Mood state effects on thought listing

Abstract

Using a thought-listing procedure, we investigated the kinds of thoughts experienced by individuals who have undergone experimental mood induction. The results of Experiment 1, in which neutral- and depressed-mood-induction groups were compared, showed that individuals who had received a depressed-mood induction rated significantly more of their thoughts as unfavorable. In Experiment 2, subjects were required to engage in a cognitive task before the thought-listing procedure; the experiment included an elated-mood-induction group, as well as neutral and depressed groups. Although effects were in the expected direction, no reliable differences were found among the three groups in the proportion of unfavorable thoughts listed.