Effect of Induced Mood on Story Interpretation
Faculty Mentor
Jilliene Seiver
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
May 2025
End Date
May 2025
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Psychology
Abstract
Studies have found that mood can affect a variety of aspects of cognition, such as memory, comprehension, and decision making. In one such study, participants identified with the character that reflected their hypnotically induced mood, and in another, story endings that were incongruent with the film clip-induced mood were more difficult to process. In the current study, film clips were used to induce moods, and participants were asked to write an ending to an ambiguous story. The prediction is that participants’ completions will reflect their induced mood.
To date, 25 Eastern Washington University undergraduate students have been recruited and screened for symptoms of depression with the CES-D; only the 10 participants (Ps) with a score ≤ 15 were included. They were randomly assigned to watch one of four mood induction film clips: fear (Halloween), happiness (An Officer and a Gentleman), sadness (The Champ), or neutral (The Last Emperor). The mood induction was verified with a 9 point scale that assessed the degree of intensity of emotion, and Chi-squared was computed for each film clip; only fear and sadness were successfully induced, largely because Ps who saw the happy clip split their mood ratings between amusement and neutral. A brief ambiguous story was provided, and Ps were instructed to complete the story with a few sentences that explain something about the characters, what happens next, and how the story ends. The written endings were coded by three observers for mood expressed, and they were consistent with the mood of the film clip viewed (Chi-squared (6, 10) =16.00, p=.014). The continuation of data collection should result in stronger results as our participant pool increases. If the hypothesis continues to be supported by incoming data, this will add to previous studies that have shown that mood serves as context for processing information.
Recommended Citation
Thayer, Rachel Deborah, "Effect of Induced Mood on Story Interpretation" (2025). 2025 Symposium. 17.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2025/ps_2025/p1_2025/17
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Effect of Induced Mood on Story Interpretation
PUB NCR
Studies have found that mood can affect a variety of aspects of cognition, such as memory, comprehension, and decision making. In one such study, participants identified with the character that reflected their hypnotically induced mood, and in another, story endings that were incongruent with the film clip-induced mood were more difficult to process. In the current study, film clips were used to induce moods, and participants were asked to write an ending to an ambiguous story. The prediction is that participants’ completions will reflect their induced mood.
To date, 25 Eastern Washington University undergraduate students have been recruited and screened for symptoms of depression with the CES-D; only the 10 participants (Ps) with a score ≤ 15 were included. They were randomly assigned to watch one of four mood induction film clips: fear (Halloween), happiness (An Officer and a Gentleman), sadness (The Champ), or neutral (The Last Emperor). The mood induction was verified with a 9 point scale that assessed the degree of intensity of emotion, and Chi-squared was computed for each film clip; only fear and sadness were successfully induced, largely because Ps who saw the happy clip split their mood ratings between amusement and neutral. A brief ambiguous story was provided, and Ps were instructed to complete the story with a few sentences that explain something about the characters, what happens next, and how the story ends. The written endings were coded by three observers for mood expressed, and they were consistent with the mood of the film clip viewed (Chi-squared (6, 10) =16.00, p=.014). The continuation of data collection should result in stronger results as our participant pool increases. If the hypothesis continues to be supported by incoming data, this will add to previous studies that have shown that mood serves as context for processing information.
