Processing deficits and the mediation of positive affect in persuasion.

Mackie, Diane M., Worth, Leila T.·1989·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037//0022-3514.57.1.27

Abstract

Motivational and cognitive mediators of the reduced processing of persuasive messages shown by recipients in a positive mood were tested. Ss in positive or neutral moods read strong or weak counterattitudinal advocadies for either a limited time or for as long as they wanted. Under limited exposure conditions, neutral mood Ss showed attitude change indicative of systemic processing, whereas positive mood Ss showed no differentiation of strong and weak versions of the message. When message exposure was unlimited, positive mood Ss viewed the message longer than did neutral mood Ss and systematically processed it rather than relying on persuasion heuristics. These findings replicated with 2 manipulations of mood and 2 different attitude issues. We interpret the results as providing evidence that reduced cognitive capacity to process the message contributes to the decrements shown by positive mood Ss.

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  3. Representativeness revisited: Attribute substitution in intuitive judgment.
    Kahneman, Daniel, Frederick, Shane · 2002 · Heuristics and Biases
  4. The Role of Emotions in Marketing
    Bagozzi, R. P., Gopinath, M., Nyer, P. U. · 1999 · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
  5. The Affect Heuristic
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.

This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Processing deficits and the mediation of positive affect in persuasion. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0022-3514.57.1.27
The paper
Mackie, D. M., & Worth, L. T. (1989). Processing deficits and the mediation of positive affect in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.57.1.27

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