Mood and Relationships

How Moods Shape Perceptions of Relationship Processes

Moods influence perceptions and evaluations of others in such a way that good moods lead people to perceive and evaluate others more favorably, whereas bad moods lead people to perceive and evaluate others less favorably. It is thus not surprising that moods influence judgments of the physical attractiveness of potential dating partners in predictable ways: Attractive and unattractive others alike look better when perceivers are in good moods and worse when they are in bad moods. Moreover, this congruency extends to the perception of behavior: When in a good mood, perceivers interpret the behavior of others more positively than when in a bad mood. For example, the same smile that is perceived as friendly when one is in a good mood may be considered awkward when one is in a bad mood.

The effects of moods on judgments of attractiveness are not entirely the result of mood congru-ency because moods can also have a direct influence on the behavior of others. When people are in a good mood, they tend to smile and disclose more; when in a bad mood, people may come across as more passive, uncomfortable, unfriendly, and perhaps even disgruntled and hostile. However, whereas expressing happiness can invite positive behaviors from others, it can also be met with distrust, especially by others who feel that they are somewhat undesirable.

Moods influence perceptions and judgments, especially of others who are somewhat atypical. Making sense of atypical others requires additional time and effort and allows judgments to be infused with positive and negative affect. For example, because couples tend to be well-matched in physical attractiveness, judgments about them can be made with ease because they meet people's expectations. However, judgments about couples who are mismatched in attractiveness require additional processing time and allow affect to come into play. Specifically, happy moods lead to particularly favorable impressions of couples that are mismatched in attractiveness whereas sad moods lead to particularly unfavorable impressions of mismatched couples.

Going beyond happiness and sadness, one of the most well-established findings in the social psychological literature is that people are most attracted to others who are similar to oneself in their attitudes and beliefs. However, romantic moods brought on by interacting with an attractive other profoundly decrease the importance of attitude similarity. When people are in a romantic mood, they feel greater attraction to others who do not share their attitudes, leading to the conclusion that these others are perhaps more similar than it appears. Love appears to be blind, indeed.

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