Prior research has shown that mood state affects liking for others, categorization breadth, and processing strategy. Proceeding from such work, it was hypothesized that mood state would affect the relative endorsement of egalitarian macrojustice and equity-based microjustice principles. Male and female subjects were assigned to one of three mood inductions (elation, neutral, and depression). In an apparently unrelated second study, subjects indicated their level of endorsement of microjustice and macrojustice principles. As predicted, elated subjects showed more endorsement of egalitarian macrojustice principles than depressed subjects. Further, elated subjects differentiated least between equity-based microjustice and egalitarian macrojustice principles; depressed subjects differentiated most. Results are discussed in terms of a model of the process through which mood influences perceived justice.
Abstract