the effects of mood on the structure of the...

T he E ffects of M ood on the S tructure

of the S elf-concept

D avid A . D eS teno and Peter Sa lovey

Y ale U nivers ity , N ew H aven , U S A

This ex pe rim ent e xplore d the in¯ uence of m ood on the organis ation of both

the se lf -concept and inform ation about a know n othe r. Multidim ensional

scal ing te chnique s w e re used to m ode l the struc ture of both repre sentati ons

he ld by indi v iduals expe rienc ing happy , sad, and neutral m oods . The se lf -

conc ept features of neutral m ood partic ipants w ere prim arily organis ed along

achie v em ent- and af® l iation-orie nte d dim ens ions . In contrast, the se lf -

conc epts of happy and sad partic ipants w ere le ss com ple x ; se lf- fe ature s

w ere prim arily organis ed w ith respe c t to a sim ple valenc e dim ens ion. In

all thre e m ood c onditions, indi v iduals ’ conc eptions of a know n othe r w ere

predom inantly org anis ed w ith respe c t to a gene ral valenc e dim ension; how -

ever, as w ith the representatio n of se l f, the pre sence of a happy or sad m ood

accentua ted the use of the valenc e dim ens ion for fe ature organis ation. The

im plic ations of th is m ode ll ing proc edure for investig ating se lf -concept

struc ture and the e ffe c ts of m ood on cogni tiv e organisation in gene ral are

dis cus sed.

INTRO DU CTION

Of all the representati ons in m em ory , those conce rning the se lf are am ong

the m ost im portant for dai ly func tioning . B e s ides prov iding a distinc t

pe rceptual and conceptual ide nti ty (Ne isse r, 19 92 ), the s e lf-concept

CO GNITIO N A ND E M OTIO N, 1 9 9 7 , 1 1 (4 ), 3 51 ± 3 7 2

Re que sts for re prints should be sent to e ithe r D av id A . DeS teno, w ho is now at the

Departm ent of Psy cholog y , O hio State Univ e rs ity , 1 8 8 5 Ne il A v enue , Colu m bus , OH

4 3 2 1 0 , US A or Pe ter S alov ey , D epartment of Psy cholog y , Yale U niv e rs i ty, P.O .B ox

2 0 8 2 0 5 , New Hav en, CT 0 6 5 2 0 ± 8 2 0 5 , US A .

W e w ould l ik e to thank W il li am J. M cGuire , M ahzarin R. B anaji , and A m y V ita le for the ir

com m ents on earli e r draf ts of this m anusc rip t. Thi s re searc h w as supported by a N ational

S c ie nce Foundation Graduate Fe l lo w ship to Dav id DeS teno and by NIH CA 4 21 0 1 , ACS

PB R-8 4 , NS F Pre s identia l Y oung Inv e s tig ator A w ard B NS -9 0 5 8 0 2 0 , and funding from the

MacA rthur Foundation Prog ram on Consc ious and Unconsc ious Mental Proce sse s to Pe ter

S alov ey . Portions of this pape r w ere pre se nted at the annual conv ention of the Am eric an

Psy cholog ic al S oc ie ty , W ashing ton, DC, July 1 9 94 , as ``Mood state in ¯ uence s se lf -c oncept

s truc ture ’ ’ .

Ó 1 9 9 7 Psy cholog y Pre ss , an im print of E rlb aum (U K) Tay lor & Franc i s Ltd

in¯ uence s m otiv ation (Higg ins, 1990 ; Markus & W urf, 198 7 ) and em otion

(Higg ins, 198 7 ; L inv il le , 1985 ; Segal , 19 88 ; S how ers & Kling , 19 96 ). It

not only guide s behav iour by prov iding inform ation conce rning de sired

goals and dreaded possibi l iti e s (Higg ins, 19 87 ; Markus & Nurius, 1 986 ),

but al so in¯ uence s af fec tiv e inte nsity (Linv il le , 1985 ) and ac ts , for som e ,

as a diathe sis for depress ion (B e ck, S te e r, & Epste in, 1 992 ; Higg ins, 19 90 ;

S egal, 1 988 ; S how ers, 199 2 ).

The se disparate e ffe c ts of the s e lf-concept are theorised to be m ediate d

throug h chronic inte r-indiv idual and te m porary intra- indiv idual al te rations

in the re lati v e ac c es s ibil i ti e s of diffe rent pie c es of se lf- inform ation

(Higg ins, 19 90 ; Kihlstrom & Klein, 1 994 ; M arkus & W urf, 1987 ). That

is , m otivation and em otion are thought to be greatly af fe c te d by one ’ s

currently ac tiv e se t of se lf -inform ation, the w orking se lf-concept (Markus

& W urf, 1 987 ). As m any hav e show n (e .g . Kle in & Loftus, 19 93 ;

Markus, 1977 ) , the conte nts of the se lf-concept are not stored random ly

in m em ory; rathe r, they are assoc iati v e ly linked features that com prise a

m ental representation (i.e . a concept) . C onsequently , the contents of the

w orking self-concept, and in turn, the re lativ e ac c e ss ibi l iti e s of nonac ti -

vate d se lf- information, are partly de term ined by the idiosync ratic organi-

sation, or as soc iation, of se lf- inform ation posse ssed by indiv iduals. That

is , the diffe rential probabil iti e s that c e rtain bits of se lf -inform ation w il l

ente r the w orking se lf-concept are som e func tion of the organisational

schem e , or struc ture , of eac h indiv idual ’ s concept of se lf (Markus &

W urf, 198 7 ); the ac tivation of c e rtain bits of s e lf-re le vant inform ation

should increase the acc e s s ibil i ti e s of highly assoc iate d othe r bits (c f .

Higg ins, V an Hook, & Dorfm an, 198 8 ). The re fore , an unders tanding of

the organisation of the s e lf-concept, in addition to sole ly its conte nts , is

fundam ental to inv e stigating its func tioning ; suc h know ledg e w ill al low

us to predic t al te rations in the re lati v e ac c e ss ibil i ti e s of ce rtain type s of

se lf- information to consc iousne ss , and the reby , m al leabil i ty in the phe -

nom enolog ical expe rience of se lf (c f . Markus & Kunda, 1986 ; McGuire

& McGuire , 1 988 ).

Linv i l le (198 5 , 1987 ) and S how ers (1 992 ) hav e succ e ssfully used m ulti -

dim ensional m ode ls of se lf-concept org an isation to predic t dy sphoria and

se lf-e ste em . In eac h of their m ode ls , the diffe rential assoc iations am ong

spec i ® c type s of se lf-fe atures hav e been show n to be re late d to the

expe rience of em otion. Importantly , this re lation holds even w hen control-

l ing for the valence of the features, the reby dem onstrating the unique

in¯ uence of se lf-fe ature organisation on the expe rience of em otion. How -

eve r, prev ious w ork exam ining the re lation be tw een se lf-concept struc ture

and m ood has been prim ari ly correlational ; m ood has not been m anipulate d

to e stabl ish ® rm ly the direction of causal ity . Indeed, as Show ers (1 992 ) has

note d, the inte rre lation of m ood and se lf-concept org an isation m ay repre -

352 DeS TEN O AN D S ALOV EY

sent bidirec tional causal iti e s ; cognitiv e organisation m ay be affe c te d by , as

w e ll as in¯ uence , affe c tiv e expe rience .

