For better and for worse: The role of negative affect in decisions to drink and drive

Affect has been considered an important factor of risk decision making. However, previous work has focused on the valence of affect and disregarded its motivational relevance. We present two studies investigating people’s likelihood to drink and drive as a function of negative affect related to drinking and driving that was inconsistent, or threatening people’s goal pursuit (Study 1) or did not threaten participants’ goal pursuit (Study 2) as well as participants’ motivation to draw conclusions quickly and efficiently (i.e. need for closure, NFC). Negative affect resulted in higher self-reported likelihood to drink and drive, particularly among high NFC individuals, but only when it was inconsistent with participants’ goals. When negative affect was not inconsistent with participants’ goals, it resulted in lower self-reported likelihood to drink and drive among high NFC individuals. The present work points to the importance of the motivational relevance of negative affect in the decision-making process to engage in risk behavior.