Citation

Leith KP, Baumeister RF. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1996; 71(6): 1250-1267.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7123, USA. rfb2@po.cwru.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8979390

Abstract

Increased risk taking may explain the link between bad moods and self-defeating behavior. In Study 1, personal recollections of self-defeating actions implicated bad moods and resultant risky decisions. In Study 2, embarrassment increased the preference for a long-shot (high-risk, high-payoff) lottery over a low-risk, low-payoff one. Anger had a similar effect in Study 3. Study 4 replicated this and showed that the effect could be eliminated by making participants analyze the lotteries rationally, suggesting that bad moods foster risk taking by impairing self-regulation instead of by altering subjective utilities. Studies 5 and 6 showed that the risky tendencies are limited to unpleasant moods accompanied by high arousal; neither sadness nor neutral arousal resulted in destructive risk taking.

Language: en