title: Happy mood decreases self-focused attention.
abstract: Research addressing the influence of happy mood on self-focused attention has yielded inconsistent results. Some studies found that happy mood decreased self-focus relative to sad mood. Other studies did not detect a significant difference between happy and neutral mood, and still other studies found that happy mood, relative to neutral mood, increased self-focus. These investigations have potential shortcomings, such as an insufficiently powerful happy mood induction and a confound between visualization mood inductions and self-focus itself. The present experiment addressed these shortcomings by inducing mood via musical selections, equalizing the approximate potency between happy and sad moods, and using a within-participants design. Relative to neutral mood, happy mood decreased self-focused attention.
authors.affiliation: Soka University, Vejo, CA 92656, USA. jgreen@soka.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Constantine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sedikides
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Saltzberg
authors.forename: Joanne V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Lori-Ann B
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Forzano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001288:Attention; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012107:Research Design; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology