satisfaction. Therefore, unlike hope, the associations with pride
seem unlikely to motivate goal-oriented behavior aimed toward
making a change in one’s current state.
Circadian Rhythm and Nonoptimal Times of Day
A circadian rhythm is a daily periodicity consisting of an ap-
proximately 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological, or
behavioral processes of living beings. Circadian rhythm influences
cognitive resource availability (Kruglanski & Pierro, 2008) and
governs cognitive function (Yoon, May, & Hasher, 2000). An
instantiation of this rhythm is an individual’s morningness-
eveningness preference, that is, the degree to which an individual
feels and operates at his or her personal best during mornings
versus evenings. This tendency defines an individual’s optimal
versus nonoptimal time of day (Horne & Ostberg, 1976), which in
turn influences cognitive performance across the day (Yoon et al.,
2000).
During nonoptimal times of day, processing resources are less
readily available (Bodenhausen, 1990). Lower levels of processing
resources lead to less use of effortful, controlled, deliberate pro-
cessing and greater reliance on automatic, associative, and affec-
tive processing (Kahneman & Frederick, 2005; Stanovich & West,
2002). Moreover, lower levels of processing resources are associ-
ated with reductions in inhibition, influencing the momentary
contents of working memory (Hasher et al., 1999). This lower
inhibition may clutter or enrich contents in working memory (May,
1999; May & Hasher, 1998; Rowe, Valderrama, Hasher, & Len-
artowicz, 2006), with implications for performance that depend on
task demands. For instance, recent evidence suggests that implicit
memory retrieval is likely to be facilitated by more nonconscious,
associative processing and hence be better at nonoptimal times of
day, whereas explicit retrieval is likely to be better at optimal times
of day (May et al., 2005). Thus, during nonoptimal times of day,
inhibition is lower and associative processing is more likely to
affect behavior.
Positive Emotions, Nonoptimal Times, and Fluid
Processing
When processing resources and inhibition are more limited (i.e.,
during nonoptimal times of day), we expect incidental emotion to
have a larger impact on processing. During nonoptimal times of
day, reliance on associative processing should increase, making
the core themes, thoughts, and action tendencies associated with an
incidental emotional experience more accessible. Conversely, dur-
ing optimal times of day individuals will be more likely to correct
for or block out affective information because of heightened in-
hibitory control, particularly if affective information is incidental,
and hence likely to be perceived as irrelevant to the task at hand.
The greater accessibility of and receptivity to affective information
at nonoptimal times should enhance the influence of incidental
emotional associations on subsequent judgments and behaviors.
Thus, during nonoptimal times of day lower inhibition and greater
reliance on associative processing may make the emotion’s asso-
ciated thoughts and tendencies more influential.
In this article, we focus on the differential effects of hope versus
pride during nonoptimal times of day. Specifically, we show how
hope and pride differentially influence judgment in contexts re-
quiring fluid processing. Both fluid processing and fluid intelli-
gence refer to the ability to reason and solve new problems
independently of previously acquired knowledge and are critical
for a wide variety of cognitive tasks (Cattell, 1971; Jaeggi, Busch-
kuehl, Jonides, & Perrig, 2008). Fluid processing requires open-
ness and the ability to let in information or inputs and is associated
with abstract reasoning and mental exploration. We expect that
emotional states that engender greater cognitive flexibility and
mental exploration (e.g., hope) will facilitate performance on prob-
lems or tasks requiring fluid processing more than emotional states
that do not (e.g., pride), particularly during nonoptimal times of
day. It is important to note that we do not expect emotional states
to impact performance on tasks requiring crystallized intelligence
(i.e., tasks that require skills and knowledge from past experience),
even at nonoptimal times. Research suggests that highly practiced
responses (i.e., elements of crystallized knowledge) are invariant
across the day; however, attentional regulation over incoming
information and outgoing responses that are not highly practiced
(i.e., fluid intelligence) is particularly vulnerable to time of day
effects (Hasher, Goldstein, & May, 2005). We argue that this more
contingent nature of fluid, versus crystallized, tasks will extend to
the impact of emotional associations. Thus, we hypothesize that
hope will increase fluid processing (relative to pride) during non-
optimal times of day.
Experimental Overview and Hypotheses
We test our hypothesis in three different experimental task
contexts. The first experiment uses an established paradigm from
the literature on circadian rhythm and involves fluid versus crys-
tallized intelligence measures with clear performance criteria. Pre-
vious research has shown that individuals perform better on fluid
intelligence tasks during their own optimal time of day (Goldstein,
Hahn, Hasher, Wiprzycka, & Zelazo, 2007). In contrast, individ-
uals’ performance on crystallized intelligence tasks requiring ac-
cess to and production of well-learned or familiar responses is
unaffected by time of day (May, 1999). In the first experiment, we
replicate this established time of day effect in a neutral emotional
state (Goldstein et al., 2007) and then extend these findings by
showing that positive incidental emotion moderates the relation-
ship between nonoptimal time of day and performance on fluid
intelligence tasks. The second experiment examines the fluid pro-
cessing phenomenon in the context of preference assessment, a
fundamental psychological process which involves determining
one’s personal estimate of an object’s worth. Recent views of
40 CAVANAUGH, CUTRIGHT, LUCE, AND BETTMAN
preference assessment (Bettman, Luce, & Payne, 1998; Kahne-
man, Knetsch, & Thaler, 2005; Lerner, Small, & Loewenstein,
2004), especially for nonfamiliar items, have argued that it is a
constructive process (Bettman et al., 1998) and hence requires
fluid processing. That is, preferences may often be determined on
the spot at the time of assessment rather than being retrieved or
based on preexisting estimates. We show that two different posi-
tive emotions (hope and pride) differentially influence individuals’
willingness to pay during nonoptimal times of day (see Cryder,
Lerner, Gross, & Dahl, 2008, for influences of sadness on buying
prices). The third experiment replicates our effects for preference
and valuation and provides direct evidence for the process by
which hope has its effects (i.e., increased imagination and mental
exploration).
We hypothesize that during nonoptimal times of day hope will
promote more fluid processing, that is, more mental exploration and
generation of possibilities, than pride. In Experiment 1 we use an
intelligence task where fluid processing appears to facilitate genera-
tion of possible solutions and ultimately performance. In Experiments
2 and 3 we use two different preference valuation tasks where fluid
processing seems likely to facilitate generation of possible or potential
uses for considered items. As a result, we expect hope, but not pride,
to increase performance on measures of fluid problem-solving (Ex-
periment 1) and valuation of items in assessing preferences (Experi-
ments 2 and 3) during nonoptimal times of day.