The purpose of the present expe rim ent is to exam ine the possibi l ity that

alte rations in affe c tiv e state m ay in¯ uence the organisation of the se lf-

concept, and the re fore , the m alleabi l ity of the experience of se lf . That is , as

the assoc iati v e inte rre lations am ong self-fe atures ¯ uc tuate , the c om position

of the spec i ® c se ts of features that becom e ac tive should al so diffe r as a

func tion of the se change s. In this expe rim ent, w e sugge st a te chnique for

m ode ll ing the organisation of se lf-re le vant features and then exam ine the

in¯ uence of happy and sad m ood on feature organisation.

Structure of the Self-concept

Many m ode ls hav e been sugge ste d to chart the conceptual org anisation of

se lf-features (Kle in & Loftus , 1 993 ; Markus & W urf, 1 987 ). Current

research sugg es ts that the se lf-concept is com prised of both sem antic and

episodic inform ation, only som e subse t of w hich is ac tiv e at any one tim e

(Kihlstrom & Kle in, 199 4 ). Importantly , assoc iations am ong the se se lf-

fe atu res m ust be organised in a m eaning ful w ay (c f. Medin, 19 89 ; S m ith,

1990 ); the assoc iativ e l inks am ong a set of trai ts and/or exem plars m us t

vary in som e syste m ati c fashion, or the concept of s e lf w ould not be

cohe rent. Indeed, this idea forms the bas is of w hat has been te rm ed the

se lf-sc hem a (Ke lly , 19 55 ; Markus , 1977 ; Markus & S m ith , 1981 ; Markus

& Zajonc , 1985 ).

As Tv ersky and his col le ag ue s hav e show n, the pe rce ive d sim ilari ty of

any tw o obje c ts is not ® x ed, but rathe r is a func tion of the dim ens ions used

for com parison (Gati & Tve rsky , 1 984 ; Tve rsky , 1 977 ). The re fore , as

Sm ith and ZaÂ rate (199 2 ) hav e argued, the as soc iations am ong exem plars

m ay v ary as a func tion of conte x t, m otivation, or soc ial know ledge . For

exam ple , w he the r a m ale A sian profe ssor is perce ived as m ore sim ilar to a

nonA sian, m ale profe ssor, or to a fem ale A s ian denti st, depends on the

diffe rential dim ension w e ights applied to the occupa tion ve rsus rac e

dim ens ions. W ithout such diffe rential w e ightings of dim e nsions, any

tw o obje c ts could be arbitrarily s im ilar (Murphy & Medin, 198 5 ). Thus,

in any concept, fe atures should be l inked along dim ensions that are

w e ighte d diffe rentially for im portance (Medin, 1989 ; Murphy & Medin,

1985 ). The exac t dim ens ions used, and the ir w e ig hts , de rive from dev el-

opm ental expe rience s and vary both inte rindiv idual ly and as a function of

situational cue ing (Medin, 19 89 ; Sm ith & ZaÂ rate , 1 992 ). Thus, m alle abi l ity

of the se lf-concept could be explained by the v aried use of c e rtain princ i-

ple s to bind toge the r pie c e s of se lf-know ledge in the w orking se lf-concept.

For ex am ple , the McGuires hav e show n that the conte nts of the w orking

se lf-concept obey a princ iple of distinc tiv ene ss (McGuire & McGuire ,

M O O D AN D S ELF-C O NC EPT 353

19 88 ). The re fore , as soc iations of se lf-fe atu res m ust be dynam ic , for the se t

of features that distinguish one in c e rtain env ironm ents change s in others

(McGuire, McGuire , & C heeve r, 198 6 ).

O ne organisational m ode l of the se lf-concept, then, m ay be thought of as

a se t of se lf- fe atures arrayed in an n -dim ensional spac e , w ith the distance s

am ong the ite m s be ing som e func tion of the ir le ve ls of association. More-

ov er, the diffe rent dim ens ions could vary in sal ience as a func tion of

dispositional or situational in¯ uence s, the reby al te ring the inte r-feature

distance s in the con® g uration. Such a m ode l w ould prov ide inform ation

regarding not only the com ple x ity of the se lf , but al so the re lation of eac h

feature both to the salient dim ensions of organisation and to eac h othe r.

Thus, the w orking se lf-concept w ould consist of a c e rtain se t of assoc iate d

(i .e . c lose in distance ) features in the con® guration; how ev er, as dim en-

sional salienc ie s change , the com pos ition of the se t of ac tiv e inform ation

w ill al so, due to the chang ing con® g ural positions of the se lf-fe atures. W e

be l ie ve that change s in m ood state m ay be one such situational variable

that is capable of in¯ uencing se lf-concept org anisation.

M ood In¯ uences on Cognitive Processes

Research atte sting to the in¯ ue nce of af fe ct on cognitiv e proce ss e s con-

tinue s to grow (C lore, S chw arz , & C onw ay , 1994 ; Forgas , 19 92 ; Nie -

denthal & Kitay am a, 19 94 ). In an ex te nsive rev iew of res earch

inve stigating the e ffe c ts of m ood on the se lf , S edikide s (199 2 , p. 302 )

conc luded that: `̀ . . . m ood has re l iab le e ffe c ts on atte ntion, m em ory,

judg m ents , expec tati ons, and behav iors regarding the se lf .’ ’ In addition,

S inge r and S alov ey (1988 ) sum m arised how the e ffe c ts of m ood on the

recal l of se lf-re le v ant m ate rial re ¯ e c t a m ood-cong ruent bias . Although

som e inconsis te nc ie s hav e been reported (Parrott & Sabini , 1990 ) , m ost

m ood research ® nds that indiv iduals ex pe rienc ing a happy or sad m ood

te nd to recall a proportionate ly highe r num ber of like -v alenced se lf-

attribute s, a ® nding that can be repl ic ate d w ith c l inically depressed indi-

v iduals (Harte r & Marold, 19 91 ; Matt, V aÂ zquez , & Cam pbe l l , 19 92 ;

S alovey & S inge r, 1989 ) .

