Hedonic contingency
Also known as: Hedonic contingency theory
Happy people screen activities for whether they'll keep the mood going.
What it means
Hedonic contingency theory proposes that people in positive moods are more attuned to the hedonic consequences of their actions and selectively pursue activities likely to maintain or enhance their good mood while avoiding mood-threatening ones. Because happy people have a pleasant state to protect, their behavior becomes contingent on hedonic payoff, whereas sad people, with little positive mood at stake, are less selective in this way. The theory was developed to explain when positive mood leads to careful versus superficial processing of persuasive messages: happy people will process a depressing message carefully only if doing so promises to be mood-lifting. It refines the mood-maintenance idea by specifying a sensitivity to anticipated hedonic outcomes rather than simple risk avoidance. It links mood, motivation, and information processing.
Examples
In a cheerful mood, a person picks an uplifting podcast over a grim documentary, gauging in advance which will keep the good feeling alive.
Having just had good news, a person scrolls past a famine appeal — not from callousness, but because a good mood is worth protecting and the appeal promises no lift.
In high spirits after a promotion, someone leaves the tedious expenses form and rings a friend instead, judging in advance which of the two will keep the feeling alive.
First described in Wegener & Petty (1994).