Experiment 1
Method
Participants. A total of 103 adults (78 women and 25 men)
ranging in age from 20 to 74 (M43.3 years, SD 13.09)
completed the computer-based study in a laboratory or online.
Participants were recruited through email requests and online
postings. The sample included university employees recruited
from the campus community and general population adults pro-
vided by a national online data provider (Greenfield Online). All
participants completed a pretest online and then were asked either
to report to the behavioral lab or to log on to a Web site to
complete the main study during a randomly assigned window of
time. As the results reported below do not differ between these two
groups, the data were collapsed.
Procedure and materials. Experiment one consisted of a 2
time of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal) 3 emotion induction (hope,
pride, neutral) between subjects factorial design.
Task 1 (prescreener). Approximately 1 week before partic-
ipating in the main experiment, participants were asked to com-
plete the Horne and Ostberg (1976) Morningness-Eveningness
Questionnaire (MEQ), a validated individual measure of when
people reach their functional peak during the day (i.e., “optimal
time of day”). Participants were categorized as morning-types or
evening-types based on established scoring procedures (see
Bodenhausen, 1990; Kruglanski & Pierro, 2008) and then ran-
domly assigned to take the main experiment in the morning (7:00
a.m.–9:30 a.m.) or the evening (4:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.). Thus,
participants were randomly assigned to take the study at their
“optimal” time of day or “nonoptimal” time of day.
2
Task 2 (emotion induction). Upon arrival for the main exper-
iment, participants were randomly assigned to an emotion induction
condition (hope, pride, neutral). Following Lerner and Keltner’s
(2001) procedure, participants in the hope or pride conditions were
asked to (1) think about three to five things that make them most
hopeful (proud) and (2) describe in more detail “one situation that
makes you, or has made you, feel most hopeful (proud).” The remain-
ing participants (neutral condition) were asked to write about their
own regular daily routine. A series of linguistic (Pennebaker, Booth,
& Francis, 2007) and content analyses were conducted on each
participant’s writing sample to ensure that the emotion induction had
its intended effect.
3
The total amount of time participants spent on the
emotion induction was recorded by the computer. The amount of time
spent on the emotion induction was included as a covariate in all three
studies to ensure time spent on task or depletion did not account for
our results.
Task 3 (intelligence tasks). Next, participants were asked to
complete two measures of intelligence. The first task was a mea-
sure of fluid intelligence called “Matrix Reasoning,” taken from
the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI 1999; see
Goldstein et al., 2007). This task involved a series of 20 pictures.
In each picture there was a missing piece and participants were
asked to choose which of five possible options would best com-
plete the picture. Next, participants were asked to complete a test
of crystallized intelligence consisting of 20 vocabulary questions
(Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2005, see Goldstein et al., 2007) using
analogies and sentence completion taken from a GRE preparation
booklet (Green & Wolf, 2003).
Results
The focal dependent measure in this study was performance on
the fluid intelligence picture task, which was measured as the
number of questions answered correctly (out of 20). Similarly,
performance on the crystallized vocabulary task was measured as
the number of questions answered correctly (out of 20).
Replication of basic time of day effect. We first report
replication of the basic effect that participants in a neutral
emotional state perform better on fluid, but not crystallized,
intelligence measures at optimal times. For the neutral condi-
tion only, an ANOVA revealed a main effect of time of day on
the picture task, F(1, 31) 4.03, p.05, with better perfor-
mance at optimal times (M
optimal
16.6, SD 1.39) than at
nonoptimal times (M
nonoptimal
15.0, SD 2.81). There was
no effect of time of day on crystallized intelligence, that is, the
vocabulary task (F1). In testing the main hypotheses below,
2
Participants recruited at the university reported to the lab at their
assigned time and participants recruited online were allowed to sign-on and
take the main experiment only in their assigned time slot. No-show rates
did not differ by optimal versus nonoptimal times of day in Study 1 ( p
.5), Study 2 ( p.3), or Study 3 ( p.3).
3
Linguistic (LIWC2007) and content analyses show that hope and pride
were significantly higher than neutral on all measures of affective process-
ing (i.e., total affect, positive emotion, and negative emotion). Hope and
pride were equal in positive emotion and total affect in Studies 1 and 3;
hope was higher than pride in Study 2. Hope and pride were equal in
negative emotion and anxiety in all three studies. Hope and pride were also
equal in word count and words per sentence.
41
POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND TIME OF DAY
the vocabulary score was included as a covariate to control for
differences in verbal ability.
4
Main hypothesis. The primary purpose of Experiment 1 was
to understand the effect of emotion on fluid task performance at
optimal versus nonoptimal times of day. To this end, we conducted
an ANOVA with emotion condition and time of day (optimal vs.
nonoptimal) as predictors, fluid intelligence (picture task) perfor-
mance as the dependent variable, and vocabulary performance and
total time on the emotion induction as covariates. As expected,
results revealed a 2-way interaction of emotion condition and
time of day, F(2, 95) 3.27, p.04; see Figure 1. In probing
this interaction, we first analyzed the impact of emotion at
nonoptimal times of day using planned contrasts. As predicted,
hope led to better performance than pride at nonoptimal times
of day; F(1, 95) 4.51, p.04; M
hope nonoptimal
16.94
(SD 2.41), M
pride nonoptimal
15.21 (SD 3.87). Hope also
led to better performance than neutral at nonoptimal times of
day; F(1, 95) 4.43, p.04, M
hope nonoptimal
16.94 (SD
2.41), M
neutral nonoptimal
15.00 (SD 2.81). Results revealed
no difference between neutral and pride (F1). Next, we
analyzed the impact of emotion at optimal times of day. As
predicted, the difference between emotions did not impact
performance at optimal times of day (hope vs. pride, F1;
hope vs. neutral, F(1, 95) 1.69, p.20; neutral vs. pride F
1). It is interesting to note that within the hope condition,
participants at their nonoptimal time of day actually performed
better than their optimal counterparts (F(1, 95) 3.69, p.06;
M
hope optimal
15.44 (SD 2.71), M
hope nonoptimal
16.94
(SD 2.41).
Thus, the results of Experiment 1 show that two different positive
emotions, hope and pride, affect processing differentially at nonopti-
mal times of day. Specifically, hope increases fluid processing and
improves performance during nonoptimal times of day compared with
pride and a neutral emotional state. We argue that individuals expe-
riencing hope during nonoptimal times of day are guided by hope-
related associations and are more likely to engage in mental explora-
tion, that is, visualizing shapes and generating solutions, when solving
matrix reasoning problems, improving task performance. In Experi-
ment 2, we examine the implications of facilitating fluid processing in
a task in which preferences are determined in real-time (i.e., construc-
tive preferences).
