The Interactive Effects of Mood and Trait Negative Affect in Group Decision Making

Daan van Knippenberg (), Hanneke J. M. Kooij- de Bode () and Wendy P. van Ginkel ()
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Daan van Knippenberg: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Hanneke J. M. Kooij- de Bode: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Wendy P. van Ginkel: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Organization Science, 2010, vol. 21, issue 3, 731-744

Abstract: Extending the growing interest in affect in work groups, we propose that groups with distributed information make higher quality decisions when they are in a negative rather than a positive mood, but that these effects are moderated by group members' trait negative affect. In support of this hypothesis, an experiment ( N = 175 groups) showed that positive mood led to lower quality decisions than did negative or neutral moods when group members were low in trait negative affect, whereas such mood effects were not observed in groups higher in trait negative affect. Mediational analysis based on behavioral observations of group process confirmed that group information elaboration mediated this effect. These results provide an important caveat on the benefits of positive moods in work groups, and suggest that the study of trait × state affect interactions is an important avenue for future research.

Keywords: group dynamics; group processes; group performance; team performance; group decision making; negative affectivity; mood; distributed information; elaboration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:21:y:2010:i:3:p:731-744

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