2004/05/01 by Jutta Joormann, Matthias Siemer · 2 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Affect (linguistics) #Anxiety #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes #Autobiographical memory #Clinical psychology #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Communication #Developmental psychology #Distraction #Dysphoria #Identity, Memory, and Therapy #Memory Processes and Influences #Mood #Psychiatry #Psychology #Recall #Rumination
paper · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.113.2.179
openalex publication_date 2004/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
Recent studies have suggested that mood-incongruency effects are due to mood-regulatory processes, in which people retrieve positive memories to repair negative moods. In Study 1, the authors investigated whether dysphoria influences the accessibility of autobiographical memories following a positive or a negative mood induction combined with subsequent rumination or distraction. The results showed a mood-repair effect for nondysphoric but not for dysphoric participants following rumination. In Study 2, participants were asked to either distract themselves or to recall positive autobiographical memories after a negative mood induction. Whereas nondysphoric participants' mood improved under both conditions, dysphoric participants' mood improved only after distraction. These results suggest that dysphoria is associated with a reduced ability to use mood-incongruent recall to repair sad moods.