Experiment 2
Method
Participants. A total of 117 university students (74 women
and 43 men) ranging in age from 18 to 29 (M21 years, SD
1.68) were recruited to take a decision-making study in the uni-
versity’s behavioral lab.
Procedure and materials. The research design was a 2 time
of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal) 3 emotion induction (hope,
pride, neutral) between subjects factorial design. The time of day
and incidental emotion manipulations were accomplished exactly
as in Experiment 1. After the emotion induction, participants were
asked to indicate how much they would be willing to pay for a
variety of items; willingness to pay is one standard approach for
assessing an individual’s preference for an item (Bettman et al.,
1998). Seven items were adopted from Vohs and Faber (2007),
designed to reflect items for which participants would have little
repeat-purchasing experience (e.g., stove or fine jewelry as op-
posed to repeat-purchase items such as food or rent) and thus little
crystallized knowledge to draw from in constructing their willing-
ness to pay estimates. We believe that in this task the fluid
processing associated with hope will facilitate generation of usage
possibilities for relatively unfamiliar items, potentially leading to
increased willingness to pay.
Results
We conducted an ANOVA with emotion condition and time
of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal) as predictors, the total amount of
money that a participant was willing to pay for the collection of
items as the dependent variable, and total time spent on the
emotion induction as a covariate. Results revealed a 2-way inter-
action of emotion condition and time of day, F(2, 110) 3.14, p
.05 (Figure 2). To test the hypothesis that hope would lead to
greater valuation of items than pride in the nonoptimal condi-
tion, we ran a contrast, F(1, 110) 7.01, p.009 that
confirmed the prediction; M
hope nonoptimal
$4,113.71 (SD
5,212.89), M
pride nonoptimal
$1,410.36 (SD 428.26). We also
ran a contrast to test the hypothesis that hope would lead to
greater valuation than neutral in nonoptimal conditions (F(1,
110) 4.49, p.04; M
hope nonoptimal
$4,113.71 (SD
5,212.89), M
neutral nonoptimal
$2,391.63 (SD 1,518.16).
Results revealed no difference between neutral and pride, F(1,
110) .79, p.38, although pride was directionally lower.
Further, as predicted, the emotion inductions did not signifi-
cantly impact performance at optimal times of day (all Fs1).
Although not predicted, for the pride condition, participants in
the nonoptimal condition were willing to pay significantly less
than their counterparts in the optimal condition, F(1, 110)
4.80, p.03; M
pride optimal
$3,420.70 (SD 2,594.31),
M
pride nonoptimal
$1,410.36 (SD 428.26). Within the hope
condition, participants at their nonoptimal time of day were
willing to pay directionally more than their optimal counter-
4
Neither the emotion condition ( p.8) nor the interaction of emotion
condition and time of day ( p.8) influenced performance on the vocab-
ulary task.
Figure 1. Mean picture scores in Experiment 1 as a function of emotion
condition and time of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal).
42 CAVANAUGH, CUTRIGHT, LUCE, AND BETTMAN
parts, F(1, 110) 1.84, p.18; M
hope optimal
$2,811 (SD
2,944.64), M
hope nonoptimal
$4,113.71 (SD 5,212.89).
Thus, Experiment 2 again demonstrates that two different positive
emotions, hope and pride, affect processing differentially at nonopti-
mal times of day. Specifically, hope increases individuals’ willingness
to pay for items with which they have little prior knowledge or
experience compared with pride and a neutral condition during non-
optimal times of day. We argue that individuals experiencing hope
during nonoptimal times of day are guided by hope-related associa-
tions, resulting in greater mental exploration when constructing will-
ingness to pay estimates. We argue that this increased mental explo-
ration (e.g., visualizing possible uses for the products) increases
individuals’ preference assessments, that is, the valuation placed on
the items. In Experiment 3, we directly test this process.
Experiment 3
Method
Participants. A total of 88 university students (31 women
and 57 men) ranging in age from 18 to 26 (M19.6 years, SD
1.64) were recruited to take a decision making study on campus.
Experiment 3 was administered via laptop computers brought to an
undergraduate dormitory.
Procedure and materials. The research design was a 2 time
of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal) 2 emotion induction (hope vs.
pride) between subjects factorial design. The time of day and
incidental emotion manipulations were accomplished exactly as in
studies 1 and 2. After the emotion induction, participants were
shown pictures and descriptions of three innovative, new products
with which they had no prior experience.
5
To directly test the
proposed mechanism by which hope and pride differentially affect
individuals’ mental exploration, participants were asked to indicate
how well they could imagine situations in which they could use
each product (where 1 very difficult to imagine and 9 very
easy to imagine). Next, in order to capture individuals’ overall
assessments of the products, we asked participants to indicate how
interested they would be in trying each product (where 1 not at
all interested and 9 very interested) and how much they would
be willing to pay for each item. Finally, to control for participants’
chronic attitudes toward trying new things, participants were asked
to rate their agreement with nine statements designed to measure
their chronic attitudes toward new product risk (e.g., I am the kind
of person who would try any new product once; Raju, 1980) on a
7-point Likert scale (where 1 completely disagree and 7
completely agree;␣⫽.76). This measure was not affected by the
emotion or time of day manipulations ( ps.15).
Given that participants were shown products that were quite novel,
they had little crystallized knowledge to draw from in constructing
their product assessments. Accordingly, the fluid processing associ-
ated with hope was expected to facilitate participants’ ability to
imagine uses for the products, and thus enhance their preference and
valuation, particularly at nonoptimal times of day.
Results
In order to test our hypothesis that the effect of hope and
pride differentially impacts product assessments at nonoptimal
(but not optimal) times of day, we conducted an ANOVA with
emotion condition and time of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal) as
predictors, and total time on the emotion induction and chronic
attitude toward new product risk (Raju, 1980) as covariates. The
dependent variable, designed to capture individuals’ overall
product assessments, was a standardized index including both
the total amount of money that participants were willing to pay
for the set of items and their mean rating of their interest in the
new products.
6
Results for this index revealed a 2-way inter-
action of emotion condition and time of day, F(1, 82) 3.97,
p.05 (Figure 3). To test the hypothesis that hope would lead
to a more positive assessment of items than pride in the non-
optimal condition, we ran a contrast, F(1, 82) 5.86, p.02
that confirmed the prediction; M
hope nonoptimal
.36 (SD .93),
M
pride nonoptimal
⫽⫺.17 (SD .68). As predicted, the hope and
pride emotion inductions did not significantly impact assess-
ments at optimal times of day (F1).
