Positive Mood and the Perception of Variability Within and Between Groups

Three experiments investigated the effects of positive mood on perceptions ofvariability within and between groups. Participants formed impressions of twodifferent and highly variable groups under a neutral or positive mood. Whenparticipants expected to learn about both groups, positive mood increased perceivedintergroup similarity but did not affect perceived intragroup variability. Incontrast, when participants expected to learn about only one group, judgments ofintergroup and intragroup similarity were both affected by mood. Mood and theintergroup context influenced the nature and degree of information processing andresultant judgments of variability in social groups