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Mood and self-efficacy: Impact of joy and sadness on perceived capabilities

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Abstract

We examined the impact of happy and sad moods on efficacy judgments concerning a variety of activities. The mood was induced by having hypnotized subjects recall and revive their feelings about a romantic success or failure. Changes in efficacy that these memories induced were not restricted to the romantic domain but were also seen on interpersonal, athletic, and other activities remote from romance. The results suggested that emotional states have widespread impact on judgments by making mood-congruent thoughts more available. Implications for self-efficacy theory and practical applications are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sydney, Australia

    David J. Kavanagh

  2. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, Jordan Hall, 94305, Stanford, California, USA

    Gordon H. Bower

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  1. David J. Kavanagh
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  2. Gordon H. Bower
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Additional information

This research was supported by a grant to the second author from the National Institute of Mental Health MH 13950 and represents a portion of the first author's doctoral research. We gratefully acknowledge Albert Bandura's advice regarding the construction of efficacy measures and his comments on a previous draft of this paper. We also thank Julie Hagen, Kelly Borelli, and Ellen Francik for their assistance with pretests.

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Kavanagh, D.J., Bower, G.H. Mood and self-efficacy: Impact of joy and sadness on perceived capabilities. Cogn Ther Res 9, 507–525 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173005

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