Having established that the effect of emotion on product assess-
ment depends on time of day optimality, we sought to test the
mechanism for our hypothesis, that is, why hope leads to more
positive assessments than pride during nonoptimal times of day. We
argue that individuals experiencing hope during nonoptimal times of
day exhibit increased mental exploration and imagination for using
the products.
7
Thus, we followed the steps recommended by Muller et
al. (2005) for establishing mediated moderation. First, as indicated
above, the effect of emotion on product assessment is moderated by
time of day, ␤⫽.32, t(82) 1.99, p.05. Second, results reveal that
the effect of emotion on individuals’ reported ability to imagine using
5
Products included: Pure shots of oxygen (O
2
) from small aluminum
canisters to give energy; a mobile library the size of a cell phone that reads
books to you and acts as a scribe; a cell phone with unlimited reach, even
in remote areas across the world, with several weeks of battery life. We
thank Dave Alexander for sharing stimuli with us.
6
The willingness to pay estimate and interest ratings were significantly
correlated (r.30, p.005).
7
We also coded the writing samples for evidence of other potential
intervening processes (e.g., certainty, complexity, distraction, emotion
intensity) suggested by reviewers as alternative mechanisms. When in-
cluded in the analyses, these variables were not significantly related to our
dependent measures.
Figure 2. Mean willingness to pay estimates in Experiment 2 as a
function of emotion condition and time of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal).
43
POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND TIME OF DAY
the products depends on time of day optimality, ␤⫽.39, t(82) 2.45,
p.02. Third, the partial effect of the ability to imagine using the
products on product assessment is significant, ␤⫽.62, t(80) 5.14,
p.0001, when controlling for emotion condition, time of day
condition, the interaction of emotion and time of day conditions, and
the interaction of the ability to imagine and time of day (as well as the
two covariates used in each model: total time on emotion induction
and chronic attitudes toward new product risk). It is important to note
that the original interaction of interest—emotion by time of day
optimality—is no longer significant when the imagination mediator is
included, ␤⫽.08, t(80) .59, p.56, indicating full mediated
moderation.
In sum, Experiment 3 further demonstrates that different posi-
tive emotions, hope and pride, differentially affect processing at
nonoptimal times of day. Specifically, hope enhances individuals’
assessments of new items with which they have little prior knowl-
edge or experience relative to pride during nonoptimal times of
day. We further demonstrate that this effect is mediated by an
enhanced ability to imagine uses for products. These findings
support our hypothesis that hope-related associations facilitate
greater mental exploration, which in turn, increases individuals’
preference and valuation assessments, during nonoptimal times of
day.
General Discussion
Our findings demonstrate that different positive emotions can
have different effects on task performance at nonoptimal times of
day. For tasks requiring crystallized knowledge or experience,
performance is invariant with respect to emotion or time of day.
However, in the case of tasks requiring fluid processing, emotion
and time of day combine to determine performance. In particular,
the effects of hope and pride diverge during nonoptimal times of
day. Experiment 1 shows that hope facilitates fluid processing and
improves performance on a fluid intelligence task with clear per-
formance criteria during nonoptimal times of day. Experiment 2
shows that hope increases fluid processing and valuation estimates
in a context where preferences are constructed on the spot during
nonoptimal times of day. Experiment 3 shows that hope increases
preference and valuation by increasing imagination and mental
exploration during nonoptimal times of day. Together these exper-
iments suggest that fluid and constructive processing styles can be
differentially influenced by the goal orientations and associations
linked with different positive emotions in predictable situations,
that is, during nonoptimal times of day. We suggest that these
effects occur because of lower inhibition during nonoptimal times
of day. Our findings are consistent with previous work emphasiz-
ing the importance of understanding thoughts and behavioral ten-
dencies associated with specific emotions (Han, Lerner, & Keltner,
2007). Experiment 1 offers evidence that lower inhibition can lead
to better performance for hope as opposed to pride. However, there
may be situations when lower inhibition and greater mental ex-
ploration are undesirable. Thus, an important question for future
research is under what conditions and for what tasks might hope
improve versus degrade judgment quality at nonoptimal times of
day.
Our work contributes to emotion theory by addressing the
question of when different positive emotions motivate and facili-
tate different types of behaviors. Most research has suggested
relatively undifferentiated positive affect and emotion mechanisms
(Fredrickson, 1998, 2001; Isen & Daubman, 1984; Isen, 2001).
However, we identify an important condition (nonoptimal time of
day) under which distinct positive emotions differentially motivate
and facilitate unique behaviors. Thus, our work points to differ-
ential effects of distinct positive emotions that may coexist with
more generalized mechanisms such as broaden and build.
Our work also expands on prior work on circadian rhythm
demonstrating that fluid intelligence is degraded under nonoptimal
times of day but further shows that associations with hope actually
seem to reverse this effect. Our findings are consistent with a view
of fluid intelligence task performance as relatively labile and
subject to influence from a wide array of cognitive and emotional
factors. Our work is also consistent with other recent research
(e.g., see Rowe et al., 2006) indicating that, for some task contexts,
performance under nonoptimal times of day might actually be
better than performance during optimal times or nonemotional
conditions (Levens & Phelps, 2008). We argue this may be par-
ticularly true when experiencing specific emotions (in our exper-
iments, hope). In the case of hope in our first study, it appears that
lowered inhibitory control under nonoptimal times of day allowed
positive, goal-striving associations with hope to have stronger
effects, ultimately resulting in better performance on a fluid intel-
ligence task.
Our research identifies time of day as an important member of
a class of moderators impacting when individuals are more or less
likely to be influenced by their emotions. Thus, optimal versus
nonoptimal time of day may be a useful methodological tool for
researchers interested in isolating or manipulating emotion-based
effects. In addition, previous research has shown that older adults
demonstrate superior cognitive performance for emotional infor-
mation (relative to nonemotional information) and that these ef-
fects are most evident when emotional content is positively va-
lenced (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005). It is interesting to note that
older adults also show less inhibition (Hasher et al., 1999). Based
on these findings, our emotion specific effects for fluid processing
during nonoptimal times of day may be more pronounced for older
adults. This would also suggest that emotion-association effects on
processing (e.g., which we demonstrate with nonoptimal time of
day) may be more prevalent with age.
Figure 3. Standardized assessments of new products in Experiment 3 as
a function of emotion condition and time of day (optimal vs. nonoptimal).
