Objective: It has been hypothesized that alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) exist within an associative memory network and that their accessibility is facilitated in the presence of alcohol-related cues. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the accessibility of specific AOEs varies as a function of mood state and gender and to determine whether this relationship is moderated by affect-related drinking motives.

Method: Undergraduate students (N = 302) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (i.e., positive, negative and neutral mood). Mood states were achieved using musical mood-induction procedures. Postmood-induction AOEs, obtained using self-generation, were classified into five expectancy categories: social/ situational enhancement (SSE), positive emotional functioning (PEF), relaxation/tension reduction (RTR), physical/pharmacological effects (PPE) and miscellaneous (MISC).

Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that SSE and RTR expectancies were differentially accessible across mood conditions. SSE expectancies were most highly accessible to participants in a positive mood, and RTR expectancies were most highly accessible to participants in a relatively neutral mood. Although drinking motives did not moderate the AOE-mood relationship, they emerged as significant predictors of SSE and RTR expectancies. The accessibility of specific AOEs differed among men and women.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that mood serves as an implicit prime for the accessibility of specific AOEs. The implications of these findings for research concerning memory-based, cognitive-affective expectancy networks are discussed.