Abstract
The effects of induced moods on interest in performing a wide spectrum of behaviors were examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects who received the Velten Mood Induction elation manipulation indicated significantly greater interest than neutral subjects in social, prosocial, strenuous, leisure, and general activities on a shortened version of the Pleasant Events Schedule. Subjects who received the depression induction indicated lower interest in social, leisure, and strenuous activities. Depressed mood was associated with an interest in sitting and thinking, being alone, and taking a nap, but depression produced no increase in interest in prosocial behavior or in 12 forms of self-gratification. Experiment 2 focused on seven potential mediators in the effects of mood on behavior interests. Following a positive, negative, or neutral mood induction, subjects were asked to record their positive and negative outcome expectancies, positive and negative emotion expectancies, and their self-perceptions of energy, ability, and opportunity for active and passive, social and nonsocial behaviors. Induced elation, depression, and neutral moods again were found to influence interest in both active and passive types of social and nonsocial behaviors. The subjects' expectations of positive outcomes, and to a lesser extent their perceived energy for the behavior, were the strongest mediators of the effect of mood on behavior interests.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. J., & Viscusi, D. (1981). Induced mood and the illusion of control.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41 1129–1140.
Baumann, D. J., Cialdini, R. B., & Kenrick, D. T. (1981). Altruism as hedonism: Helping and self-gratification as equivalent responses.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40 1039–1046.
Blaney, P. H. (1986). Affect and memory: A review.Psychological Bulletin, 99 229–246.
Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory.American Psychologist, 36 129–148.
Brewin, C. R. (1985). Depression and causal attribution: What is their relation?Psychological Bulletin, 98 297–309.
Brown, S., Schwartz, G. E., & Sweeney, D. R. (1978). Dissociation of self-reported and observed pleasure in depression.Psychosomatic Medicine, 40 536–548.
Carlson, M., & Miller, N. (1987). Explanation of the relation between negative mood and helping.Psychological Bulletin, 102 91–108.
Carson, T. P., & Adams, H. E. (1980). Activity valence as a function of mood change.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 368–377.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1981).Attention and self-regulation: A control-theory approach to human behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Cialdini, R. B., Kenrick, D. T., & Baumann, D. J. (1982). Effects of mood on prosocial behavior in children and adults. In I. Staub (Ed.),The development of prosocial behavior. New York: Academic Press.
Clark, M. S., & Isen, A. M. (1982). Towards understanding and relationship between feeling states and social behavior. In A. Hastorf & A. M. Isen (Eds.),Cognitive social psychology. New York: Elsevier North-Holland.
Clark, M. S., & Waddell, B. A. (1983). Effects of moods on throughts about helping, attraction and information acquisition.Social Psychology Quarterly, 46 31–35.
Coyne, J. C., & Gotlib, I. H. (1983). The role of cognition in depression: A critical appraisal.Psychological Bulletin, 94 472–505.
Cunningham, M. R. (1977). Personality and the structure of the nonverbal communication of emotion.Journal of Personality, 45 564–584.
Cunningham, M. R. (1979). Weather, mood and helping behavior: Quasi-experiments with the sunshine samaritan.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 1947–1956.
Cunningham, M. R. (1981). Sociobiology as a supplementary paradigm for social psychological research. In L. Wheeler (Ed.),Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 2), Beverly Hills; Sage.
Cunningham, M. R. (1986). Levites and brother's keepers: Sociobiological perspectives on altruistic behavior.Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 13 35–67.
Cunningham, M. R. (1988). Does happiness mean friendliness?: Induced mood and heterosexual self-disclosure.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14 283–297.
Cunningham, M. R., & Barbee, A. P. (1987, August).The effects of induced mood and social news events on decision making about money. Paper presented at the 95th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, New York.
Cunningham, M. R., Shaffer, D. R., Barbee, A. P., & Smith, J. (1986, August).Dual processes in the effects of mood on helping behavior. Paper presented at the 94th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington.
Cunningham, M. R., Steinberg, J., & Grev, R. (1980). Wanting to and having to help: Separate motivations for positive mood and guilt-induced helping.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38 181–192.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1963).Manual for the Eysenck Personality Inventory. London: University of London Press.
Frost, R. O., & Green, M. L. (1982). Duration and post-experimental removal of Velten Mood Induction Procedure effects.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8 341–347.
Golin, S., Jarrett, S., Stewart, M., & Drayton, W. (1980). Cognitive theory and the generality of pessimism among depressed persons.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 101–104.
