hedonic contingency hypothesis
a theory of affect and information processing postulating that people consider the pleasant or unpleasant implications when determining whether to elaborate information. When people are in positive mood states, they tend to be highly attentive to the impact information will have on their mood. If the information is seen as uplifting, they will engage in extensive elaboration to maintain their positive mood, but if it is seen as unpleasant, they will engage in little elaboration. When people are in negative mood states, they tend to elaborate information with little attention to its hedonic consequences because such information is unlikely to make their mood more negative and might make it more positive. [originally proposed by U.S. social psychologists Duane T. Wegener (1966– ) and Richard E. Petty (1951– )]