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Original Communication

The Impact of Mood on Affect Regulation

Effects on Film Preferences

Published Online:March 16, 2012https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000071

Abstract

Drawing on the mood-behavior model (Gendolla, 2000), I predicted that both negative and positive moods evoke a stronger need for hedonic affect regulation than a so-called neutral mood. To test this hypothesis, participants were induced into a positive, neutral, or negative mood by autobiographical recollection and then selected which of three films they wanted to watch. The films varied in the extent of their potential for hedonic affect regulation. As expected, preferences for a pleasant film were higher in both positive and negative moods than in a neutral mood and the positive and negative mood conditions did not differ. Furthermore, a regression analysis found that the preference for a pleasant film was related to mood intensity. Implications for other models of affect regulation are discussed.

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