Informational Properties of Anxiety and Sadness, and Displaced Coping

Raghunathan and Pham (1999) observed that, although of the same valence, states of anxiety and sadness have distinct effects on decision making. Results from two new experiments confirm that anxiety triggers a preference for options that are more rewarding and comforting. Our results also indicate that these effects are driven by an affect-as-information process, and are most pervasive when the source of anxiety or sadness is not salient. Finally, our results document a previously unrecognized phenomenon we term <i>displaced coping</i>, wherein affective states whose sources is salient influence decisions that are seemingly—but not directly—related to the source of these affective states.