Negative Mood Condition Research Articles

Going beyond the Beauty - Trust Link: the Moderating Role of Mood

The current research examines the moderating role of mood in the relationship between beauty and trust. We propose that varying mood states can evoke different trust behaviors depending on the facial attractiveness of a person. Two experiments, each with different experiment paradigms, showed that people are more likely to rely on the characteristics of their partner’s face beauty in trust building when they are experiencing a positive mood. However, when participants are primed for a negative mood, the influence of attractiveness disappears. This finding indicates that facial attractiveness has no influence on trust behavior in a negative mood condition. These findings further illuminate the underlying influence of mood in the beauty-trust link.

Impact of elicited mood on movement expressivity during a fitness task

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of four mood conditions (control, positive, negative, aroused) on movement expressivity during a fitness task. Motion capture data from twenty individuals were recorded as they performed a predefined motion sequence. Moods were elicited using task-specific scenarii to keep a valid context. Movement qualities inspired by Effort-Shape framework (Laban & Ullmann, 1971) were computed (i.e., Impulsiveness, Energy, Directness, Jerkiness and Expansiveness). A reduced number of computed features from each movement quality was selected via Principal Component Analyses. Analyses of variance and Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to identify movement characteristics discriminating the four mood conditions. The aroused mood condition was strongly associated with increased mean Energy compared to the three other conditions. The positive and negative mood conditions showed more subtle differences interpreted as a result of their moderate activation level. Positive mood was associated with more impulsive movements and negative mood was associated with more tense movements (i.e., reduced variability and increased Jerkiness). Findings evidence the key role of movement qualities in capturing motion signatures of moods and highlight the importance of task context in their interpretations.

Negative urgency, mood induction, and alcohol seeking behaviors

BackgroundNegative urgency, defined as impulsive risk-taking during extreme negative emotional states, is the most important impulsivity-related trait for alcohol-related problems and alcohol dependence. However, how negative urgency imparts risk for alcohol-related problems is not yet well understood. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine how negative urgency relates to separable aspects of the emotional experience and alcohol-seeking behaviors. MethodsA total of 34 (19 women) community-dwelling, alcohol-using adults aged 21–32 (mean age=24.86, SD=3.40, 74.3% Caucasian) completed two counterbalanced intravenous alcohol self-administration sessions: one during a neutral mood condition and one during a negative mood condition. ResultsNegative urgency was associated with 1) greater mood change following negative mood induction (F=4.38, df=15, p=0.002, η2=0.87), but was unrelated to changes in craving or cortisol release in response to mood induction; 2) greater alcohol craving prior to and after an alcohol prime (F=3.27, p=0.02, η2=0.86), but only in the negative and not the neutral mood condition; and 3) higher peak BrAC (F=2.13, df=42, p=0.02, η2=0.48), continuing to increase intoxication level over a longer period (F=3.77, df=42, p<0.001, η2=0.62), and more alcohol seeking (F=21.73, df=22, p<0.001, η2=0.94) throughout the negative session. Negative urgency was associated with overall lower cortisol release. ConclusionsThese results highlight the importance of assessing behavioral indicators of negative urgency under mood condition, and suggest that negative urgency may amplify alcohol self-administration through increased negative emotional reactivity to mood events and increased alcohol craving after initial alcohol exposure, leading to maintenance of alcohol related behavior.

The effect of mood on false memory for emotional DRM word lists

ABSTRACTIn the present study, we investigated the effect of participants’ mood on true and false memories of emotional word lists in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. In Experiment 1, we constructed DRM word lists in which all the studied words and corresponding critical lures reflected a specified emotional valence. In Experiment 2, we used these lists to assess mood-congruent true and false memory. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three induced-mood conditions (positive, negative, or neutral) and were presented with word lists comprised of positive, negative, or neutral words. For both true and false memory, there was a mood-congruent effect in the negative mood condition; this effect was due to a decrease in true and false recognition of the positive and neutral words. These findings are consistent with both spreading-activation and fuzzy-trace theories of DRM performance and have practical implications for our understanding of the effect of mood on memory.

