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Inferences about the Causes of Positive and Negative Emotions

University of California, Los Angeles

Kaori Karasawa

University of California, Los Angeles

Bernard Weiner

University of California, Los Angeles

Three experiments examined inferences about the presence of additional causes (multiple causality) when the emotions evoked by an event were either positive or negative. There were also variations in the intensity of the emotional experience, the magnitude of the eliciting event, the direction of the emotion (toward the se4f or another), and the person experiencing the event (self vs. other). It was found that when an event was major, positive emotions were more likely than negative emotions to generate inferences of additional situational and mood contributions (multiple causality). Conversely, dispositions were more likely to be inferred as an additional cause of negative than positive emotions. Further intense emotional reactions and reactions to minor events produced perceptions of more contributing causes than mild emotional expressions and emotional reactions to major events. Distinctions between positive and negative emotions are discussed, and the implications of the data for interpersonal relationships are considered.

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