Hokanson, J. E., Loewenstein, D. A., Hedeen, C., & Howes, M. J. (1986). Dysphoric college students and roommates: A study of social behaviors over a three-month period.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12 311–324.
Isen, A. M. (1984). Toward understanding the role of affect in cognition. In R. Wyer & T. Srull (Eds.),Handbook of social cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Isen, A. M., Clark, M., & Schwartz, M. F. (1976). Duration of the effect of good mood on helping: “Footprints on the sands of time.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43 385–393.
Isen, A. M., & Gorgoglione, J. M. (1983). Some specific effects of four affect-induction procedures.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9 136–143.
Isen, A. M., Shalker, T., Clark, M., & Karp, L. (1978). Affect, accessibility of material in memory and behavior: A cognitive loop?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36 1–12.
Johnson, E. J., & Tversky, A. (1983). Affect, generalization and the perception of risk.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45 20–31.
Lewinsohn, P. M., & Graf, M. (1973). Pleasant activities and depression.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41 261–268.
Lewinsohn, P. M., & MacPhillamy, D. J. (1975).Manual for the Pleasant Events Schedule. Unpublished manuscript, University of Oregon.
Lewinsohn, P. M., Mischel, W., Chaplin, W., & Barton, R. (1980). Social competence and depression: The role of illusory self-perceptions.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89 203–212.
MacPhillamy, D. J., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1971).The Pleasant Events Schedule. Unpublished technical paper, University of Oregon.
MacPhillamy, D. J., & Lewinsohn, P. M., (1982). The Pleasant Events Schedule: Studies on reliability, validity and scale intercorrelation.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50 363–380.
Manucia, G. K., Baumann, D. J., & Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Mood influences on helping: Direct effects or side effects?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46 357–364.
Masters, J. C., & Furman, W. (1976). Effects of affect inductions on expectancies for serendipitous positive events, success on task performance and beliefs in internal or external control of reinforcement.Development Psychology, 12 176–179.
Mischel, W. Ebbesen, E. B., & Zeiss, A. R. (1973). Selective attention to the self: Situational and dispositional determinants.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27 129–142.
Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J. (1987). Self-regulatory perservation and the depressive self-focusing style: A self-awareness theory of reactive depression.Psychological Bulletin, 102 122–138.
Rippere, V. (1976). Antidepressive behavior: A preliminary report.Behavior Research and Therapy, 14 289–299.
Riskind, J. H., Rholes, W. S., & Eggers, J. (1982). The Velten Mood Induction Procedures: Effects on mood and memory.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50 146–147.
Rofe, Y. (1984). Stress and affiliation: A utility theory.Psychological Review, 91 235–250.
Rosenhan, D. L., Underwood, B., & Moore, B. (1974). Affect moderates self-gratification and altruism.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30 546–552.
Shaffer, D. R. (1986). Is mood-induced altruism a form of hedonism?Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 13 195–216.
Shaffer, D. R., & Smith, J. (1985). Effects of preexisting moods on observers' reactions to helpful and nonhelpful models.Motivation and Emotion, 9 101–122.
Strickland, B. R., Hale, W. D., & Anderson, L. K. (1974, September).Effect of induced mood states on activity and self-reported affect. Paper presented at the 81st annual convention of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans.
Strickland, B. R., Hale, W. D., & Anderson, L. K. (1975). Effect of induced mood states on activity and self-reported affect.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43 587.
Sweeney, P. D., Anderson, K., & Bailey, S. (1986). Attributional style in depression: A meta-analytic review.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50 974–991.
Thompson, W. C., Cowan, C. L., & Rosenhan, D. L. (1980). Focus of attention mediates the impact of negative affect on altruism.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38 291–300.
Underwood, B., Froming, W. J., & Moore, B. S. (1980). Mood and personality: A search for the causal relationship.Journal of Personality, 48 15–23.
Velten, E. (1968). A laboratory task for induction of mood states.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 6 473–482.
Wright, J., & Bower, G., (1981).Mood effects on subjective probability assessment. Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University.
Wright, J., & Mischel, W. (1982). Influence of affect on cognitive social learning person variables.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43 901–914.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The present experiments were conducted at Elmhurst College; thanks to Cindy Argianis, Chris Jankowski, and Victoria Mandell for their work in Experiment 1, and to Russell Fett for his help in Experiment 2. Valuable comments on an earlier draft were provided by Henry Adams, Anita Barbee, Katherine Noll, Sid Rosen, and David Shaffer.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunningham, M.R. What do you do when you're happy or blue? Mood, expectancies, and behavioral interest. Motiv Emot 12, 309–331 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992357
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992357