Svanas-Hoh, Sanchez, and Tsay evaluated how mood influences evaluations of music; their findings can likely be extended to other situations in which assessments are made. The team reports that “Across two studies, participants . . . listened to a recital (set) of six pieces and provided moment-to-moment evaluations of emotional intensity, as well as global REs [retrospective evaluations] of the pieces and the entire set. Trend was manipulated (between-subjects) by ordering pieces by increasing (Low-High) or decreasing (High- Low) emotional intensity. The peak-end did not contribute substantially to REs for individual pieces. REs of the recital relied on averages of global ratings of individual pieces rather than momentary affect. . . . The Low-High group produced higher REs of emotional intensity than the High-Low group, demonstrating a trend effect. The average is proposed as the most appropriate predictor for REs in affective—including musical—experiences, with overweighting of certain moments based on memorability (rather than the peak-end).”
Emily Svanas-Hoh, Janice Sanchez, and Chia-Jung Tsay. “How Momentary Affect Impacts Retrospective Evaluations of Musical Experiences.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, in press, https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000474