Are You in the Mood for Search? Study on the Relationship between
Mood and Information Seeking Behavior
Student researchers
Mimi Zhang,
Chung Hun Lee, & Chen-ya Wang (PhD Students)
This paper is based on a project from the "Psychological Aspects of Communication Technology" graduate course.
Faculty Supervisor
Dr. S. Shyam Sundar
Abstract
Human is emotional. Our affective feelings can shape our perceptions,
cognitions and behaviors, which in turn influence the way we process information
and make decisions. However, there is no empirical study in the information
search field examining what are the exact influences of mood on people's
information seeking behavior. The current trend in human information behavior
is to study affective computing. Thus, we will fill the gap and follow
the trend to study the influence of mood over the information seeking
process in the Web environment. We conducted an controlled lab study to
test our hypotheses drawn from three theories: affect as information,
affect as prime, and mood management. Twenty-nine participants (eleven
females and eighteen males) were recruited and randomly assigned to happy
or sad condition. In the beginning, they were primed with certai! n mood.
After that they performed a search task and finished a series of questionnaire.
Our study showed we have successfully manipulated the mood. There was
no difference in valence of desired information between happy and sad
mood. Only women in happy mood were likely to process more global information.
Self-esteem did not mediate the relationship between mood and use of global/local
information. Only women in happy mood were likely to use more primes.
There was no difference in valence of used prime between happy and sad
mood. This is an ongoing study. In the near future, we would hope to get
more participants and explore more in-depth on the gender differences.
|