More re levant to the present issue , how eve r, is ev idence show ing that

m ood affe c ts the atte ntion g iv en to the hedonic qual itie s of inform ation

(e .g . Forgas & B ow er, 198 7 ; Halbe rstadt & Ne identhal , in press ; W egene r,

Pe tty , & Sm ith, 1 995 ) and stim ulus cate gorisation (May e r, Gaschke ,

B rav e rman, & Evans, 19 92 ; Murray , Sujan, Hirt, & S ujan, 199 0 ). If

m ood inc rease s the atte ntion indiv iduals g ive to the hedonic qual i tie s of

inform ation, then it fol low s that for purposes of de te rm ining pe rceived

sim ilarity , or association, am ong inform ation ite m s, the hedonic dim ens ion

w ill inc rease in im portance . In a conv inc ing dem onstration of th is e ffe c t in


the area of fac e perception, Halbe rstad t and Niedenthal ( in press) show ed

that indiv iduals ex pe riencing a happy or sad m ood ev idenced a greate r

re liance on the hedonic qual i ty of fac e s (i .e . the ir em otional express ions ) in

de term ining inte r-fac e sim ilaritie s than did indiv iduals not expe rienc ing a

he ighte ned m ood. This e ffe c t, m oreove r, w as repl ic ate d using a variety of

stim uli and m ood-induc tion procedures , the reby atte sting to its robus tne ss.

W e be lie ve that a sim ilar phenom enon m ay occur w ith respec t to the

featu res com pris ing the se lf-concept. More spec i ® c al ly , the sal ienc e of the

hedonic dim ens ion for organ isational purpose s m ay inc rease am ong indi-

v iduals expe rienc ing a he ig htened m ood s tate . Consequently , the assoc ia-

tion of se lf-features w ould be bas ed prim arily on the ir re spec tiv e hedonic

qual i tie s , as opposed to othe r m ore ® ne -g rained c rite ria. Such a situation

could hav e great consequence s for m ood regulation. For instance , i f one is

in a negative m ood, this m ode l w ould predic t an inc rease in the am ount of

l ike -valenced se lf- inform ation becom ing ac ce ss ible , regardles s of its re le -

vance to the current s i tuation; neg ative s e lf-e xem plars usual ly not asso-

c iate d in the w orking se lf-conc ept (e .g . fai l ing an exam and be ing to ld one

is unattrac tiv e ) m ay suddenly becom e linked based sole ly on the ir valence .

The Present Study

The present study w as de s igned to de te rm ine w he the r m ood in¯ uence s the

struc ture of the se lf-concept. To accom plish this goal , w e em ployed an

indiv idual diffe rence scal ing (INDSCAL) analy sis s im ilar to the one used

by Halbe rstadt and Niedenthal ( in press ) and S alovey (19 86 ). INDSCA L,

be ing a ty pe of m ultidim ensional scal ing (MDS), is de s ig ned to uncove r the

late nt dim ensions used to organis e a s et of stim uli . How eve r, as opposed to

tw o-w ay scal ing te chnique s, i t allow s direct com parisons betw een the

m ultidim ensional con® gurations of diffe rent expe rim ental g roups. More-

ove r, it produce s an n -dim ensional con® guration of stim uli array ed along

spec i ® c , diffe rential ly w e ighte d dim ensions. This con® guration prov ide s an

exce l lent analogue for the conceptual m ode l of se lf-concept org an isation

prev iously discusse d.

The MDS solutions (i .e . the n -dim ensional con ® gurations of de sc riptiv e

featu res ) w e re de rived from partic ipants ’ rating s of pe rsonal i ty trai ts and

phys ical attribute s, tw o im portant type s of inform ation c ontained in the

se lf-concept (McGuire , 1984 ; Prentice , 1 990 ). W e colle c te d indic e s of the

assoc iations of thes e te rms w ith respec t to the s e lf , not s im ply m eas ures of

the ir sem antic s im ilari ty . Partic ipants al so rate d the sam e se t of ite m s for

the ir de sc riptiv enes s of anothe r pe rson, then US Preside nt Georg e B ush.

The use of a president as a targ e t for trait judgem ents has been em ployed

succe ss fu lly in past res earc h (e .g . Keenan, Golding , & B row n, 199 2 ); both

a president’ s pe rsonali ty and appearance are som ew hat fam il iar to the


gene ral public . The George B ush task w as included for tw o purpose s. Firs t,

i f the con® gurations for se lf and othe r diffe red, as w e expec te d, w e could

be con® dent that the resulting organisational patte rns w e re not due sole ly to

the sem antic re lations of the te rms, but rathe r to the ir re lations in the

conte x t of the s e lf . S e cond, diffe rent con® gurations w ould sugge st that

the se lf m ay posse ss som e unique representational prope rtie s (se e Prentic e ,

19 90 ).

In this s tudy , w e com pared the MDS con® gurations of indiv iduals in

happy , sad, and neutral m oods. In ac cord w ith the ® ndings of Halbe rstadt

and Niedenthal ( in press) , w e expec te d that indiv iduals ex pe riencing a

happy or sad m ood state w ould re ly m ore on a g ene ralised hedonic

dim ension for se lf-fe ature org an isation than w ould those in the neutral

condition. In addition, w e expec te d that the George B ush MDS config ura-

tion w ould be les s com plex than that for the se lf (c f . Prentic e , 1 990 ), but

w ould show a sim ilar inc rease in the use of v alence in dete rm ining feature

org anisation in the presence of a he ig hte ned m ood state .

METHO D

Participants

S ix ty unde rgraduate s (2 3 m ale , 37 fem ale ) rec ruite d from the introduc tory

psychology subje c t pool and the unive rsi ty at large partic ipate d in this

study . All partic ipants w e re be tw een 17 and 23 years of ag e (M = 19).

Partic ipants rec ruite d through the introduc tory psychology subje ct pool

rec e ived c redit tow ard ful ® l ling course requirem ents ; partic ipants

rec ruited through unive rsi ty -w ide sol ic itations rece ived $5 .00 . Partic i -

pants w e re ass ig ned random ly to e ithe r happy (n = 20), sad (n = 20 ), or

neutral (n = 20) m ood-induc tion conditions.

M ood-induction Procedure

Film c l ips w e re use d to induce happy and sad m oods; in addition, a th ird

c l ip, de signed to hav e no apprec iab le in¯ uenc e on m ood, w as used as a

control condition. The se m ood-induc tion s tim uli w e re c reate d by editing

seg m ents of profe ss ional ly produced ® lm s into short and cohe rent c l ips of

8 ± 14 m inute s. The happy c lip cons iste d of seg m ents from Live in Wash ing -

ton , a pe rformance by com edian Dennis Mille r. The sad c lip cons is te d of

seg m ents depic ting the li fe events and death of a w om an w ith te rm inal

cance r; the se seg m ents w e re taken from the feature ® lm Term s o f Endear -

m en t. The neutral c l ip c onsiste d of segm ents depic ting busine ss transac -

tions draw n from the feature ® lm Th e Bo ost. Eac h c l ip has prev iously


produced stable and m oderate ly inte nse m oods in othe r expe rim ents in our

laboratory (e .g . Pal ® & Salovey , 19 93 ).

