Implicit positivity: Improving mood with environmental cues (2014)

Undergraduates: Amanda Kramer, Elise Rice

Faculty Advisor: Barbara Fredrickson
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Research in recent years has touted the benefits of positive emotions. However, new studies suggest that actively trying to be positive can backfire, leaving a person feeling worse than before. In this study, the efficacy of implicit goals of positivity as an alternate mechanism for mood improvement was investigated. All participants completed a negative mood induction before completing a thought task while being exposed to either positive or neutral environmental cues. During the task, participants were either asked to try to ¿improve their mood¿ or to list whatever thoughts came to their mind. A variety of measures, including number of thoughts, thought automaticity, thought valence, and degree of mood repair were collected across conditions. Despite research to the contrary, most participants experienced greater positivity when given an explicit goal to try to be positive. However, among participants prone to rumination, implicit goals were comparatively more effective in generating positivity. Though the implicit mechanism of environmental cues may not be effective for all people, it seems to be preferable for those with a tendency to dwell on negative thoughts. The possibilities for follow-up research and for practical applications of such findings are discussed.