44 CAVANAUGH, CUTRIGHT, LUCE, AND BETTMAN
Finally, it is worth noting that we demonstrate our effects using
incidental emotions (i.e., emotions not directly relevant to the task
at hand). For emotions directly relevant to the focal task (i.e.,
integral emotions), correction processes may be more likely. Fu-
ture research should further examine how emotion type (e.g.,
integral vs. incidental), specific emotions (e.g., hope vs. pride),
resource availability, and task constraints combine to shape task
performance.
References
Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The
“other-praising” emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. Jour-
nal of Positive Psychology, 4, 105–127.
Algoe, S. B., Haidt, J., & Gable, S. (2008). Beyond reciprocity: Gratitude
and relationships in everyday life. Emotion, 8, 425–429.
Bartlett, M. Y., & DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior:
Helping when it costs you. Psychological Science, 17, 319–325.
Bettman, J. R., Luce, M. F., & Payne, J. W. (1998). Constructive consumer
choice processes. Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 187–217.
Bodenhausen, G. V. (1990). Stereotypes as judgmental heuristics: Evi-
dence of circadian variations in discrimination. Psychological Science,
1, 319–322.
Breznitz, S. (1986). The effect of hope on coping with stress. In M. H.
Appley & R. Trumbull (Eds.), Dynamics of stress: Physiological, psy-
chological, and social perspectives. (pp. 295–306). New York: Plenum
Press.
Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., & Phillips, C. M. (2001). Do people
aggress to improve their mood? Catharsis beliefs, affect regulation
opportunity, and aggressive responding. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 81, 17–32.
Carstensen, L. L., & Mikels, J. A. (2005). At the intersection of emotion
and cognition: Aging and the positivity effect. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 14, 117–121.
Cattell, R. B. (1971). Abilities: Their structure, growth, and action. Ox-
ford, England: Houghton Mifflin.
Chang, E. C. (1998). Hope, problem-solving ability, and coping in a
college student population: Some implications for theory and practice.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54, 953–962.
Cryder, C. E., Lerner, J. S., Gross, J. J., & Dahl, R. E. (2008). Misery is not
miserly: Sad and self-focused individuals spend more. Psychological
Science, 19, 525–530.
Estrada, C. A., Isen, A. M., & Young, M. J. (1997). Positive affect
facilitates integration of information and decreases anchoring in reason-
ing among physicians. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 72, 117–135.
Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of
General Psychology, 2, 300–319.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive
psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Amer-
ican Psychologist, 56, 218–226.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the
scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition & Emotion,
19, 313–332.
Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M.
(2008). Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through
loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1045–1062.
Fredrickson, B. L., Tugade, M. M., Waugh, C. E., & Larkin, G. R. (2003).
What good are positive emotions in crisis? A prospective study of
resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United
States on September 11th, 2001. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 84, 365–376.
Goldstein, D., Hahn, C. S., Hasher, L., Wiprzycka, U. J., & Zelazo, P. D.
(2007). Time of day, intellectual performance, and behavioral problems
in morning versus evening type adolescents: Is there a synchrony effect?
Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 431–440.
Green, S., & Wolf, I. K. (2003). How to prepare for the GRE, Graduate
Record Examination (15th ed.). Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s.
Han, S., Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2007). Feelings and consumer
decision making: The appraisal-tendency framework. Journal of Con-
sumer Psychology, 17, 158–168.
Hasher, L., Goldstein, D., & May, C. P. (2005). It’s about time: Circadian
rhythms, memory, and aging. In C. Izawa & N. Ohta (Eds.), Human
learning and memory: Advances in theory and application: The 4th
Tsukuba International Conference on Memory. (pp. 199–217). Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum Publishers.
Hasher, L., Zacks, R. T., May, C. P., Gopher, D., & Koriat, A. (1999).
Inhibitory control, circadian arousal, and age. In Attention and perfor-
mance XVII: Cognitive regulation of performance: Interaction of theory
and application (pp. 653–675). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Hirt, E. R., Devers, E. E., & McCrea, S. M. (2008). I want to be creative:
Exploring the role of hedonic contingency theory in the positive mood-
cognitive flexibility link. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
94, 214–230.
Horne, J. A., & Ostberg, O. (1976). A self-assessment questionnaire to
determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms. Inter-
national Journal of Chronohisotogy, 4, 97–110.
Isen, A. M. (2001). An influence of positive affect on decision making in
complex situations: Theoretical issues with practical implications. Jour-
nal of Consumer Psychology, 11, 75–85.
Isen, A. M., & Daubman, K. A. (1984). The influence of affect on
categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1206
1217.
Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., & Perrig, W. J. (2008). Im-
proving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceed-
ings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105, 68296833.
Kahneman, D., & Frederick, S. (2005). A Model of heuristic judgment. In
K. J. Holyoak & R. G. Morrison (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of
thinking and reasoning. (pp. 267–293). New York: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press.
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (2005). Experimental tests
of the endowment effect and the coase theorem. Northampton, MA:
Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2005). Psychological testing : princi-
ples, applications, and issues (6th ed.). Southbank, Victoria, Australia;
Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Kruglanski, A. W., & Pierro, A. (2008). Night and day, you are the one: On
circadian mismatches and the transference effect in social perception.
Psychological Science, 19, 296–301.
Lang, P. J. (1994). The varieties of emotional experience: A meditation on
James-Lange theory. Psychological Review, 101, 211–221.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Progress on a cognitive-motivational-relational
theory of emotion. American Psychologist, 46, 819834.
Lazarus, R. S. (1999). Hope: An emotion and a vital coping resource
against despair. Social Research, 66, 653–678.
Lazarus, R. S. (2006). Emotions and interpersonal relationships: Toward a
person-centered conceptualization of emotions and coping. Journal of
Personality, 74, 946.
Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2000). Beyond valence: Toward a model of
emotion-specific influences on judgement and choice. Cognition &
Emotion, 14, 473–493.
Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2001). Fear, anger, and risk. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 146–159.
Lerner, J. S., Small, D. A., & Loewenstein, G. (2004). Heart strings and
purse strings: Carryover effects of emotions on economic decisions.
Psychological Science, 15, 337–341.
45
POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND TIME OF DAY
Levens, S. M., & Phelps, E. A. (2008). Emotion processing effects on
interference resolution in working memory. Emotion, 8, 267–280.
Leventhal, H., & Tomarken, A. J. (1986). Emotion: Today’s problems.
Annual Review of Psychology, 37, 565–610.
Manucia, G. K., Baumann, D. J., & Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Mood influ-
ences on helping: Direct effects or side effects? Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 46, 357–364.
May, C. P. (1999). Synchrony effects in cognition: The costs and a benefit.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 6, 142–147.
