Self-esteem, mood, and self-evaluation: changes in mood and the way you see you

Three studies found that self-esteem moderates the relation between mood and self-evaluation. In Study 1, a standard mood-induction procedure was used to induce positive, negative, or neutral moods in low self-esteem (LSE) Ss and high self-esteem Ss. Afterward, Ss evaluated their specific qualities...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of personality and social psychology Vol. 64; no. 3; p. 421
Main Authors Brown, J D, Mankowski, T A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.1993
Subjects
Adaptation, Psychological
Affect
Cognition
Humans
Self Concept
Self-Assessment
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Summary:Three studies found that self-esteem moderates the relation between mood and self-evaluation. In Study 1, a standard mood-induction procedure was used to induce positive, negative, or neutral moods in low self-esteem (LSE) Ss and high self-esteem Ss. Afterward, Ss evaluated their specific qualities and characteristics (e.g., How smart are you? How kind are you?). Both self-esteem groups evaluated themselves favorably in a positive mood, but LSE Ss were more apt to lower their self-evaluations in a negative mood. Study 2 found a similar, though weaker pattern using a noncognitive, musical mood induction; Study 3 found that these effects occur with variations in naturally occurring mood over a 6-week period. The authors suggest that the tendency for LSE people to respond to negative moods with self-depreciation contributes to psychological distress.
ISSN:0022-3514
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.64.3.421