The influence of mood on attitude-behavior consistency

Abstract

Attitudes and preferences do not always prove to be good predictors of actual behavior. Following the call for moderating variables to get a better idea of when and for whom attitude–behavior consistency exists, the current paper focuses on mood as a potential situational moderator. Results from three online studies demonstrate that (1) mood significantly affects attitude–behavior consistency, (2) not the decision style that mood activates (i.e., a deliberative style under negative mood versus an intuitive decision style under positive mood), but a fit in decision style respondents use during attitude formation and decision making underlies this mood effect, and (3) this mood effect holds for individuals who tend to experience their emotions intensively (i.e., high affect intensity individuals), but reverses for individuals who experience their emotions less intensively (i.e., low affect intensity individuals).