May, C. P., & Hasher, L. (1998). Synchrony effects in inhibitory control
over thought and action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Perception and Performance, 24, 363–379.
May, C. P., Hasher, L., & Foong, N. (2005). Implicit memory, age, and
time of day: Paradoxical priming effects. Psychological Science, 16,
96–100.
Muller, D., Judd, C. M., & Yzertbyt, V. Y. (2005). When moderation is
mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 89, 852–863.
Pennebaker, J. W., Booth, R. J., & Francis, M. E. (2007). Linguistic inquiry
and word count (LIWC) software. Austin TX: Inc.net.
Raju, P. S. (1980). Optimum stimulation level: Its relationship to person-
ality, demographics, and exploratory behavior. Journal of Consumer
Research, 7, 272–82.
Rottenstreich, Y., Sood, S., & Brenner, L. (2007). Feeling and thinking in
memory-based versus stimulus-based choices. Journal of Consumer
Research, 33, 461–469.
Rowe, G., Valderrama, S., Hasher, L., & Lenartowicz, A. (2006). Atten-
tional disregulation: A benefit for implicit memory. Psychology and
Aging, 21, 826830.
Shiv, B., & Fedorikhin, A. (2002). Spontaneous versus controlled influ-
ences of stimulus-based affect on choice behavior. Organizational Be-
havior and Human Decision Processes, 87, 342–370.
Smith, C. A., & Lazarus, R. S. (1993). Appraisal components, core rela-
tional themes, and the emotions. Cognition & Emotion, 7, 233–269.
Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here.
New York: Free Press.
Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., & Holleran, S. A. (1991). The
will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-
differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychol-
ogy, 60, 570–585.
Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2002). Individual differences in reasoning:
Implications for the rationality debate? In T. Gilovich, D. Griffin, & D.
Kahneman (Eds.), Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive
judgment (pp. 421–440). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Staats, S. R., & Stassen, M. A. (1985). Hope: An affective cognition. Social
Indicators Research, 17, 235–242.
Stotland, E. (1969). The psychology of hope. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tangney, J. P., Dalgleish, T., & Power, M. J. (1999). The self-conscious
emotions: Shame, guilt, embarrassment and pride. In Handbook of
cognition and emotion (pp. 541–568). New York: Wiley Ltd.
Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2007a). Emerging insights into the nature
and function of pride. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16,
147–150.
Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2007b). The prototypical pride expression:
Development of a nonverbal behavior coding system. Emotion, 7, 789
801.
Tracy, J. L., Robins, R. W., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2005). Can children
recognize pride? Emotion, 5, 251–257.
Vohs, K. D., & Faber, R. J. (2007). Spent resources: Self-regulatory
resource availability affects impulse buying. Journal of Consumer Re-
search, 33, 537–547.
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and
emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548–573.
Yoon, C., May, C. P., & Hasher, L. (2000). Aging, circadian arousal
patterns, and cognition. In D. C. Park & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Cognitive
aging: A primer (pp. 151–171). New York: Psychology Press.
Received February 2, 2009
Revision received April 26, 2010
Accepted July 30, 2010
46 CAVANAUGH, CUTRIGHT, LUCE, AND BETTMAN
... For example, Chang (1998) showed that hope leads to stronger problem-solving skills and ability to cope (Chang, 1998). Hope has also been shown to lead to improved fluid cognitive processing and imagination (Cavanaugh et al., 2011), healthier food consumption (Winterich & Haws, 2011), as well as wellbeing in adolescents (Hu & Jiang, 2022). Although findings suggest feeling hopeful leads to the ability to think and act more logically, MacInnis and De Mello (2005) theorized that hope also may negatively influence information processing, as yearning may lead to discounting of factual information. ...
... Visualization in turn triggers experiential-but not rational-processing (Epstein & Pacini, 2001); the experiential system encodes information primarily in the form of images, whereas the rational system operates through verbal representations. Compared with other positive emotions, such as pride, hope leads to greater imagination (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). ...
... One area for researchers to examine further is how other emotions affect experiential and rational processing. Positive affect in general might lead to experiential processing (Epstein & Pacini, 2001), but we predict that, because hope is unique among other positive emotions in stimulating visualization (Cavanaugh et al., 2011), other positive emotions do not lead to experiential processing as much as hope does. Other emotions even might lead to rational processing. ...
Article
Full-text available
Hope is a commonly encountered positive emotion in daily life. Although most extant literature highlights its positive consequences, nascent studies suggest potential negative outcomes. In this article, findings of five studies, including a study with consequential decisions, demonstrated that in a gambling context, hope can lead to suboptimal decisions. The authors theorized and showed empirically that hope triggers experiential processing, which in turn increases gambling, even though it does not affect rational expectations of winning. Evidence from a variety of gambling contexts revealed hope leads to both intended and actual gambling behavior. However, this effect did not hold for consumers who exhibit low trait experiential processing, and was attenuated when people were prompted not to rely on their feelings. This article contributes to prior literature by providing a detailed description of how hope affects information processing and leads to suboptimal decisions in a gambling context. More broadly, the findings offer implications for policy makers and consumers seeking to understand and anticipate how an everyday positive emotion might be detrimental to consumer welfare.
... Pride, on one hand, is an enhancement of one's self, or one's social worth relative to highly valued accomplishment (Dasborough, Hannah, & Zhu, 2020). It can be either authentic pride, which is the feeling of confidence, accomplishment, and self-worth, or hubristic pride that fosters arrogance and egotism (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). Pride is associated with goal-satiation, achievement, fulfilment and self-satisfaction. ...
... Hope, on the other hand, creates the desire to turn things around through encouraging optimism and resilience and the belief that things may change for the better (Kok & Fredrickson, 2013). It is also associated with striving, possibility, effort, or the future and the tendencies toward goal-striving, problem-solving, and the exploration of novel situations (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). ...
