Do responses to Positive Affect Influence Mood Reactivity? Exploring Cognitive Response Styles through a Mood Induction Procedure

Abstract

Cognitive responses to positive affect (PA) are interesting in the context of emotion dysregulation and emotion disorders. Previous research mainly focused on ruminative responses to negative affect in relation to psychopathology. The aim of this study was to explore the interaction between cognitive response styles as measured with the Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire (RPA) and changes in emotional state during an experimental manipulation in a non-clinical sample. Using a pre-test post-test design, Swedish undergraduate students (n = 60) were randomized into either a mood induction procedure designed to evoke positive mood or a control condition. Results revealed that the two positive rumination subscales of the RPA were associated with each other and with PA. However, none of the RPA subscales interacted with participants’ mood reactivity, thus meaning that cognitive response styles did not predict changes in mood as the participants were exposed to a mood induction procedure. The results postulate new questions on the conceptualization and functioning of cognitive response styles, as their role concerning reactivity to elevated mood states remain unclear.