At the beg inning of the expe rim ental se s s ion, subje c ts w ere reque ste d

sim ply to w atch the ® lm c l ips; no m ood-inte nsify ing instruc tions w ere

prov ided. The cl ips w e re presente d on a large te lev is ion sc reen in a

darkened room . Im m ediate ly af te r v iew ing the c l ips, subje c ts com ple te d

a m ood m anipulation check and then began w ork on the othe r m easures

com pris ing the ex pe rim ent.

W e chose a ® lm m ethod of m ood induc tion in an e ffort to av oid direc t

engag em ent of partic ipants ’ se l f-concepts . If a m ood-induction procedure

that inv oked autobiographical m em orie s or presente d spec i ® c (albe it fal se )

evaluative information w ere used, i t could not be dete rm ined if any

subsequent se lf-concept m e as ures w e re reg istering chang e s due prim arily

to m ood or to cog nitiv e response s to sal ie nt s e lf-re le vant information.

Although ® lm c lips do not prec lude ``direc t’ ’ c ognitiv e e ffe c ts on the

se lf-concept, they se em le ss prone to causing such sy stem atic in¯ uence s

than se lf-focused m ood-induc tion procedure s (S alov ey & Rodin, 1985 ).

M easures

Mo od Ma n ip u la tion Check. In prev ious studie s inv olv ing happy and

sad m ood m anipulations , a short ye t re l iable m easure of m ood w as

obtained by using s ix ite m s prese nte d in direc tionally counte rbalanced

orde rs on 7 -point s cale s (e .g . Salovey , 1 992 ; Salovey & B irnbaum , 1989 ;

Salovey & S inge r, 1989 ). The six ite m s c om pris ing the m ood m anipulation

check in the present study w ere hap py, exh i la ra te d , sad , sa ti s ® ed , con te n t,

and d isappo in te d . Eac h ite m w as scored in the positiv e direc tion. Scores

w e re then sum m ed to produce a positiv e m ood index .

Partic ipants com ple te d three short answ er que stions (e .g . How m any

hours pe r w eek do you w atc h te lev is ion? ) be fore turning to the six ite m s of

the m ood m anipulation check. The se ite m s se rved to reduce the as soc iation

be tw een the ® lm cl ips and the m ood m anipulation m easure .

Desc rip tiv ene ss o f Se lf a nd G eorg e Bush Me asure s. These tw o m ea-

sures asked subje c ts to rate ite m s for the ir des c riptiv ene ss w ith respec t to

the se lf and to George B ush. The ite m s represente d a com bination of

pe rsonali ty trai ts (e .g . inte ll ig ent, dependable , ne rvous) and physical attri-

bute s (e .g . m uscular, fat, fe eble ). The pe rsonal i ty trai ts w e re draw n from an

ex tensive B ig Fiv e fac tor m ode l (John, 199 0 ); four high-loading traits (tw o

positiv e , tw o negativ e ) w ere s e le c te d from eac h fac tor. W e added 15 ite m s

that de sc ribe phys ical charac te ristic s , re sulting in a 35 -i te m list. Tw o

random ly sele c te d ite m orde rs w e re used.


Partic ipants indicate d the de sc riptiv ene ss of the ite m s w ith respec t to

se lf and to George B ush by plac ing a m ark on a line be low eac h ite m . The

l ine w as anchored on the le ft by ``does not describe m e [ B ush] at al l’ ’ and

on the right by ``de sc ribe s m e [B ush] ve ry w e l l’ ’ . W e scored the se m ea-

sures by assigning a subje c t’ s spatial plac em ent of a m ark on the l ine a

corresponding num erical equiv alent rang ing f rom one to ten.

Bipo la r Rating Sca le s . In orde r to aid in dim ension inte rpre tati on, w e

col le c te d norm ative rating s of the 35 de sc riptiv e ite m s on a num ber of 8 -

point bipolar scales (s ee Kruskal & W ish, 1 978 ) from diffe rent s e ts of

partic ipants . Eac h scale asked how charac te ristic eac h ite m w as of a c e rtain

type of pe rson. The bipolar scales w hich w e ex pec te d to be of re lev ance for

the pre sent study w ere: charac te ristic of a high ac hiev ing person, charac -

te ris tic of a soc ial pe rson, charac te ris tic of a sm al l /large person (i .e . body

shape ), and charac te ristic of a fem ale /m ale (i .e . g ender-re le vance ). In

addition, rating s of the ove ral l de sirabi l ity of eac h de sc riptiv e ite m w ere

obtained. The se scales w e re se le c te d bas ed upon othe r research exam ining

the organisation of pe rsonal i ty features (e .g . B latt & B lass , 1992 ; Cantor,

19 94 ; DeS te no, 199 6 ; McA dam s, 1 985 ; Rosenbe rg , Ne lson, & V ive ka-

nanthan, 1 968 ).

Procedure

O ne to four indiv iduals partic ipate d in each se s sion. They w ere s eate d in

private booths. O n arrival , they w ere inform ed that they w ould be asked to

v iew a short v ideo c l ip and com ple te a batte ry of que stionnaire s . A fte r

consent w as obtained, the expe rim ent began w ith the show ing of the ® lm

c l ip. At the c l ip ’ s conclus ion, the expe rim ente r instruc te d the partic ipants

to beg in w orking on the batte ry of que stionnaire s and then le ft the room so

as not to in¯ uence the ir m ood s tate s . W hen the partic ipants ® nished the

ques tionnaire batte ry , they brought it to the expe rim ente r in a separate

room and w ere debrie fed. Subje c ts alw ay s com ple te d the que stionnaire s in

the sam e se quence : the ® l le r i te m s, the m ood m anipulation check, the 35 -

ite m desc riptiv ene ss of s e lf m e as ure , and the 35 - ite m desc riptiv ene ss of

George B ush m easure .

Data Analysis

In orde r to ex am ine the organisation of se lf-re le vant inform ation and to

inve stigate the pos sibil i ty of af fe c tiv e in¯ uence s on it, w e subje c te d the

data to an INDSCAL analy s is . Multidim ens ional scal ing atte m pts to reveal

the late nt dim ensions that charac te rise the interre lations am ong stim uli. It

produce s n -dim ensional con® gurations that spatial ly represent the struc -


ture , or organisational schem e , of the stim ulus se t (he re , the 35 pe rsonal i ty /

phys ical attribute s), the reby prov iding a g lim pse of how indiv iduals cog ni-

tiv e ly organ ise s e lf-re lev ant inform ation. The con® guration, and its under-

ly ing dim ensions, m ust then be inte rpre te d in a m eaning ful w ay .

