Happiness Makes Familiarity Less Valuable (06-17-10)

Researchers have known for some time that familiar objects and places are generally preferred to unfamiliar ones, possibly because they indicate safety.  De Vries and her colleagues have investigated how this fondness is affected by mood.  They determined, not surprisingly, that people are more adventurous, and have less preference for the familiar, when they are in a positive mood than when their mood is negative.  This has implications for the design of places where people can be more expected to be in a negative mood (a chemotherapy center) than a positive one (a restaurant). 

Marieke de Vries, Rob Holland, Troy Chenier, Mark Starr, and Piotr Winkelman.  2010. “Happiness Cools the Warm Glow of Familiarity:  Psychophysiological Evidence that Mood Modulates the Familiarity-Affect Link.”  Psychological Science, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 321-328.