‘Emotional’ does not even start to cover it: Generalization of overeating in emotional eaters

Based on recent studies indicating that emotional eating is not the clearly defined problem it is often thought to be, the present study investigated whether emotional eaters overeat merely in response to negative emotional cues, or to other cues as well. It was hypothesized that emotional eaters would overeat after a variety of food cues, not limited to negative emotions. Participants took part in four conditions (negative mood manipulation, positive mood manipulation, food exposure and a control condition) divided over two sessions. Each condition was followed by a bogus taste test, after which food intake was measured. Results showed strong correlations between food intake after all four conditions, indicating that increased intake after one type of cue is related to increased intake after other cues. Participants were identified as emotional or non-emotional eaters based on food intake in the negative mood condition, and based on self-reported emotional eating scores. Both measures of emotional eating were significantly related to food intake after all cues. Based on the current findings, we conclude that individuals who show increased food intake when in a negative emotional state also overeat when experiencing other food-signalling cues. This indicates that ‘emotional eating’ may not fully capture the eating behaviour of individuals currently identified as ‘emotional eaters’.

Emotion has no impact on attention in a change detection flicker task.

Past research provides conflicting findings regarding the influence of emotion on visual attention. Early studies suggested a broadening of attentional resources in relation to positive mood. However, more recent evidence indicates that positive emotions may not have a beneficial impact on attention, and that the relationship between emotion and attention may be mitigated by factors such as task demand or stimulus valence. The current study explored the effect of emotion on attention using the change detection flicker paradigm. Participants were induced into positive, neutral, and negative mood states and then completed a change detection task. A series of neutral scenes were presented and participants had to identify the location of a disappearing item in each scene. The change was made to the center or the periphery of each scene and it was predicted that peripheral changes would be detected quicker in the positive mood condition and slower in the negative mood condition, compared to the neutral condition. In contrast to previous findings emotion had no influence on attention and whilst central changes were detected faster than peripheral changes, change blindness was not affected by mood. The findings suggest that the relationship between emotion and visual attention is influenced by the characteristics of a task, and any beneficial impact of positive emotion may be related to processing style rather than a “broadening” of attentional resources.

Externalizing behaviors and learning from text in primary school students: The moderating role of mood

Previous research indicates that externalizing problems and negative mood can impair learning. However, the interaction between these variables in predicting learning from text is not well understood. This study examined the moderating role of negative mood in the association between externalizing behaviors and learning from text in primary school children.Fifth graders (N=160) were randomly assigned to either a negative or a neutral mood condition. Students were mood-induced by watching a video-clip. Subsequently, they read a text, answered a post-reading knowledge question, and reported on their externalizing behaviors.Ordinal logistic regression and simple slope analysis revealed that more externalizing behaviors were related to poorer learning gain in students in the negative mood condition, but not in those in the neutral mood condition. These results show that negative mood moderates the effect of externalizing behaviors on learning from text, thus giving important hints for practice in educational settings.

Mood contagion of robot body language in human robot interaction

The aim of our work is to design bodily mood expressions of humanoid robots for interactive settings that can be recognized by users and have (positive) effects on people who interact with the robots. To this end, we develop a parameterized behavior model for humanoid robots to express mood through body language. Different settings of the parameters, which control the spatial extent and motion dynamics of a behavior, result in different behavior appearances expressing different moods. In this study, we applied the behavior model to the gestures of the imitation game performed by the NAO robot to display either a positive or a negative mood. We address the question whether robot mood displayed simultaneously with the execution of functional behaviors in a task can (a) be recognized by participants and (b) produce contagion effects. Mood contagion is an automatic mechanism that induces a congruent mood state by means of the observation of another person's emotional expression. In addition, we varied task difficulty to investigate how the task load mediates the effects. Our results show that participants are able to differentiate between positive and negative robot mood and they are able to recognize the behavioral cues (the parameters) we manipulated. Moreover, self-reported mood matches the mood expressed by the robot in the easy task condition. Additional evidence for mood contagion is provided by the fact that we were able to replicate an expected effect of negative mood on task performance: in the negative mood condition participants performed better on difficult tasks than in the positive mood condition, even though participants' self-reported mood did not match that of the robot.

