Effects of Mood Manipulation on Personality and Task Performance

Abstract

The study examined the interaction of mood and personality on task performance. The subjects were 123 volunteer undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of three mood conditions: control, “depressing,” or “elating.” Prior to completing an inverted-alphabet task, subjects in the “depressing” condition viewed a film and read a short article on the subject of death, while subjects in the “elating” condition viewed a film and read an article on success. The “elating” condition enhanced performance and the “depressing” condition adversely affected performance. There were, however, no differences between groups varying in extraversion, neuroticism, or psychoticism.