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The Influence of Positive Affect on Clinical Problem solving

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  • Alice M. Isen
  • Andrew S. Rosenzweig
  • Mark J. Young

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of positive affect, induced by report of success on an anagram task, on medical decision making among third-year medical students. The subjects were asked to decide which one of six hypothetical patients, each of whom had a solitary pulmonary nodule, was most likely to have lung cancer. They were asked to verbalize their clinical reasoning as they solved the problem. The positive-affect and control groups did not differ in the tendency to make a correct choice, but subjects in the positive-affect condition were significantly earlier in identifying their choices. These subjects were also significantly more likely to go beyond the assigned task, expressing interest in the cases of the other patients and trying to think about their diagnoses, even though that task was not assigned. The positive-affect subjects also showed evidence of configural or integrative consideration of the material to a reliably greater extent than did control subjects, and there was significantly less evidence of confusion or disorganization in their protocols than in those of controls. These findings are compatible with earlier work suggesting a different organizational process and greater efficiency in decision making among people in whom positive affect had been induced, and with recent work suggesting that positive affect facilitates flexibility and inte gration in problem solving. They also indicate that these effects may apply to the problem- solving strategies of professionals in clinical probem-solving situations. Key words: positive affect; medical decision making; problem solving; diagnostic reasoning. (Med Decis Making 1991;11:221-227)

Suggested Citation

  • Alice M. Isen & Andrew S. Rosenzweig & Mark J. Young, 1991. "The Influence of Positive Affect on Clinical Problem solving," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 11(3), pages 221-227, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:11:y:1991:i:3:p:221-227
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X9101100313
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    3. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Ed Diener & Louis Tay & Cody Xuereb, 2013. "The Objective Benefits of Subjective Well-Being," CEP Discussion Papers dp1236, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Lili Tian & Huan Chen & E. Huebner, 2014. "The Longitudinal Relationships Between Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction at School and School-Related Subjective Well-Being in Adolescents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 353-372, October.
    5. Healy, Andrew J. & Malhotra, Neil & Mo, Cecilia H., 2009. "Personal Emotions and Political Decision Making: Implications for Voter Competence," Research Papers 2034, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    6. Estrada, Carlos A. & Isen, Alice M. & Young, Mark J., 1997. "Positive Affect Facilitates Integration of Information and Decreases Anchoring in Reasoning among Physicians," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 117-135, October.
    7. Hildreth, J. Angus D & Anderson, Cameron, 2014. "Failure at the top: How power undermines collaborative performance," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt7px2c22n, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    8. Jennifer Politis & John C. Houtz, 2015. "Effects of Positive Mood on Generative and Evaluative Thinking in Creative Problem Solving," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, June.
    9. Lyngdoh, Teidorlang & Liu, Annie H. & Sridhar, Guda, 2018. "Applying positive psychology to selling behaviors: A moderated–mediation analysis integrating subjective well-being, coping and organizational identity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 142-153.
    10. Miner, Andrew G. & Glomb, Theresa M., 2010. "State mood, task performance, and behavior at work: A within-persons approach," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 43-57, May.
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    15. Kimberly D. Elsbach & Pamela S. Barr, 1999. "The Effects of Mood on Individuals' Use of Structured Decision Protocols," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 181-198, April.
    16. Patrick Flavin & Michael Keane, 2012. "Life Satisfaction and Political Participation: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 63-78, March.
    17. Timo Kortsch & Ricarda Rehwaldt & Manon E. Schwake & Chantal Licari, 2022. "Does Remote Work Make People Happy? Effects of Flexibilization of Work Location and Working Hours on Happiness at Work and Affective Commitment in the German Banking Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, July.

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