The effect of mental progression on mood

Abstract

Mood affects the way people think. But can the way people think affect their mood? In the present investigation, we examined this promising link by testing whether mood is influenced by the presence or absence of associative progression by manipulating the scope of participants' information processing and measuring their subsequent mood. In agreement with our hypothesis, processing that involved associative progression was associated with relatively better moods than processing that was restricted to a single topic (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 ruled out the possibility that conceptual plurality alone accounted for these mood differences; results converge with the view that mood is affected by the degree to which thoughts advance conceptually.

Figures

Figure 1

Mean PANAS ratings by thought pattern and valence (Experiment 1). Results revealed a significant interaction, p < .01. Participants reported significantly more positive mood subsequent to progressive versus stagnant blocks, p = .02. (* = p < .05). Error bars depict standard errors of the difference scores.

Figure 2

Mean PANAS ratings by thought pattern and valence (Experiment 2). Results revealed a significant interaction, p = .02. Participants reported significantly more positive mood subsequent to progressive versus incoherent blocks, p < .01. (** = p < .01). Error bars depict standard errors of the difference scores.