In the p resen tstudy ,partic ipan tsra tedeach o f th e 35 item s fo r sim ila rity to

self. U n lik e ra ting each item fo r its s im ilarity based on a un id im ensiona l

cr iter ion (e .g . th e co lour red ), ind iv id uals m ade sim ilarity judgem en ts w ith

resp ect to a m u ltid im ensiona lattitudeob ject, th e se lf-concep t.T he refo re,th e

resu lting con ® gu rationsh ou ld no t recover th e spec i ® c d im ension `̀ l ik e se lf ’ ’

(o r ``redness ’’ ), bu t ratherrecover th e d im ension su sed to eva luate th e m u lti-

fa ceted self-concep t (c f. G o ld sto ne,1994 ). M o re im portan tly ,how ever, th e

p rox im ities shou ld no t re¯ ect s im p le a ssocia tion s based upon the sem an tic

re lation sam ong item s, bu t ra th errevea l th eir in terre la tion sw ith respect to the

self.

Multidim ens ional s caling (MDS ) require s prox im ity m atric e s as input.

The re fore , w e chose to use Pearson corre lations am ong the ite m s, a pro® le

s im ilari ty index (Kruskal & W ish, 1978 ), as our prox im ity m easure .

Additional ly , as MDS procedures require the prox im ity data to be ente red

in the form of diss im ilari tie s , w e subtrac te d the inte rcorre lations am ong the

35 se lf and B ush ite m s from one and used the resulting m atrice s as input.

For both the se lf and Georg e B ush analy se s , w e ente red a diss im ilarity

m atrix for each m ood group. The resulting INDS C AL con® guration, the

group con® guration, is an n -dim ens ional m ap based on the entire se t of

m atrice s . Group diffe rence s in three -w ay sc aling solutions are re ¯ e c te d by

dim ens ional w e ights that indicate the im portance , or sal ienc e , eac h g roup

attac hed to each dim ension. To produce the con® guration of a spec i ® c

m ood g roup, the ove ral l con ® guration is stre tched and/or shrunk along

spec i ® c dim ensions by a fac tor of the square root of the corresponding

w e ights . Consequently , the dis tances be tw een points in the con® guration

change , im ply ing an analogous change in the pe rce ived sim ilari tie s of the

corresponding stim ulus ite m s. The bipolar rating scale s prov ided em piric al

information used to inte rpre t the dim ens ions of the resulting con® gurations.

All subsequent analy se s w e re aim ed at charac te ris ing the diffe rence s in the

organisation of se lf- and othe r-struc ture am ong the three m ood groups.

RESU LTS

M ood M anipulation Check

A one -w ay analy s is of v ariance conduc te d on the m ood m anipulation check

reveale d a signi ® cant ef fe c t of m ood induc tion condition [ F (2 ,57 ) = 28 .80 ,

P < .00 01 ] . Subsequent analy se s em ploy ing Tukey ’ s HSD m ultiple


com parison te st ( a = .01 ) con® rmed that eac h of the three g roups of

partic ipants reported re l iably diffe rent le ve ls of positiv e af fe c t: partic ipants

in the happy m ood group reported the hig he st positiv e af fe c t (M = 31 .95 ,

S D = 4 .67 ), fol low ed by partic ipants in the neutral m ood g roup (M = 23 .90 ,

S D = 6 .83 ), and partic ipants in the sad m ood group (M = 18 .45 , S D = 5 .26 ).

Scaling Analysis for the Self-solution

Eac h m ood group’ s diss im ilari ty m atrix w as ente red into the A LSCAL

m ultidim ens ional scal ing algorithm , and four separate three -w ay nonm etric

solutions w ere com pute d. The tw o- throug h ® v e -dim ensional configura-

tions ac counte d for 41 .0 % , 51 .1 % , 55 .4% , and 57 .9% of the variance ,

re spec tiv e ly . W e used the am ount of explained v ariance and dim ens ion

inte rpre tab il i ty as c rite ria for se le c ting the be st solution. C onsequently , w e

se le c te d the three -dim ensional solution for furthe r analy sis .

Figure 1 pres ents the 1 3 2 dim ension c ross -se c tional v iew of this

con® guration for eas ie r exam ination.1

In interpre ting this solution, i t is

im portant to note that the Euc l idian dis tance be tw een any tw o points in

the con® guration is an index of the ir pe rce ived sim ilarity and that this

con® guration is the ac ross -m ood condition g roup spac e ; eac h m ood

group produce s a unique con® g uration due to its diffe rential dim ens ion

w e ig hts .

Structural Organisation of the Self-concept

B e fore exam ining diffe rential dim ens ion usage am ong the m ood g roups, i t

w as ® rst ne c e ssary to identi fy the dim e nsions of the group spac e. B ased on

v isual inspec tion of the solution and on othe r MDS research ex am ining the

struc ture of person de sc riptors (e .g . DeS te no, 199 6 ; R osenbe rg e t al .,

19 68 ), w e fe lt that four poss ible labe ls for the three dim ensions m ight

be : gene ralised valence , achieve m ent-re levance, af ® liation-re levance , and

physical s iz e . Multiple reg ress ion analy se s w e re em ployed to evaluate

em piric al ly the ® t of the se labe ls ; be ta-coe f ® c ients w e re used as c rite ria

for de te rm ining dim ension identi ® c ation (se e Kruskal & W ish, 1978 ).

Initial ly , w e w ished to de te rm ine if the ® rst dim ension of the solution

represente d g ene ral valence or a m ore distinct organ isational c rite rion; as

prev iously note d, othe r w ork has found the ® rst tw o dim ensions of s im ilar

con® gurations to represent ac hievem e nt- and af ® l iation-oriente d them es.


1B ecause only the ® rs t tw o dim ens io ns of the solution are of prim ary in tere s t, only the

dim e ns io n 1 3 dim ension 2 c ross -se c tional v ie w is dis play ed. The full se t of thre e -dim en-

s ional coordin ate s are av ail able from the ® rs t author.

Regres sing the gene ral de sirabi li ty rating s of eac h featu re onto its dim en-

sion 1 , dim ension 2 , and dim ension 3 coordinate s revealed that v alence

w as alm ost equally predic te d by the ® rs t tw o dim ensions but show ed no

re lation to dim ension 3 ( b dim1 = 2 .63 , P < .00 1 , b dim2 = 2 .66 , P < .0 01 ,

b dim3 = 2 .02 , n.s., R2

= .91 ). Consequently , w e nex t exam ined the

poss ibi l i ty that dim ensions 1 and 2 repres ente d af ® l iation- and/or ac hieve -

m ent-oriente d c rite ria. How eve r, as one w ould expec t, the ac hievem e nt and

af ® l iation attribute rating s w ere m ode rate ly correlate d (se e DeS te no, 1996 ;

Rosenbe rg e t al ., 19 68 ); c e rtain attribute s are as indicativ e of succ e ss as

they are of soc iab il i ty . The re fore , in orde r to prov ide c lear labe ls for the se

tw o dim ensions , w e reg ress ed the features’ dim ens ion 1 and dim ens ion 2

coordinate s on to the ir ac hievem ent and af ® l iation rating s. W e chose to

treat the features ’ ac hie vem ent and af ® l iation rating s as the independent

variable s in the reg ress ion m ode ls in orde r to partial eac h for the othe r and,

the reby , allow m ore prec ise e stim ate s of the unique contribution of the se

tw o re late d variable s .


