Recipient's mood, relationship type, and helping.

We conducted two studies to examine how a potential helper is affected by having a communal orientation toward a relationship with a potential recipient and by the potential recipient's sadness. We hypothesized that (a) having a communal orientation would increase helping and that (b) people high in communal orientation, but not others, would respond to a potential recipient's sadness by increasing helping. These hypotheses were tested in two studies. In Study 1, individual differences in communal orientation toward relationships were measured by using a new communal orientation scale reported for the first time in this article. In Study 2, manipulations were used to lead subjects to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another person. In both studies, subjects were exposed to a sad person or to a person in a neutral mood whom they were given a chance to help. As hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects helped the other significantly more than did others. Also as hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects but not others, increased helping in response to the other person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The epistemic benefits of trait-consistent mood states: An analysis of extraversion and mood.

One must consider both trait and state affect to predict individual differences in emotional processing. The present results document a novel trait-state interaction that is consistent with proposals concerning the epistemic functions of affect (A. R. Damasio, 1994). Four studies tested the effects of extraversion and mood on motivation-relevant processing. Study 1 measured naturally occurring mood, whereas Studies 2-4 manipulated mood. Extraverts were faster to link events to their personal motivations when in a positive mood state, whereas introverts were fast to do so in a neutral or negative mood state. Further findings indicate that this interaction affects attitude accessibility rather than event elaboration. Overall, the authors suggest that there are pragmatic benefits to trait-consistent moods, particularly for processing motivation-relevant stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of daily events on mood states in major depressive disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by high negative affect (NA) and low positive affect (PA), but little is known about emotional reactivity in daily life. The authors used experience sampling methodology to investigate changes in NA and PA following minor daily events in MDD compared with healthy participants. Contrary to expectation, MDD participants did not report more frequent negative events, although they did report fewer positive events. Multilevel regression showed that both NA and PA responses to negative events were blunted in the MDD group, whereas responses to positive events were enhanced. NA responses to negative events persisted longer in MDD participants. Depressed participants with a positive family history or longer current episodes showed relatively greater NA responses to negative events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of member mood states on creative performance in temporary workgroups.

Previous individual-level research suggests that positive mood promotes creative problem solving (A. M. Isen, 2000). The current study built on these results to investigate group-level phenomena. Temporary workgroups (N=57) were induced to experience positive, neutral, or negative mood before engaging in a creative production task. The results indicated that positive mood increased creative performance and implementation efficiency, whereas negative mood had no effect. Regarding group process, positive and neutral mood created a stronger task focus, whereas negative mood created a stronger relationship focus within the group, but this effect did not influence group performance. Implications for future research on the role of mood in group creativity and process are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explanation of the relation between negative mood and helping.

Prior research addressing the relation between negative affect and helping behavior has yielded inconsistent results. Three theoretical interpretations, negative-state relief, attentional focus, and responsibility/objective self-awareness, are examined in an expanded analysis of published research. For this purpose, judges assessed for each of 85 negative affect conditions the contextual levels of the variables relevant to each theory by reading relevant material that was excerpted from the method section of each article. Higher order partial correlations were then calculated between each variable and the 85 helpfulness effect sizes. The results are consistent with the attentional focus and the responsibility/objective self-awareness models. Both increased perceptions of responsibility for causing the negative event and attentional focus on another (as opposed to oneself) as the target of the negative event augment helpfulness. Furthermore, mood-lowering events that engender objective self-awareness promote helpfulness when prosocial values are psychologically salient. No support obtains for the negative-state relief model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examination-related feedback, mood and helping: a correlational study

The association of mood with helping was examined. College students (N = 62) self-reported mood before and after receiving feedback (numerical score and letter grade) on an examination administered during the previous class session. Helping measures included the number of sessions in which they were willing to serve and the number of names in a list of 120 checked for spelling. Analysis indicated that examination scores were negatively correlated with negative affect (r = -.69) and positively correlated with positive affect (r = 51); however, there was no statistically significant relationship between mood and helping.     

Weather, mood, and helping behavior: Quasi experiments with the sunshine samaritan.

