Abstract
Previous research has examined how mood affects individuals' judgment. Our study aims to extend this research to evaluate the influence of mood on judgment in vivo. Using a smartphone-based design, we prompted participants (N=103) three times a day to rate their mood and perform one of three judgment tasks three times a day for one week: (1) evaluate their self-efficacy on a word unscrambling task, (2) identify face emotions, or (3) judge risk by pumping virtual balloons. Our results showed that, contrary to our hypotheses, mood did not have a significant effect on the judgments individuals made. Prior task performance and task trial were significant predictors of self-efficacy; sex and task trial were associated with face emotion recognition; and balloons popped the day prior, and task trial influenced how individuals evaluated risk. The in vivo design of this study is a novel and more ecologically valid than some earlier work, but it is not without limitations, including the self-reported nature of mood, and potential for unmeasured third variable effects. This research raises questions about the validity of lab-based studies of the relation between mood and judgment, and shows the capacity of in vivo research and technology to challenge and enhance our understanding of how mood influences behavior.