Thesis
This research focuses on anger and sunk cost effects as sources of cognitive bias and also portfolio interactions in relation to the retention/termination decisions on projects. Departing from a traditionally narrow and quantitative perspective of traditional project appraisal, this study investigates a wider psychological view of investment project decisions within four project management groups. The thesis emphasises that the role of the specific emotion of anger is influenced by the past sunk cost of projects and the effects of a portfolio of projects across the whole firm. In the sense that project retention is perceived to be a positive outcome of anger, it has arguably been neglected in empirical entrepreneurship and strategic decision-making research, but this study claims that the retention and termination of projects may be analysed using psychological theories of emotions. A case study based on a Palestinian holding company, therefore, investigates the influence of anger, the sunk cost effect and portfolio considerations on project retention and termination. The holding company under study operates in an uncertain political context likely to be a rich laboratory eliciting high levels of anger, thus highlighting their role. This study conducts fifteen emotion assessment surveys using a STAXI-2 inventory and content and thematic analyses of fifteen interviews, adopting multi-levels of analysis, and claims to make contributions to the entrepreneurship, strategic decision-making and psychology literatures. The analysis reports that anger has an important emotional influence on decisions. It demonstrates three main findings, i.e. mostly positive associations between anger, the sunk cost effect and portfolio considerations and project retention. It also presents four subsidiary findings. Hope emerged as the second most important emotion and is claimed to be associated with project retention. Other emotions also co-exist with anger and may have influenced retention decisions, and findings reveal an association between corporate identity (i.e. a factor emerged from data) and project retention. Finally, in an atypical case, anger is found to encourage project termination.
... Pride, on one hand, is an enhancement of one's self, or one's social worth relative to highly valued accomplishment (Dasborough, Hannah, & Zhu, 2020). It can be either authentic pride, which is the feeling of confidence, accomplishment, and self-worth, or hubristic pride that fosters arrogance and egotism (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). Pride is associated with goal-satiation, achievement, fulfilment and self-satisfaction. ...
... Hope, on the other hand, creates the desire to turn things around through encouraging optimism and resilience and the belief that things may change for the better (Kok & Fredrickson, 2013). It is also associated with striving, possibility, effort, or the future and the tendencies toward goal-striving, problem-solving, and the exploration of novel situations (Cavanaugh et al., 2011). ...
... Like anger, hope may also be seen to be associated with project retention [3], where the motivational outcome of hope elicits the anticipation of goal achievement [3,30,32], problemsolving, and the exploration of novel situations [33]. This suggests that hope may promote internal motivation to realize goals and the anticipation of working harder to accomplish improved performance [3]. ...
Article
Full-text available
The role of emotions and cognition in entrepreneurship and strategic decision-making research has thus far been relatively neglected. In this research, we investigate how anger and hope may influence managers’ project retention decisions. While case studies can never test theories, our research aims to expose the Appraisal Tendency Framework (ATF) to empirical reality in a new context. A Palestinian research context characterized by extreme uncertainty is chosen as one that arguably amplifies the effects of high levels of emotion. Three businesses within a holding company were identified and twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers responsible for strategic decision-making, with data analysed using Content and Thematic Analyses. The emotions of hope and anger were each independently found to be associated with project retention decisions. However, when hope and anger were experienced together, hope complemented a positive association between anger and retention. The AFT proposes that emotions with different valence (i.e., negative anger and positive hope) may be associated with corresponding thought processes (heuristic or systematic) and still result in similar behavioural outcomes. The findings also highlight implications of decision-making under uncertainty, for practitioners who may benefit from differentiating between the positive and negative influences of anger on decisions.
... Typical events in which people experience the self-generated feeling of love are characterized by intimacy with others (Cavanaugh et al. 2011). Such events may be described as experiencing a sense of belonging with partners, family members, and friends through shared activities, sympathy (warmth), and physical closeness. ...
Article
Marketers often use appeals that emphasize the responsibility and the consequences of consumer decisions to help persons, animals, and nature in need, or they use appeals that evoke the predominantly negative emotion of compassion. We focus on another type of appeal that marketers might use: the promise of experiencing positive emotions. We use broaden-and-built theory to conclude that the promise of experiencing positive emotions when helping others increases consumers’ willingness to engage in prosocial behavior. We use emotional-appraisal theory to conclude that the promise of experiencing love is more effective than the promise of experiencing pride or hope. Our research is innovative in that we tested the promise of positive emotions. This kind of message can be used in an advertising environment. We created print advertisements of companies promoting products that promised the experience of love, pride, or hope and ad versions that included an appeal for compassion (supplemented with an emotion-absent condition). The ads promoted fair-trade products aimed at helping farmers in need, products that help endangered animal species, and products that addressed nature as a whole in need. We mostly found support for our hypotheses. However, the promise of experiencing love by taking care of nature by purchasing special products was not effective.
... Perintah untuk bangun pagi dan memulai kerja pagi tampaknya dilakukan dengan tertib oleh salah satu konseli M. Sebelum subuh ia sudah berangkat kerja. Memang kerja pagi menurut Islam dan psikologi akan memberikan rasa yang segar dan nyaman bagi pelakunya (Biss & Hasher, 2012) disamping adanya harapan yang lebih baik (Cavanaugh, Cutright, Luce, & Bettman, 2011). ...
Article
Full-text available
While visual cues have been pervasively employed in online charitable appeals to increase donors’ positive responses, the contrast of the recipient’s imagery at different time nodes has received little attention in philantrophic marketing. This research explored the effect of recipients’ imagery contrast on donation willingness and distinguished two contrast effects in visual imagery of online charitable appeals: pre-middle contrast that depicts the past health and current state and post-middle contrast that portrays the future health and current state. We conducted three scenario-based experimental studies based on Credamo participants (total N = 910). Study 1 (N = 198) using a one factor (pre-middle contrast vs. post-middle contrast vs. no contrast) between -subjects design demonstrated that charitable appeals with imagery contrast (vs. no contrast) led to higher donation intentions. Study 2 (N = 145) compared two different contrast effects (pre-middle contrast vs. post-middle contrast), with findings showing that guilt mediated the effect of pre-middle contrast while hope mediated the effect of post-middle contrast on willingness to donate; guilt and hope had opposing mediating roles, resulting in no significant difference in donation willingness between the two contrast effect types. Study 2 also examined the moderating effect of individuals’ optimism tendencies. Study 3 (N = 567) showed the spatial position of imagery photos had on significant influence on donation willingness. These findings shed light on the research on visual imagery in charitable appeals as well as its effective adoption in online charity advertising.
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this study is to ascertain the effects of place attachment on brand loyalty. This study further ascertains whether the effects of emotion-based attachment on brand loyalty is stronger for customers who have a positive experience with a restaurant brand. Additionally, we investigate whether emotion-based attachment mediates the relationships between identity-based attachments, place dependence, and brand loyalty in the restaurant setting. We administered the questionnaire to customers (diners) of restaurants in Ghana and they were completed via paper and pencil/pen approach. We tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The findings show that identity-based and emotion-based attachment enhance brand loyalty within a restaurant setting. The results also show that place dependence attachment promotes emotional bonding with restaurant brands. The findings of the study also show that place dependence attachment does not have a direct and positive significant effect on brand loyalty except when an emotional response is produced.