Conducted 2 field studies on the relationship of weather variables to helping behavior. In Study 1 (540 adult Ss), which was executed in the spring and summer and subsequently replicated in the winter, the amount of sunshine reaching the earth was found to be a strong predictor of an S's willingness to assist an interviewer. Smaller relationships were also found between helping and temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and lunar phase. Exp II was conducted indoors with 130 dining parties to control for comfort factors. Sunshine, lunar phase, and S's age and sex were found to predict the generosity of the tip left for a restaurant waitress. Sunshine and temperature were also significantly related to the 6 waitresses' self-reports of mood. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional states and memory biases: Effects of cognitive priming and mood.

Recent studies have shown that naturally occurring and experimentally induced affect states enhance the accessibility to retrieval of memories of life experiences that are congruent in valence with the affect state. Previous studies have suggested that this memory bias results from the influence of affective processes on memory retrieval. Ss read statements expressing positive or negative self-evaluative ideas or describing somatic states that often accompany positive or negative mood states. The somatic and self-evaluative statements had, in general, equally strong effects on mood state. However, the self-evaluative statements had a stronger impact on recall latencies for life experiences than did the somatic statements. Moreover, the impact of the self-evaluative, but not the somatic, statements on recall was found to be independent of the statements' effect on mood state. This suggest that the cognitions accompanying a mood-altering experience may have a substantial effect on the capacity of the mood state to influence memory retrieval. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive mood and helping behavior: A test of six hypotheses.

Past research has shown rather consistently that positive mood states lead to increased helpfulness. In an expanded analysis of the published literature, we examined six distinct views about this relation: the focus of attention, objective self-awareness, separate process, social outlook, mood maintenance, and concomitance hypotheses. For each of 61 positive affect conditions in which it was possible to generate an effect-size estimate corresponding to the relative degree of helpfulness exhibited by positive mood subjects (compared with neutral affect subjects), judges assessed the contextual levels of variables relevant to each of the six hypotheses by reading the Method section of each article. Higher-order partial correlation coefficients were then calculated to isolate the independent contribution of each of the theoretically relevant variables to the variation among the 61 effect sizes. The results support the focus of attention, separate process, social outlook, and mood maintenance hypotheses, and partially support the objective self-awareness and concomitance hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of induced mood states on activity and self-reported affect.

Studied the influence of positive and negative affect induced by cognitive mediation on behaviors thought to reflect depression. Data from 88 undergraduates who completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist and who were subsequently assigned to 3 mood-induction conditions (elation, depression, and neutral) support a cognitive mediation theory of depression and suggest that affect can be manipulated in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Induction of mood states and their effect on gaze behaviors.

The present study verified the relationship between affective states and visual behavior in nonpsychotics. 45 female undergraduates participated and entered an elated, depressed, or neutral state by means of E. Velten's (1968) mood induction procedure. Ss then conversed for 10 min with a confederate, at which time the Ss' returned eye contact was measured. Results indicate that (a) elated Ss engaged in more total eye contact and had longer but less frequent eye-contact gazes than neutrals, and (b) depressed Ss had less total eye contact and had fewer eye-contact gazes than Ss in a neutral affective state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of mood on learning.

Explored the influence of elated and depressed moods on (a) the affective evaluation of sentences and (b) efficiency in learning these sentences. 105 college students were given sentences from Time magazine that were modified to insure structural equivalence and selected to elicit pleasant and unpleasant reactions. Ss were asked to rate the sentences on affect, memorize them, and recall them. Results indicate that elated moods facilitate the clear differentiation between pleasant and unpleasant sentences as well as the remembrance of them. Depressed moods lead to indifferent evaluations, less recall of propositions, and more total zero recall. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The costs of optimism and the benefits of pessimism.

Research suggests that optimism feels good. However, does it always feel good? We suggest that the benefits (and costs) of optimism and pessimism depend on their timing. A study of exam score estimates revealed that, after controlling for actual exam performance, optimistic expectations are unrelated to how people feel immediately before feedback, in contrast to the common wisdom that optimism “feels good.” Furthermore, optimism has costs after feedback—participants who predicted higher scores before feedback felt worse after learning their scores. Finally, people seem to be aware of the potential costs of optimism—participants who predicted higher scores before feedback also anticipated experiencing greater disappointment should they perform poorly. These findings suggest that people may proactively manage their expectations to avoid the costs of optimism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Induction of mood states and their effect on cognitive and social behaviors.

