An examination of the relationship between positive mood and trust: A comparison of two theoretical models

• Main Author: Lount, Robert B., Jr
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: business administration, management; psychology, industrial; psychology, social

Although recent research has provided some evidence to suggest that positive mood is associated with increased interpersonal trust, our understanding of the underlying explanation for why this occurs is far from complete. The current project presents the results from 4 experiments which were designed to understand both when, and why, being in a positive mood would impact trusting behaviors and attitudes.
Experiments 1 and 2 investigated how in an interpersonal setting, cues about another person's trustworthiness would moderate the relationship between positive mood and trust. For example, Experiment 1 demonstrated that when given explicit information suggesting another party was trustworthy, people in a positive mood made more trusting behaviors (i.e., sent more money in the Trust Game) as compared to people in a neutral mood. This pattern of data reversed when the other party was untrustworthy; positive mood participants trusted less than neutral mood participants. Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1 in an interpersonal setting where the cues about the other party's trustworthy were more subtle. The exact same pattern of data emerged as obtained in Experiment 1, with positive mood accentuating trust when the person appeared trustworthy, but decreasing trust when the person appeared untrustworthy.
Experiments 3 and 4 examined how positive mood would influence trust in an intergroup setting. These two experiments provided behavioral evidence that positive mood could increase out-group distrust. For example, Experiment 3 found that groups experiencing positive mood trusted other groups less than groups experiencing neutral mood.
The pattern of data obtained in the current paper is argued to be consistent with heuristic-reliance models of decision making, which propose that positive mood increases reliance on available cues. In addition to providing insight into the when and why positive mood will impact trust, the findings of the current project are argued to have implications both for the trust development process, which have traditionally conceptualized trusting actions as being the result of calculated, well-reasoned decisions. Moreover, the current findings shed light into when and why positive mood may help vs. hurt conflict resolution between individuals and groups.