Article
Full-text available
The desire to have children is often regarded as a deep, biologically driven desire or a rational decision based on weighing costs and benefits. Based on these assumptions, many people believe that the desire to have children is unchanging. However, the studies presented here indicate that the desire to have children is readily shifted by subtle situational cues, such as advertisements and social media feeds depicting positive images of parents and children. In four studies (N = 1,093), we randomly assigned young adults (ages 18-35) without children to view images of parents and children or control images. We found that positive parent-child images led young adults to a greater desire to have children via increases in empathic emotions both immediately (Studies 1-4) and 3 days later (Study 3), but viewing negative parent-child images did not decrease the desire to have children (Study 2). The results of our studies suggest that portrayals of parents and children may temporarily influence young adults' desires to have children. Given the abundance of parent-child images on social media and intense societal pressure to have children, small changes in the desire to have children may accrue over time to influence child-rearing decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Article
Full-text available
Using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), this study investigates the influence of cognitive assessment and affective response on customers’ behavioral intention amid COVID‐19 in the context of restaurants. More specifically, this research draws attention to 1) the influence of protection motivation (i.e. perceived vulnerability, perceived severity, maladaptive reward, response efficacy, self‐efficacy, response cost) on hope and fear, 2) hope and fear as mediators between protection motivation and behavioral intention, and 3) diverse customer behavioral intentions that have emerged during the COVID‐19 pandemic (i.e., health‐focused behavior, conscious consumption, and the supporting of local businesses and products). A total of 473 completed responses were obtained through an online survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The research model proposed in the study successfully explained the process in which individuals commit to hygienic behaviors, prioritize local restaurants, and engage in conscious consumption under the threat of COVID‐19. The proposed model can be utilized in examining consumer behaviors in the hospitality industry, especially in the COVID‐19 era.
Article
Full-text available
Extrapolating from B. L. Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the authors hypothesized that positive emotions are active ingredients within trait resilience. U.S. college students (18 men and 28 women) were tested in early 2001 and again in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mediational analyses showed that positive emotions experienced in the wake of the attacks - gratitude, interest, love, and so forth - fully accounted for the relations between (a) precrisis resilience and later development of depressive symptoms and (b) precrisis resilience and postcrisis growth in psychological resources. Findings suggest that positive emotions in the aftermath of crises buffer resilient people against depression and fuel thriving, consistent with the broaden-and-build theory. Discussion touches on implications for coping.
Article
Full-text available
In this chapter a theory of motivation and emotion developed from an attributional perspective is presented. Before undertaking this central task, it might be beneficial to review the progression of the book. In Chapter 1 it was suggested that causal attributions have been prevalent throughout history and in disparate cultures. Studies reviewed in Chapter 2 revealed a large number of causal ascriptions within motivational domains, and different ascriptions in disparate domains. Yet some attributions, particularly ability and effort in the achievement area, dominate causal thinking. To compare and contrast causes such as ability and effort, their common denominators or shared properties were identified. Three causal dimensions, examined in Chapter 3, are locus, stability, and controllability, with intentionality and globality as other possible causal properties. As documented in Chapter 4, the perceived stability of a cause influences the subjective probability of success following a previous success or failure; causes perceived as enduring increase the certainty that the prior outcome will be repeated in the future. And all the causal dimensions, as well as the outcome of an activity and specific causes, influence the emotions experienced after attainment or nonattainment of a goal. The affects linked to causal dimensions include pride (with locus), hopelessness and resignation (with stability), and anger, gratitude, guilt, pity, and shame (with controllability).
Article
Full-text available
The question of when people rely on stereotypic preconceptions in judging others was investigated in two studies. As a person's motivation or ability to process information systematically is diminished, the person may rely to an increasing extent on stereotypes, when available, as a way of simplifying the task of generating a response. It was hypothesized that circadian variations in arousal levels would be related to social perceivers' propensity to stereotype others by virtue of their effects on motivation and processing capacity. In support of this hypothesis, subjects exhibited stereotypic biases in their judgments to a much greater extent when the judgments were rendered at a nonoptimal time of day (i.e., in the morning for “night people” and in the evening for “morning people”). In Study One, this pattern was found in probability judgments concerning personal characteristics; in Study Two, the pattern was obtained in perceptions of guilt in allegations of student misbehavior. Results generalized over a range of different types of social stereotypes and suggest that biological processes should be considered in attempts to conceptualize the determinants of stereotyping.
Article
Defining hope as a cognitive set that is composed of a reciprocally derived sense of successful (1) agency (goal-directed determination) and (2) pathways (planning of ways to meet goals), an individual-differences measure is developed. Studies with college students and patients demonstrate acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and the factor structure identifies the agency and pathways components of the Hope Scale. Convergent and discriminant validity are documented, along with evidence suggesting that Hope Scale scores augmented the prediction of goal-related activities and coping strategies beyond other self-report measures. Construct validational support is provided in regard to predicted goal-setting behaviors; moreover, the hypothesized goal appraisal processes that accompany the various levels of hope are corroborated.
Article
Consumer choices concerning the selection, consumption, and disposal of products and services can often be difficult and are important to the consumer, to marketers, and to policy makers. As a result, the study of consumer decision processes has been a focal interest in consumer behavior for over 30 years (e.g., Bettman, 1979; Hansen, 1972; Howard & Sheth, 1969; Nicosia, 1966). One can infer from recent trends in the nature and structure of the marketplace that the importance of understanding consumer decision making is likely to continue. Rapid technological change, for instance, has led to multitudes of new products and decreased product lifetimes. In addition, new communications media, such as the World Wide Web, have made enormous amounts of information on options potentially available (Alba et al., 1997). Further, consumers are often asked to make difficult value tradeoffs, such as price versus safety in purchasing an automobile, environmental protection versus convenience in a variety of goods, and quality of life versus longevity in complex health care decisions. How do consumers cope with the decisions they must make, some of which involve difficult tradeoffs and uncertainties? One approach to studying consumer decisions has been to assume a rational decision maker with well-defined preferences that do not depend on particular descriptions of the options or on the specific methods used to elicit those preferences. Each option in a choice set is assumed to have a utility, or subjective value, that depends only on the option.
Article
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
Article
Divergent trajectories characterize the aging mind: Processing capacity declines, while judgment, knowledge, and emotion regulation are relatively spared. We maintain that these different developmental trajectories have implications for emotion–cognition interactions. Following an overview of our theoretical position, we review empirical studies indicating that (a) older adults evidence superior cognitive performance for emotional relative to non-emotional information, (b) age differences are most evident when the emotional content is positively as opposed to negatively valenced, and (c) differences can be accounted for by changes in motivation posited in socioemotional selectivity theory.