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The effects of induced elation and depression on interpersonal problem solving

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Abstract

Depressed persons have been shown to score lower than normals on interpersonal problem-solving tests. This study examined the effects of induced elation and depression on the interpersonal problem-solving efficiency of normal college students. Subjects randomly assigned to elation, neutral, or depression mood induction procedures completed an interpersonal problemsolving task. Depressed subjects performed significantly worse than elated subjects on several measures of the problem-solving task. These results are interpreted as supporting the position that mood affects interpersonal problem-solving performance and are discussed in relation to theories of depression.

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This paper is based on a thesis submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Counseling Psychology, University of Alaska, Anchorage, 1981. A portion of this work was presented at the Western Psychological Association annual meeting in Los Angeles, 1981. The authors wish to express appreciation to Amy K. Bollenbach for her collaboration in developing the somatic elation statements and for a critical reading of the manuscript.

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Mitchell, J.E., Madigan, R.J. The effects of induced elation and depression on interpersonal problem solving. Cogn Ther Res 8, 277–285 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172998

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