Department of Management and Organization, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
J Appl Psychol. 2012 Jan;97(1):33-45. doi: 10.1037/a0024891. Epub 2011 Aug 15.
Two studies examined the effect of affective states on decision outcome evaluation under the presence or absence of salient alternative reference points. Alternative reference points exist when there are 2 possible referents from which an outcome can be evaluated, and the outcome is judged as good from the perspective of one referent and bad from the perspective of the other. The results support a motivational process of evaluating outcomes in which individuals select the reference point that allows them to maintain positive mood or improve negative mood. Mood measurements taken before and after the task revealed that those in positive moods maintained their mood whether or not they had alternative reference points in the evaluation of their outcomes. Those in negative affective states improved their mood only when there was an alternative reference point that allowed the outcome to be compared favorably; when there was no such alternative reference point, they maintained their negative mood.
两项研究考察了在存在或不存在突出的替代参考点的情况下情感状态对决策结果评估的影响。当有 2 个可能的参照点可以评估一个结果时，就存在替代参考点，并且从一个参照点来看，结果是好的，而从另一个参照点来看，结果是坏的。研究结果支持了一种评估结果的动机过程，即个体选择允许他们保持积极情绪或改善消极情绪的参考点。在任务前后进行的情绪测量表明，那些处于积极情绪中的人无论在评估结果时是否有替代参考点，都能保持他们的情绪。那些处于消极情绪状态的人只有在有替代参考点可以让结果得到有利比较时，才会改善他们的情绪；当没有这样的替代参考点时，他们就会保持他们的消极情绪。