Three groups of 20 female undergraduates read E. A. Velten's elation, depression, and neutral self-referent mood statements and were then given the Stroop Color-Word Test, a digit symbol task, a time estimation task, a depression adjective checklist, a measure of writing speed, the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale, and a measure of graphic constriction-expansion. Findings suggest that affective states can be manipulated in the laboratory and that they have a significant impact on certain kinds of cognitive and performance behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and negative mood states in end-stage renal disease.

Tested A. Bandura's (1977) social learning theory, which hypothesizes that the joint experience of weak efficacy and strong outcome expectancies induces negative mood states. 70 end-stage renal disease patients served as Ss. Perceived self-efficacy was measured via Ss' self-rated control over health and over life in general. Outcome expectancies were assessed on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale and the Health Locus of Control Scale. The 3 dependent variables were Ss' scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, Self-Esteem Inventory, and self-ratings of helplessness. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical multiple-regression strategy. The efficacy and outcome measures each correlated significantly and uniquely with the 3 dependent variables. Weaker efficacy and weaker outcome expectancies were associated with increased depression, lower self-esteem, and subjective feelings of helplessness. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task performance, helping, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal ratings.

Despite the fact that several studies have investigated the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and performance appraisal ratings, the vast majority of these studies have been cross-sectional, correlational investigations conducted in organizational settings that do not allow researchers to establish the causal nature of this relationship. To address this lack of knowledge regarding causality, the authors conducted 2 studies designed to investigate the effects of task performance, helping behavior, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal evaluations. Findings demonstrated that each of these forms of behavior has significant effects on performance evaluation decisions and suggest that additional attention should be directed at both voice and organizational loyalty as important forms of citizenship behavior aimed at the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social ties: Subgroup differences in costs and benefits.

Studied social support in response to stressful life events (i.e., whether social ties are stressful as well as supportive and whether there are subgroup differences in the efficacy of social support) among 314 women (mean age 34.7 yrs) with a mean educational level of 10.7 yrs and a mean family income of $7,500–20,000/yr. Ss completed measures of negative affect, perceived stressfulness of life events of significant others, and social support. Selected findings show that (1) the mobilization of social support was associated with better psychological well-being for Ss with greater personal resources; (2) Ss with lower levels of personal resources were more distressed by life events in the lives of their significant others, especially as the number of these events increased; and (3) subgroup effects of interpersonal support and stress on psychological well-being were independent and separate. It is concluded that Ss with greater material and psychological resources derived more beneficial support and suffered less stress from their social ties. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The costs and benefits of writing, talking, and thinking about life's triumphs and defeats.

Three studies considered the consequences of writing, talking, and thinking about significant events. In Studies 1 and 2, students wrote, talked into a tape recorder, or thought privately about their worst (N = 96) or happiest experience (N = 111) for 15 min each during 3 consecutive days. In Study 3 (N = 112), students wrote or thought about their happiest day; half systematically analyzed, and half repetitively replayed this day. Well-being and health measures were administered before each study's manipulation and 4 weeks after. As predicted, in Study 1, participants who processed a negative experience through writing or talking reported improved life satisfaction and enhanced mental and physical health relative to those who thought about it. The reverse effect for life satisfaction was observed in Study 2, which focused on positive experiences. Study 3 examined possible mechanisms underlying these effects. Students who wrote about their happiest moments--especially when analyzing them--experienced reduced well-being and physical health relative to those who replayed these moments. Results are discussed in light of current understanding of the effects of processing life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the costs and benefits of exacting revenge in romantic relationships.

The present investigation explored individuals' (N = 58) retrospective accounts of the costs and benefits associated with acts of revenge they had committed against a current or past romantic partner. Content analysis of participants' responses to a semistructured interview revealed that, consistent with claims that revenge can have constructive as well as destructive consequences, participants described both good and bad outcomes associated with their vengeful acts. There was little evidence, however, that they perceived the consequences of revenge as achieving prosocial ends (i.e., as having benefited their partners/relationships or others) and, overall, participants seemed to believe that they, rather than others, had profited from their vengeful actions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)