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Emotion and information search in tactical decision-making: Moderator effects of feedback

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Abstract

Information search during decision-making may be influenced both by selective attention and by the criterion used for ceasing to search. When the items searched are themselves emotive, the affective state of the decision-maker may bias these search processes. If an automatic selective attention bias operates, it may produce mood-congruent effects irrespective of context; e.g., negative affect may focus attention on negative items of information. An alternative possibility, suggested by the mood-as-input model, is that the influence of affect on search may depend on how decision-makers understand their emotions within a given context. The present study tested predictions derived from relevant theories of affective bias, using feedback as a means to generate a context of success or failure. Hundred and sixty participants were required to access positive and negative items of information in choosing between different routes for a search-and-rescue mission. Outcomes of choices were manipulated experimentally, so that in one condition participants received mostly positive feedback, and in a second condition participants received mostly negative feedback. Results showed that the feedback manipulation influenced affect, but there was considerable variation in affective state within each condition. Associations between affect and information search were moderated by feedback condition. For example, positive affect was associated with more frequent sampling of positive information in the negative feedback condition, but the association reversed when feedback was positive. Findings were consistent with the mood-as-input hypothesis, but not with an automatic selective attention bias. Context may influence how the decision-maker interprets their affective state.

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Notes

  1. This analysis depends on there being sufficient variability in affective state within each feedback group to differentiate effects of group from effects of affect. Comparison of pre-task and post-task SDs in Table 1 shows that the feedback manipulation did not produce any restriction of range. In addition, although post-task means differed across groups, there was considerable overlap in the distributions of each state across positive and negative feedback conditions.

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Acknowledgments

Almira Kustubayeva gratefully acknowledges support from the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program in conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi 71, Almaty, 480078, Kazakhstan

    Almira Kustubayeva

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0376, USA

    Gerald Matthews & April Rose Panganiban

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  1. Almira Kustubayeva
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  2. Gerald Matthews
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  3. April Rose Panganiban
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Correspondence to Gerald Matthews.

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Kustubayeva, A., Matthews, G. & Panganiban, A.R. Emotion and information search in tactical decision-making: Moderator effects of feedback. Motiv Emot 36, 529–543 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9270-5

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