Resources for “The effects of emotions on preferences and  choices for public goods.”

We randomized participants into one of three different conditions: a sadness condition, a happiness condition, and a neutral condition. In each treatment, participants were asked to watch a collection of short film clips (approximately 6-7 minutes in length) of the same valence. The film clips were selected based on prior research which has illustrated the effectiveness of such clips in eliciting specific emotions (Rottenberg et al, 2007; Schaefer et al, 2010). The film clips we used were similar to that used by Feinstein et al (2010), in which they demonstrate that these films have a persistent impact on emotional state, even for patients with amnesia.  

Sadness (negative valence) condition:

The Champ (Child experiences his hero’s death – 2:42)
Born on the 4th of July (Man injured from war has returned home and is distraught – 1:59)
Forest Gump (Man is at the graveside of his love – 2:01)

Happiness (positive valence) condition:

Ladder 49 (Man finds out his wife is pregnant – 1:18)
Love actually (Man proposes to a woman – 2:21)
Love Actually (People meeting loved ones at the airport – 1:19)
Indiana Jones (Children return home to their parents – 1:16)

Neutral condition:

Stock market report (Woman reports on the stock market – 1:30)
Golf grip video (Man describes how to grip a golf club – 1:51)
Abstract painting (Woman describes acrylic painting techniques – 1:06)
Antiques auctions (Man describes items sold at an antiques auction – 1:26)