This paper reports the development with 95 undergraduates of a new method for altering Positive Affect in the laboratory. The method consists of assigning persons to complete a boring task for a specific amount of time and, shortly after beginning the task, informing them that the assigned time period has either been increased or reduced. The advantages of this method are that it is effective, relatively free of demand characteristics, ethical, fast to administer, and parallels “real world” experiences. In addition, this procedure seems to circumvent limitations of other mood-induction procedures.
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