Mood moderates the effect of aesthetic appeal on performance

Reppa, Irene; McDougall, Siné; Sonderegger, Andreas; Schmidt, William C. (2021). Mood moderates the effect of aesthetic appeal on performance Cognition and Emotion, 35(1), pp. 15-29. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/02699931.2020.1800446

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Aesthetically appealing stimuli can improve performance in demanding target localisation tasks compared to unappealing stimuli. Two search-and-localisation experiments were carried out to examine the possible underlying mechanism mediating the effects of appeal on performance. Participants (N = 95) were put in a positive or negative mood prior to carrying out a visual target localisation task with appealing and unappealing targets. In both experiments, positive mood initially led to faster localisation of appealing compared to unappealing stimuli, while an advantage for appealing over unappealing stimuli emerged over time in negative mood participants. The findings are compatible with the idea that appealing stimuli may be inherently rewarding, with aesthetic appeal overcoming the detrimental effects of negative mood on performance.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

Business School > Institute for New Work
Business School

Name:

Reppa, Irene;
McDougall, Siné;
Sonderegger, Andreas0000-0003-0054-0544 and
Schmidt, William C.

Subjects:

B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BH Aesthetics

ISSN:

0269-9931

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Language:

English

Submitter:

Andreas Sonderegger

Date Deposited:

18 May 2021 16:22

Last Modified:

22 Sep 2021 02:18

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/02699931.2020.1800446

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Aesthetic appeal; mood; reward; counter-regulation; performance; icons

ARBOR DOI:

10.24451/arbor.14740

URI:

https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/14740

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