I Felt Low and My Purse Feels Light: Depleting Mood Regulation Attempts Affect Risk Decision Making SABRINA D. BRUYNEEL 1 * , SIEGFRIED DEWITTE 1 , PHILIP HANS FRANSES 2 and MARNIK G. DEKIMPE 1,3 1 Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 2 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam,The Netherlands 3 Tilburg University,Tilburg,The Netherlands ABSTRACT We propose that negative affect can induce people to engage in risky decisions. We test two alternative hypotheses as to how this effect may emerge. The mood repair hypothesis states that risky choices in risk decision making serve as a means to repair one’s negative affect. The depletion hypothesis, in contrast, states that risky choices in risk decision making are the mere consequence of a state of depletion resulting from engagement in active mood regulation attempts. The results of a first laboratory study establish a link between risky choices in risk decision making and negative affect. Subsequent experiments provide evidence that depletion due to active mood regulation attempts, rather than mood repair, is the underlying process for this link. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words risk decision making; negative affect; emotion; mood repair; mood regulation; depletion INTRODUCTION Affect has been found to play a major role in judgment and decision making (Peters, Va ¨stfja ¨ll, Ga ¨rling, & Slovic, 2006). In addition, risk decision making has received a lot of attention (Loewenstein, Weber, Hsee, & Welch, 2001). In the present paper, we intend to contribute to this literature by investigating the process by which incidental negative affect influences people’s decision making under risk. We define incidental negative affect as negative affect that is unrelated to the decision at hand (Loewenstein & Lerner, 2003). Following previous literature (Maner, Gailliot, Butz, & Peruche, 2007, p. 452), we define risk decision making as a decision making process in which choices can have either positive or negative consequences. For instance, buying lottery tickets could result in gaining money (i.e., a positive consequence) or it could result Journal of Behavioral Decision Making J. Behav. Dec. Making, 22: 153–170 (2009) Published online 16 October 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/bdm.619 * Correspondence to: Sabrina D. Bruyneel, Research Center Marketing, KULeuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: sabrina.bruyneel@econ.kuleuven.be Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.