M7: Why Do Good People (Pages 107-109)

32. Feeling good and doing good: mood and atmosphere

  • Overview

    • Plenty of research points to the effects of workplace atmosphere on creativity, flexibility and commitment among employees.
    • People in a good mood estimate the chance of positive developments higher than people in a bad mood, and the chance of negative developments lower.
    • The working assumption: people in a good mood behave more sociably and morally than people in a bad mood.
    • The question: does a good mood really lead to more sociable and moral behavior? Some experiments suggest yes, others urge caution about the conditions.

  • Guéguen’s bar experiment on mood and tipping

    • Setup: In a French bar, staff gave customers a card with the check. Cards displayed either an advertisement for a local nightclub or a joke:
    • Eskimo joke: "An Eskimo had been waiting for his girlfriend in front of a movie theater for a long time, and it was getting colder and colder. After a while, shivering with cold and rather infuriated, he opened his coat and drew out a thermometer. He then said loudly, ‘If she is not here at 15, I’m going!’"
    • Findings on tipping with the joke vs. nightclub ad:
    • Customers who received the joke tipped on average 50\% more than customers who received the nightclub advertisement.
    • When the joke was given, tipping rose from 25\% of customers to 42\%. Among customers who had received the nightclub card, tipping fell to 19\%.
    • Implications: happy eaters tend to be more generous givers.
    • Additional Guéguen findings (with Legoherel):
    • Service with a smile or the word "Thank you" on the check encouraged higher tips.
    • The tip rises significantly, by almost 60\%, if the waiter introduces himself.
    • Weather effects on tipping:
    • The weather affects mood and tipping behavior: when the sun shines, or even when the waiter says the sun is shining or is going to shine, the tip increases.
    • Summary takeaway: mood cues in service interactions can measurably influence generosity.

  • The principle of ‘feeling good and doing good’: Isen & Levin

    • Found-money effect (telephone booth study):
    • Subjects who found money were more willing to help someone who dropped things in the street.
    • Help rates: 4\% (no money found) vs. 84\% (money found).
    • The effect has been replicated many times with roughly similar results.
    • Three explanations for why positive feelings generate more helping:
      1) Positive mood → optimism and higher opinion of others, increasing willingness to help.
      2) Positive mood → desire to hold onto the feel-good state by engaging in a good deed.
      3) Positive mood → greater focus on self and on values/norms; doing good aligns with valued norms, so people help more.
    • Workplace connection:
    • If employees feel good, they are more inclined to do good deeds for others.
    • Good working conditions help realize an organization’s financial and social goals.
    • A good atmosphere better serves the interests and expectations of external stakeholders.

  • Risks and limits of positive mood in organizational behavior: Craciun’s findings

    • Guarded by Georgina Craciun’s experiment on the flipside of a good mood:
    • Design: participants did an IQ test, could check their own answers and pass scores on a separate sheet; sheets had a perforation enabling matching. Before testing, participants wrote a story (positive vs negative event) to induce mood.
    • Prediction: mood would influence behavior toward ethical tasks.
    • Result: among participants in a bad mood, 13\% cheated; among those in a good mood, 36\% cheated.
    • Explanations for why good mood facilitated cheating:
    • Positive mood leads to a more positive self-view and a cloudier judgment about consequences.
    • Positive mood reduces consideration of negative outcomes and increases belief that one will face fewer consequences.
    • People in a positive mood may underestimate the likelihood of being caught.
    • Practical implication for organizations:
    • In an organization with a positive atmosphere, regulators or managers should draw extra attention to negative consequences of misconduct and to the measures in place to catch offenders.

  • Connections to theory and real-world relevance

    • Mood-as-information: affective states influence judgments about risks and social expectations.
    • Behavioral spillovers: positive affect can increase cooperation and generosity but may also inadvertently raise risk-taking in ethical domains.
    • External validity considerations: effects depend on context (service interactions, monetary incentives, social cues, and task type).

  • Formulas and numerical references (highlights)

    • Tipping effects: 50\% higher tips when joke is shown vs. nightclub ad.
    • Tipping rates: 25\% \to 42\% (joke); nightclub card: 19\% tipping.
    • Self-introduction impact: \approx 60\% increase in tips when waiter introduces himself.
    • Found-money helping effect: 4\% (no money found) vs. 84\% (money found).
    • Cheating rates in Craciun study: 13\% (bad mood) vs. 36\% (good mood).