Shifting moods, wandering minds: Negative moods lead the mind to wander

Smallwood, Jonathan; Fitzgerald, A.; Miles, L. K.; Phillips, L. H.

doi:10.1037/a0014855

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Shifting moods, wandering minds: Negative moods lead the mind to wander

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Smallwood, J., Fitzgerald, A., Miles, L. K., & Phillips, L. H. (2009). Shifting moods, wandering minds: Negative moods lead the mind to wander. Emotion, 9(2), 271-276. doi:10.1037/a0014855.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0012-1C5C-B

Abstract

This study examined the effect of mood states on mind wandering. Positive, neutral, and negative moods were induced in participants prior to them completing a sustained attention task. Mind wandering was measured by using the frequencies of both behavioral lapses and retrospective indices of subjective experience. Relative to a positive mood, induction of a negative mood led participants to make more lapses, report a greater frequency of task irrelevant thoughts, and become less inclined to reengage attentional resources following a lapse. Positive mood, by contrast, was associated with a better ability to adjust performance after a lapse. These results provide further support for the notion that a negative mood reduces the amount of attentional commitment to the task in hand and may do so by enhancing the focus on task irrelevant personal concerns.