| Abstract: | It was proposed that thinking about disease-detection behavior would lead to more negative moods than thinking about health-promotion behavior. Detection behaviors produce more negative moods because they can threaten perceptions of good health. In a laboratory study, the initial mood states of 121 participants recruited from undergraduates and the general community were measured using a neutral-words rating procedure. Then participants were randomly assigned to think about performing a disease-detection behavior or a health-promotion behavior. Subsequently, they wrote down their responses to the behavior and evaluated these 35 either positive, negative, or neutral. Finally, the participant's mood was remeasured using both a neutral words-rating procedure and a more traditional bipolar rating measure. Results indicated that thought about disease-detection behavior produced more negative affective responses and more negative mood change than did thought about health-promotion behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
