Abstract
BackgroundPeople with depression maintain negative expectations despite disconfirming positive experiences by reappraising or discarding novel positive information, referred to as “cognitive immunisation”. A second body of literature suggests that negative mood can negatively affect information processing. Bridging these two lines of research, the present study examined the interplay of cognitive immunisation and negative mood in the context of expectation modification.MethodsIn a student sample (N = 152), we used a well-established experimental paradigm to examine the adjustment of performance expectations in response to positive performance feedback, and its relation to depressive symptoms. In a 2 × 2 design, participants received either a negative mood induction, a cognitive immunisation manipulation, both, or no further manipulation.ResultsParticipants from all experimental groups revised their previous expectations significantly in line with positive performance feedback. However, depressive symptoms were a negative predictor of expectation adjustment, and a moderation analysis indicated that this effect was particularly pronounced if participants underwent the negative mood induction.ConclusionsConsistent with previous work, depressive symptoms were associated with a reduced ability to integrate positive information. Furthermore, our results suggest that the activation of negative mood in people with elevated levels of depression may hamper learning from new positive experience.
Highlights
Based on well-established findings into the tremendous impact of expectations on perception, emotion, and wellbeing, a relatively nascent area of research in the cognitive sciences has begun to investigate how people adjust their expectations in light of disconfirmatory evidence (Sharot & Garrett, 2016)
The results show that cognitive immunisation does not interact with any of the other predictors in the model
It is important to consider the results of the manipulation check: on the one hand, as intended, negative affect increased and positive affect decreased in the groups Affect and Immunisation + Affect after watching the sad film sequence; on the other hand, there were no group differences in the sum scores of the immunisation scale, suggesting that it was not possible to manipulate cognitive immunisation through the experimental manipulation used in the groups Immunisation and Immunisation + Affect
Summary
Based on well-established findings into the tremendous impact of expectations on perception, emotion, and wellbeing, a relatively nascent area of research in the cognitive sciences has begun to investigate how people adjust their expectations in light of disconfirmatory evidence (Sharot & Garrett, 2016). A second body of literature suggests that negative mood can negatively affect information processing. Bridging these two lines of research, the present study examined the interplay of cognitive immunisation and negative mood in the context of expectation modification. Methods In a student sample (N = 152), we used a well-established experimental paradigm to examine the adjustment of performance expectations in response to positive performance feedback, and its relation to depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were a negative predictor of expectation adjustment, and a moderation analysis indicated that this effect was pronounced if participants underwent the negative mood induction. Our results suggest that the activation of negative mood in people with elevated levels of depression may hamper learning from new positive experience
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