FIG . 1 D im ension 1 3 dim ens ion 2 c ro ss - se c tion al v ie w o f the IND SC AL se l f- con cep t so lu tion

de riv ed fro m the h app y, sad , an d n eutral m ood grou ps.

This s e condary analy s is rev ealed that, as expec te d, dim ensions 1 and 2

organ ised th e fe atu res w ith respect to af ® liat ion -and ach ievem en t-re levan ce,

re spec tiv e ly . Features ’ dim ens ion 1 coordinate s w e re predic te d re l iab ly by

the ir af ® l iation-re levance ( b ach = .0 3 , n.s., b aff = 2 .6 0 , P < .02 , R2

= .33 );

dim ension 2 coordinate s show ed the oppos ite patte rn ( b ach = 2 .47 , P < .02 ,

b aff = 2 .35 , n.s ., R2

= .60 ) . A s one can see from the param e te r e stim ate s, the

true be s t- ® t ac hievem ent and af ® l iation line s w ould not be orthogonal, and,

as note d, th is m ake s s ense . INDSCA L dim ensions, how eve r, are not rota-

table . None the le ss , the re g res s ion analy se s con® rm that the con® g uration

dim ensions do ac t as ac c eptable prox ie s for the se tw o oblique dim ensions .2

D im ension3 w as th e p rim arypred ic to rof body size ( b dim1 = 2 .27 , P < .05 ,

b dim2 = .2 0 , n.s., b dim3 = .6 5 , P < .001 , R2

= .55 ). It ac te d to ex plain residual

variation due to the inc lus ion of the physical attribute fe atures. It is

im portant to note , how eve r, that the se features w ere al so inte g rally re late d

to the othe r tw o dim ens ions, but, as one w ould ex pec t, som e res idual

variation rem ained afte r ac counting for the se re lations to the ® rs t tw o

dim ensions. This variation s im ply re fe rred to body siz e as devoid from

any type of evaluation; dim ens ion 3 w as not rel iably relate d to the gene ral

de s irabi l ity rating s of the features. Thus , in ac cord w ith prev ious research,

w e found that the assoc iations of se lf-fe atures in the se lf-concept are

de te rm ined w ith respec t to tw o prim ary organisational c rite ria: ac hie ve -

m ent-re levance and af® l iation-re lev ance .

M ood Effects on Self-concept Organisation

In be g inning to exam ine the dif fe rence s am ong the three m ood group

con® gurations, w e notic ed that the re w as a large disparity in the ® t of

the g roup con ® guration to the indiv idual m ood group con® gurations. More

spec i ® c ally , the g roup spac e prov ided an ex ce l lent ® t for the neutral

g roup’ s con® guration; i t ac counte d for 71 .7% of its variance . How eve r,

i t prov ided a poorer ® t for the happy and sad m ood group con ® gurations,

explaining 49 .7% and 3 1 .9% of the ir variance s, respec tiv e ly . Conse -

quently , the g roup spac e did not represent the three indiv idual configura-

tions equally . Rathe r, the ove ral l spac e w as m ost s im ilar to the neutral

g roup’ s con ® guration, but not as repres entativ e of the happy and sad


2S im ila r inte rpre tations also re sulted from ex am in ing the corre latio ns of the dim ens ion

coordinate s w ith the attribute s ’ partia le d achie v em e nt and af ® lia tion rating s ; attrib utes’

ac hie v em ent rating s w ere partial ed for the ir af ® li ation-re l ev ance and v ic e v e rsa. A s

ex pec ted, dim ens ion 1 corre lated re li ably w ith the attribute s ’ re s iduali se d af ® l ia t ion-re le -

v ance (r = 2 .3 8 , P = .0 2 ), and dim ens ion 2 corre la ted w ith the attribu tes ’ re s idualis e d

ac hie v em ent-re le v anc e (r = 2 .3 0 , P = .0 8 ). In both case s , the corre la tions of the attrib ute co-

ordin ates w i th the noncorre sponding re s iduali sed rating s w ere far from re l iable .

groups ’ con ® gurations. A disparity in ® t of th is s ize sugge sts one of tw o

situations . Eithe r the happy and sad m ood group m atric e s contained highe r

lev els of e rror variance as com pared w ith the neutral g roup’ s m atrix , or the

indiv iduals in the se tw o groups re lied m ore heav ily on dim ensions not used

by indiv iduals in the neutral g roup (Arabie , Carrol l , & DeS arbo, 19 87 ; se e

also C arrol l , 1 972 ). The fac t that the re w as no sim ilar disparity in the ® t

indic es am ong the diffe rent m ood groups for the Georg e B ush INDS CA L

solution (to be discus se d late r) sugg e ste d that e rror v ariance w as not the

cause . The re fore , w e dec ided to inve s tigate the possibi li ty that happy and

sad partic ipants util ised one or m ore dim ension(s ) not used by partic ipants

in the neutral m ood g roup.

W e conduc te d a se cond INDSCA L analy sis using only the happy and

sad group m atrice s . This procedure rem oved the ove rriding in¯ uence of the

neutral g roup partic ipants on the resulting group con ® guration, the reby

allow ing a c le are r exam ination of the solution produced as a result of

he ighte ned aff ec tiv e s tate s . W e exam ined tw o-, three -, and four-dim en-

sional solutions. The pe rcentag e s of explained variance for the se solutions

w e re 43% , 52% , and 5 6% , respec tiv e ly . B ased on the am ount of explained

variance and inte rpretabi li ty , w e se le c te d the three -dim ens ional solution

for furthe r analy sis .

W e ag ain em ployed m ultiple reg ress ion tec hnique s to inte rpre t the

dim ens ions em piric ally . As can be se en in Table 1 , dim ens ion 1 appeared

to represent the gene ral valence or hedonic tone of the featu res; it w as the

be st predictor of achieve m ent- and af ® liation-re levance , as w e ll as of basic

de sirabi li ty . Dim ension 2 w as the prim ary predic tor of body shape ( b dim1 =

2 .34 , P < .05 , b dim2 = .45 , P < .001 , b dim3 = 2 .1 7 , n.s ., R2

= .3 3 ), and

dim ens ion 3 rel iably predic te d g ende r-re levance ( b dim1 = .08 , n.s ., b dim2 =

.19 , n.s., b dim3 = .48 , P < .0 1 , R2

= .91 ).