Unconditioned Superstition and Sports Bar Fans

This study investigates whether inducing a superstitious belief in a consumer by suggesting a relationship between the consumer’s purchase behavior and a specified outcome could influence consumer behavior. It also examines the moderating role of preconsumption mood in processing the information. Using information processing theory as a framework, hypotheses were developed using hypothetical scenarios and surveys. Our results demonstrated that participants in the positive mood condition reported higher expectations for the team’s performance, more positive attitude, and stronger intent to purchase when the ads contained the superstition cue, whereas participants in the negative mood condition did not. These results expand the literature on superstitious consumer behavior by demonstrating that companies can not only address superstitions that consumers already hold, but can also induce superstitious beliefs in customers. By doing so, managers and marketers may be able to positively influence consumers’ attitudes toward the company and loyalty behaviors.

Emotional eating and Pavlovian learning: Does negative mood facilitate appetitive conditioning?

Objective: Emotional eating has been suggested to be a learned behaviour; more specifically, classical conditioning processes might be involved in its development. In the present study we investigated whether a negative mood facilitates appetitive conditioning and whether trait impulsivity influences this process. Method: After undergoing either a negative or neutral mood induction, participants were subjected to a differential classical conditioning procedure, using neutral stimuli and appetizing food. Two initially neutral distinctive vases with flowers were (CS+) or were not (CS−) paired with chocolate mousse intake. We measured participants' expectancy and desire to eat (4 CS+ and 4 CS− trials), salivation response, and actual food intake. The BIS-11 was administered to assess trait impulsivity. Results: In both mood conditions, participants showed a classically conditioned appetite. Unexpectedly, there was no evidence of facilitated appetitive learning in a negative mood with regard to expectancy, desire, salivation, or intake. However, immediately before the taste test, participants in the negative mood condition reported a stronger desire to eat in the CS+ compared to the CS− condition, while no such effect occurred in the neutral group. An effect of impulsivity was found with regard to food intake in the neutral mood condition: high-impulsive participants consumed less food when presented with the CS+ compared to the CS−, and also less than low-impulsive participants. Discussion: An alternative pathway to appetitive conditioning with regard to emotions is that it is not the neutral stimuli, but the emotions themselves that become conditioned stimuli and elicit appetitive responses.

Interpretation of Ambiguous Bodily Sensations: The Roles of Mood and Perseveration

Perseverative thinking occurs within anxiety disorders. this study examined whether panic-relevant catastrophic misinterpretation of ambiguous bodily sensations occurs immediately on experiencing the sensation, or as a result of iterative perseverative thought processes. Participants were 60 nontreatment-seeking undergraduates. a 2 × 2 mood-as-input procedure was adopted to generate differential amounts of perseverative iteration of an ambiguous bodily sensation (Mood induction: positive, negative; Stop rule: as many as can, Feel like continuing). Participants underwent a bodily sensations reflection task; number of thoughts represented the extent of perseveration. Consistent with mood-as-input predictions, perseveration was greatest in groups in a negative mood deploying as many as can stop rules or in a positive mood deploying Feel like continuing stop rules. the first and final steps in the perseverative thought sequence were rated significantly more negative (by the participant and independent rater) if the participant had undergone a negative mood induction, and participants in the negative mood condition rated the final consequence of the iteration process as a greater cause for concern. In negative mood states, negatively biased interpretations are generated immediately in the initial thought. however, perseveration did not add further negative value to the interpretation. In fact, perseveration was negatively correlated with negative interpretations.

Mood is linked to vowel type: The role of articulatory movements.

This study investigates the relation between vowel identity and emotional state. In Experiment 1, (pseudo)words were invented and articulated in a positive or negative mood condition. Subjects in a positive mood produced more words containing /i:/, a vowel involving the same muscle that is used in smiling--the zygomaticus major muscle (ZMM). Subjects in a negative mood produced more words containing /o:/, involving an antagonist of the ZMM--the orbicularis orbis muscle (OOM). We argue that the link between mood and vowel identity is related to orofacial muscle activity, which provides articulatory feedback to speakers on their emotional state. Experiment 2 tests this hypothesis more specifically. Participants rated the funniness of cartoons while repeatedly articulating either /i:/ (ZMM) or /o:/ (OOM). In line with our hypothesis, the cartoons were rated as funnier by subjects articulating /i:/ than by those articulating /o:/.

