Professor Shackleford is elated because she has just learned that her paper has been accepted for publication. When a student passes her in the hallway and tells her that he missed the latest exam in order to stay home with his depressed cat, her good mood renders her likely to:

a) be even more skeptical than usual about such an unlikely excuse.
b) be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.
c) overlook the student’s cognitive dissonance.
d) fall victim to the sleeper effect.

b) be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.

Explanation:

Professor Shackleford is elated because she has just learned that her paper has been accepted for publication. When a student passes her in the hallway and tells her that he missed the latest exam in order to stay home with his depressed cat, her good mood renders her likely to: be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.

a) be even more skeptical than usual about such an unlikely excuse.

b) be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.

c) overlook the student’s cognitive dissonance.

d) fall victim to the sleeper effect.

b) be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.

Explanation:

Research has shown that mood has effect on interpersonal trust, hence positive moods will generally makes an individual to be less skeptical of am excuse, story or a situation, while negative mood, has tendency to make an individual to be more skeptical of a story or excuse.

Also, research has shown that negative mood tends to process information in an accommodative, detailed and systematic manner, unlike positive mood, that processes information in an assimilative, heuristic and top down processing, hence, negative mood tends to give a better judgment of a story than positive mood.

Therefore, Professor Shackleford will be less skeptical than usual about the excuse due to her positive mood at that moment.