In orde r to index the diffe rential le v e ls of im portance plac ed on the

valence dim ens ion ve rsus the othe r tw o, w e ex am ined the w e ight ratios of

the dim ensions for both groups.3

A s can be se en in Fig . 2 , the v alence

dim ens ion w as a m ore sal ient organisational c rite rion than e ithe r body

shape or g ende r-re levanc e. Thus , the presence of a he ig htened m ood state

resulted in the em ergence of a gene ral ise d valence dim ension as the

prim ary organisational c rite rion for features of the s e lf-concept. Rathe r


3Indiv id ual IND SCAL w e ig hts cannot be com pare d di re c tly am ong g roups because each

m ood g roup’ s di s s im il arity m atrix is norm ali sed separate ly by the INDS CA L alg orithm

(M acCallu m , 1 9 7 7 ). The re fore , as M acCall um (1 9 7 7 ) sug ge sts , intrag roup w e ig ht ratios

are use d as a m easure of dim ension im portance for be twee n-g roup com pari sons . For

ex am ple , the w e ig ht ratio d im ens io n 1 /dim ens io n 2 is use d as a m easure of the im portance

of dim e ns ion 1 v e rsus dim ens ion 2 . It is al so im portant to note that the re is no ag re em ent on a

procedure to tes t the s tatis tic a l s ig ni ® c ance of w e ig h t dif fe re nc e s .

than bas ing featural assoc iations upon the m ore ® ne -g rained c rite ria of

ac hievem e nt- and af ® l iation-re levance , tw o broad organisational c rite ria

usually em ployed for struc turing se lf-re le vant inform ation (DeS te no, 19 96 ;

Rosenbe rg e t al ., 1968 ), indiv iduals ex pe rienc ing a positiv e or negativ e

m ood used the m ore bas ic dim ens ion of gene ral valence to de te rm ine the

re lations am ong the ir se lf-f eatures.

Structural Organisation of Inform ation Concerninga Know n O ther (George Bush)

W e follow ed a sim ilar analy sis procedure for the George B ush feature

rating s. W e e xam ined the 2 - through 5 -dim ensional solutions ; the pe rc en-

tag e s of explained variance w ere 46% , 50 % , 54% , and 55% , respec tiv e ly .

B ased on the am ount of explained variance and interpretabi l ity , w e

se le c te d the three -dim ensional solution for furthe r analy sis . Figure 3 pre -

sents the 1 3 2 cross-se c tional v iew of this con® guration.4

The group con® g uration show ed no disparitie s w ith respec t to its deg ree

of ® t w ith eac h of the three indiv idual m ood g roup con® gurations; the

pe rcentag e s of explained variance for the happy , sad, and neutral g roup

con® gurations w ere 50 .6 % , 5 2 .1% , and 48 .3% , respec tiv e ly . The re fore ,


TAB LE 1

Regression Analyses for D im ension 1

Identi ® ca tion o f the Happy and S ad M ood

G roup Con ® gura tion

Pred ic tor b Mo d e l R2

D es ira b i li ty 0 .8 5

Dim ens ion 1 0 .7 1 * * *

Dim ens ion 2 0 .5 5 * * *

Dim ens ion 3 2 0 .0 8

Ac hie v em en t-re l e va n ce 0 .6 6

Dim ens ion 1 0 .6 4 * * *

Dim ens ion 2 0 .4 0 * * *

Dim ens ion 3 2 0 .2 4 *

Af® li a tio n -re le va nc e 0 .8 2

Dim ens ion 1 0 .6 6 * * *

Dim ens ion 2 0 .4 9 * * *

Dim ens ion 3 2 0 .3 2 * * *

* P < .05 , * * P < .0 1 , * * * P < .0 01 .

4A s noted pre v ious ly , the ful l se t of thre e -dim e nsional coordin ates i s av ail able from the

® rs t author.

unlike the se lf-concept solution, it se em ed probable that partic ipants in

eac h m ood g roup used the sam e princ ipal dim ensions in organis ing infor-

m ation about George B ush.

W e ag ain em ployed m ultiple reg ress ion analy se s for dim ension iden-

ti ® c ation. A s opposed to the base l ine se lf-concept con ® guration, dim ension

1 represente d gene ral de sirabi l ity , or vale nce ( b dim1 = 2 .73 , P < .0 01 ,

b dim2 = .35 , P < .01 , b dim3 = 2 .12 , n.s., R2

= .82 ), not ac hie vem ent- or

af ® l iation-re levance . This ® nding supporte d our predic tion that inform ation


FIG . 2 W eig ht ratio s o f d im e nsion im po rtanc e fo r the s e lf -c on cep t so lu tion de riv ed fro m the

h ap py and sad m o od g rou ps. A w e ig ht ratio of 1 im p lie s an equ al w e ig htin g of th e d im ens ion s.

W eig h t ratios g re ate r th an 1 ind ic ate greater im portan ce of th e d im en sio n in th e nu merato r; ratios

le ss th an 1 in dic ate greate r im p ortan ce o f th e dim en sio n in the d en om inato r.

contained in the se lf-concept m ay be organised diffe rently than inform ation

representing othe r indiv iduals . B ody shape w as predic te d by both dim en-

sions 1 and 2 ( b dim1 = 2 .55 , P < .00 1 , b dim2 = 2 .44 , P < .01 , b dim3 = .11 ,

n.s ., R2

= .48 ). W e labe lled dim ens ion 2 as body shape ; in the Georg e

B ush solution, th is dim ension doe s not sim ply consis t of re s idual s iz e

inform ation, but also is re late d to de sirabi l ity . Finally , w e labe l led

dim ension 3 as g ende r-re lev ance ( b dim1 = 2 .12 , n.s., b dim2 = .27 , n.s .,

b dim3 = .56 , P < .0 01 , R2

= .35 ).

In orde r to exam ine the e ffe c t of m ood on the use of the valence

dim ension for organisation, w e ag ain com pared intrag roup w e ight ratios

(se e Fig . 4 ). Partic ipants in the neutral m ood g roup show ed a re lativ e ly

equivalent use of al l three dim ensions. Partic ipants in both the happy and

sad m ood groups em phas ised the valence dim ens ion m ore than e ither the

body shape or gende r dim ensions . This patte rn is s im ilar to the one found

in the happy and sad m ood group se lf-concept solutions and supported our


FIG . 3 D im ens ion 1 3 d im ens ion 2 c ross -s e c tion al v iew of th e IN DS CA L G eorge B u sh so lu tion

d eriv ed f ro m the h app y, s ad , an d n eutral m ood g rou ps.

predic tion that m ood cause s a greate r re liance on hedonic information for

cognitiv e organisation. Inte resting ly , the em phas is on the v alence dim en-

sion, as com pared to the othe r tw o, w as of a greate r m ag nitude in the

Ge orge B ush solution than in the se lf-concept solution, indicating that the

representati ons of other indiv iduals m ay be m ore in¯ uenc ed by m ood state

than is that of the se lf .


FIG . 4 W eig ht ratio s of dim en sio ns fo r th e G eorg e B ush solution de rived fro m th e hap py, sad,

and neu tra l m oo d gro ups. A w e ig h t ratio o f 1 im p lie s an eq ual w e ig htin g o f the d im ens ion s. W eig h t

ratio s g re ate r th an 1 ind ic ate g reate r im po rtanc e o f th e d im ens io n in the nu merator; ratios le ss th an

1 ind ic ate g reate r im po rtanc e o f the d im ens io n in th e deno min ator.

