MOOD, SELF-EFFICACY, AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS - LOWER MOODS INDUCE HIGHER STANDARDS FOR PERFORMANCE

This research examined the effects of induced mood on personal standar ds for performance and judgments of one's performance capabilities, or self-efficacy judgments. In Experiment 1, standards and self-efficacy judgments were assessed on common social and academic tasks. In Exper iment 2, these variables were assessed on 2 novel tasks. In both exper iments, negative mood induced higher standards for performance. Induce d mood had no effect on perceived self-efficacy. Negative mood Ss thus held minimal standards for performance that significantly exceeded th e levels of performance they judged they actually could attain. A 3rd experiment provided support for the hypothesis that negative mood rais es standards by lowering evaluations of prospective outcomes. Processe s underlying the results and their relation to research on naturally o ccurring depressed mood and stringent personal standards are discussed .