Stability of the Positive Mood Effect on Creativity When Task Switching, Practice Effect, and Test Item Differences are Taken into Consideration

AbstractAlthough experimentally induced positive mood can generally last for 20 min and the induced mood is conducive to creative performance, it is still unclear whether the facilitation effect is stable during these 20 min. Two studies were conducted to examine this issue while controlling for the impacts of task switching, practice effect, and test item differences. In Study 1, participants (N = 42) were randomly assigned to positive, negative, and neutral mood conditions. After watching a short video clip, participants answered four items of the Alternate Uses Test (AUT) in 20 min, with 5 min allotted for each item. Creative performance during each 5‐min period was scored in terms of fluency and flexibility. Separate repeated‐measures analyses of variances on these creativity scores showed that positive mood consistently enhanced performance over 20 min. Study 2 further eliminated the effects of test item differences and test order. Participants (N = 131) underwent the same mood induction procedure and answered the same four items of the AUT, except that these items were presented in four different sequences in accordance with the Latin square design. Consistent with the findings in Study 1, Study 2 showed that the facilitation effect of positive mood lasted for 20 min when the interference of task switching, practice effect, and test item differences were minimized. This finding not only sheds light on the debate regarding the stability of experimentally induced positive mood effect, but also contributes to the body of empirical evidence that future studies may use to examine the positive mood effect over a relatively long period of time.

Heightened vagal activity during high-calorie food presentation in obese compared with non-obese individuals—Results of a pilot study

Eating behaviours are highly cue-dependent. Changes in mood states and exposure to palatable food both increase craving and consumption of food. Vagal activity supports adaptive modulation of physiological arousal and has an important role in cue-induced appetitive behaviours. Using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV), this preliminary study compared vagal activity during positive and negative mood induction, and presentation of preferred high-calorie food items between obese (n = 12; BMI ≥ 30) and non-obese individuals (n = 14; 18.5 < BMI < 30). Participants completed two laboratory sessions (negative vs. positive mood conditions). Following 3-h of food deprivation, all participants completed a mood induction, and then were exposed to their preferred high-calorie food items. HF HRV was assessed throughout. Obese and non-obese individuals were not significantly different in HF HRV during positive or negative mood induction. Obese individuals showed significantly greater levels of HF HRV during presentation of their preferred high-calorie food items than non-obese individuals, particularly in the positive mood condition. This is the first study to demonstrate increased vagal activity in response to food cues in obese individuals compared with non-obese individuals. Our findings warrant further investigation on the potential role of vagally-mediated cue reactivity in overeating and obesity.

Ovulation, In Vivo Emotion Regulation Problems, and Sexual Risk Recognition Deficits

Objective: To examine associations between menstrual cycle phase, negative mood, sexual risk recognition deficits (assessed via an analogue risk vignette), and in vivo emotion dysregulation. Participants: Participants were 714 college women recruited between February 2007 and December 2009. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a negative or neutral mood induction and instructed to identify sexual risk during an audiotaped sexual coercion vignette. Participants reported menstrual cycle information, in vivo emotional nonacceptance, and attention during the vignette. Results: In the negative mood condition, ovulation was associated with longer risk recognition latencies relative to the luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle. Increased in vivo emotional nonacceptance and decreased attention to the vignette mediated associations between ovulation and risk recognition deficits in the negative mood condition. Conclusions: Sexual assault risk reduction programs could provide psychoeducation regarding negative mood during ovulation and emphasize emotional acceptance and attention to external stimuli when distressed.

Negative affect promotes encoding of and memory for details at the expense of the gist: Affect, encoding, and false memories

I investigated whether negative affective states enhance encoding of and memory for item-specific information reducing false memories. Positive, negative, and neutral moods were induced, and participants then completed a Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) false-memory task. List items were presented in unique spatial locations or unique fonts to serve as measures for item-specific encoding. The negative mood conditions had more accurate memories for item-specific information, and they also had fewer false memories. The final experiment used a manipulation that drew attention to distinctive information, which aided learning for DRM words, but also promoted item-specific encoding. For the condition that promoted item-specific encoding, false memories were reduced for positive and neutral mood conditions to a rate similar to that of the negative mood condition. These experiments demonstrated that negative affective cues promote item-specific processing reducing false memories. People in positive and negative moods encode events differently creating different memories for the same event.