DISCUSSION

This experim ent prov ide s support for our tw o initial hypothe se s. First, the

struc ture of the se lf-concept appears to diffe r from that of know n othe rs.

That is , in ac cord w ith the v iew s of m any pe rsonal i ty theorists (e .g . B latt &

B las s, 19 92 ; Cantor, 1994 ; McA dam s, 19 85 ) and ® ndings of prev ious trai t

struc ture inv e stigations (e .g . DeS te no, 19 96 ; Rosenbe rg e t al ., 19 68 ), w e

found that se lf-re le vant inform ation w as organised along the tw o prim ary

dim ensions of achievem ent- and af ® l iation- re levance . As soc iations am ong

the features of a know n other, then US President George B ush in this case ,

w e re prim arily based on a m ore sim pli ® e d c rite rion, gene ral ised v alence .

This ® nding al so indicate s that the re ported MDS con® gurations do not

sim ply represent the sem antic inte rre lations am ong the featu res , but that the

resulting con® gurations are de rived from feature judg em ents w ith respec t

to spec i ® c concepts . In prov iding a fram ew ork for fe ature assocations, the

dim ensions m ay be thought of as de riv ing from schem as (Markus & Zajonc ,

19 85 ) or theorie s (Me din, 1989 ), both of w hich direc t atte ntion to spec i ® c

type s of information. The se ® ndings , how eve r, do not de ® ni tiv e ly show that

the representations of know n othe rs is alw ay s le ss com plex than that of the

se lf ; as Prentic e (19 90 ) has show n, fam iliari ty w ith the know n othe r is an

im portant m ode rator. The leve ls of c om plex ity , and dim ensions used for

conc ept organisation, w il l no doubt diffe r for pe rson concepts as one m ove s

along a g radient of the fam il iari ty of the se indiv iduals .

More im portantly , how eve r, our c entral predic tion conce rning the

e ffe c ts of he ighte ned m ood state s on the structures of the s e concepts w as

con® rmed. Althoug h indiv iduals in the control condition (i .e . neutral

m ood) util ised af® l iation- and achievem ent-relevance dim ens ions to de te r-

m ine the associations am ong the features of the ir se lf-concepts , indiv iduals

expe rienc ing a he ighte ned m ood state s im ply used g ene ral valence as an

org anis ing princ iple . Thus, m uch as happy and sad indiv iduals hav e been

show n to use sim ple hedonic information for the c ate gorisation of fac e s to

a g re ate r degree than indiv iduals in a m ore neutral m ood (Halbe rstadt &

Niedenthal , in press) , our ® ndings sugg es t that the sam e organisational

e ffe c t m ay occur w ith features com pris ing pe rson concepts .

A s predic te d, the e ffe c t of m ood on cognitiv e organisation w as sim ilar

ac ross conce pts of se lf and othe rs, indicating a g ene ral e ffe c t of m ood on

conc ept s truc ture . A dditional ly , as the re liance on hedonic inform ation w as

m ore pronounced in the repres entati on of the know n othe r, the s e ® ndings

sugge st that the in¯ uence of af fe c t on organisation m ay be g reate r for le ss

c e rtain or le ss fam il iar inform ation. Indeed, S edikides (1995 ) has show n

that al te rations in m ood state af fe c t pe riphe ral information in the se lf-

conc ept to a m uch large r deg ree than central inform ation (i .e . core featu res

of the se lf) .


Althoug h c lear and intrig uing , the ® nding s of the current expe rim ent

m ust be inte rpre te d in the l ight of tw o principal l im itations. First, the se lf-

concept m ode ls pre sented he re are ag gregated representations; they are

gene ral is ations de rived from the unique se lf-conce pts of m any partic i -

pants . The ir dim ensional struc ture s and al te rations, how ev e r, re ¯ e c t, in

all probabil i ty , c ognitiv e phenom ena that are com m on to eac h of us and,

the re fore , are quite te l ling in the im plications they sugge st for em otional

in¯ uence s on the dynam ic org an isation of s e lf-re le vant information. Sec -

ond, the MDS analy sis technique he re em ployed rel ied on the expl ic it

rating s of features to de te rm ine the ir struc tural inte rre lation. Implic i t

m easures of org anisation prom ise to prov ide inte res ting alte rnativ e w in-

dow s into the structure of the se lf-concept by index ing m ore prec ise ly

featu re assoc iations in m em ory . A lthough initial w ork em ploy ing im plic i t

technique s to inve stigate se lf-concept struc ture has supported the use of

ac hie vem ent and af ® liation c riteria in feature organ isation (DeS teno,

1996 ), the se te chnique s hav e not ye t been used to inve stigate the influence

of m ood on concept struc ture .

None the le ss , the ® nding s presente d he re prov ide initial e v idence that

change s in affe c tiv e state s m ay al ter the s tructure of the s e lf-concept

and, consequently , that the re lation be tw een se lf-concept org an isation

and affe c tiv e ex pe rience is bidirec tional . Just as inc rease s in the asso-

c iations am ong like -valenced se lf-fe atures hav e been show n to result in

inte nsi ® e d af fe c tiv e ex pe rience s (Show ers, 199 2 ), the results of the

present study sugg e st that he ighte ned affec tiv e expe rience s result in a

reorganisation of se lf-fe atu res bas ed prim arily upon valence . That is , in

the presence of a happy or sad m ood state , indiv iduals ’ se l f-fe atures

com e to be grouped by v alence as oppose d to othe r c rite ria (e .g .

ac hie vem ent-re lev ance ).

Such dynam ic assoc iations am ong se lf-fe atures m ay m ediate the m al le -

abi li ty of the w orking self-concept. A s inte r- fe atural assoc iations change ,

the com pos ition of the se ts of se lf-fe atu res that are ac tiv e , and, the re fore ,

the re lati v e ac ce ss ibil i ti e s of c e rtain othe r s e lf-fe atures, m ay ¯ uctuate ,

re sulting in diffe rent phenom enolog ical expe rience s of s e lf . S uch v aried

organisational patte rns m ay be im portant to m ood regulation; depressed

indiv iduals , for exam ple , ev idence he ighte ned ac ce ss ibil i ti e s for al l nega-

tiv e se lf- information (Segal , 198 8 ), sug ge sting the use of v alence as an

organisational schem e. W e be l ie ve , the re fore , that the study of the structure

of the se lf-concept, as opposed to sole ly its conte nt, prom ise s to prov ide

im portant insights into both the func tioning of th is m ental repre sentati on

and its links to m otivation and em otion.

M anusc ript re c e iv ed 2 9 S eptem ber 1 9 9 5

Re v is ed m anusc ript re c e iv ed 1 2 Nov em ber 1 9 9 6


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