Modeling the effects of positive and negative mood on the ability to resist eating in obese and non-obese individuals

This pilot study adapted a well-established drug self-administration paradigm to examine the effects of mood induction on the ability to resist high-calorie foods and subsequent food consumption differently in 15 obese individuals (40.0% women, BMI: 35.1±3.70) and 15 non-obese individuals (46.7% women, BMI: 23.0±1.96). Participants completed two laboratory sessions (positive vs. negative mood conditions) consisting of 3-hour food deprivation, followed by mood induction, and a 3-hour ad-lib eating period, where they were asked to choose between favorite high-calorie snacks and monetary reinforcement. Obese individuals were less able to resist eating and increased high-calorie food consumption during the positive mood condition than the negative condition. Non-obese individuals were less able to resist eating during the negative mood condition than the positive condition, but their total consumption was not affected by the mood conditions. In obese individuals, food craving was associated with less ability to resist eating and greater calorie consumption during the negative mood condition. This is the first study to experimentally demonstrate that mood state may increase vulnerability to food consumption by reducing the ability to resist eating. The ability to resist eating may be a novel dimension of eating behaviors that has a significant contribution to understanding mood-eating relationships.

“I don't need your help!” Mood-dependent advice-taking in hypomania-prone individuals

It has been suggested that mood-dependent social regulation maintains problematic mood states in people vulnerable to bipolar disorder. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a non-clinical sample with a high vulnerability to hypomania (high HYP) followed less advice in a goal-directed task than low HYP participants following a positive versus negative mood induction using music. Students (n = 48) were provided with audio ‘advice’ given in an encouraging, neutral or critical tone of voice during a synonym-matching task. Although the high HYP participants followed more advice overall than the low HYP participants, their pattern of advice-taking showed a bias for ignoring advice more often in the positive mood condition and following advice more often in the negative mood condition. A post hoc analysis further revealed that the high HYP group tended to follow advice given in a critical tone more often when experiencing a negative mood than the low HYP group did. The findings are consistent with other findings of mood-dependent advice-taking in individuals vulnerable to bipolar symptoms.

The Impact of Mood on Affect Regulation

Drawing on the mood-behavior model ( Gendolla, 2000 ), I predicted that both negative and positive moods evoke a stronger need for hedonic affect regulation than a so-called neutral mood. To test this hypothesis, participants were induced into a positive, neutral, or negative mood by autobiographical recollection and then selected which of three films they wanted to watch. The films varied in the extent of their potential for hedonic affect regulation. As expected, preferences for a pleasant film were higher in both positive and negative moods than in a neutral mood and the positive and negative mood conditions did not differ. Furthermore, a regression analysis found that the preference for a pleasant film was related to mood intensity. Implications for other models of affect regulation are discussed.

Expectancy for negative affect relief due to smoking may not be predictive under acute mood situations.

Smoking behavior may be more persistent among those who expect that smoking will relieve negative affect (NA). Assessing smoking expectancies temporally close to mood situations could enhance the predictive value of that assessment. Dependent smokers (n = 71; 43 male, 28 female) participated in five laboratory sessions, each involving mood induction. The NA relief scale of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult (SCQ-A), a very common measure of smoking expectancies during hypothetical situations, was assessed during initial screening. The SCQ-A was compared with a modified acute version administered each session, in which items asked about immediate expectancy for NA relief by smoking "right now" (termed Immediate Negative Affect Relief, or INAR). Actual NA relief due to smoking was measured each session by change on the NA scale of the Diener & Emmons Mood Form. The five sessions (counterbalanced) involved three different negative mood tasks, the negative mood condition of overnight smoking abstinence, and neutral mood (control). Generalized estimating equations showed that temporal proximity to the mood situation slightly enhanced the ability of expectancy to predict actual change in NA due to smoking, as the interaction with condition was significant for the INAR but marginal for the SCQ-A. However, the acute INAR predicted NA relief due to smoking only after overnight smoking abstinence and not during the other specific mood induction conditions, contrary to expectations, while the SCQ-A was not significant during any of the individual conditions. In sum, assessment of expectancy for NA relief may be of limited use in predicting actual NA relief from smoking during a current mood situation, aside from NA due to overnight abstinence.