INTERACTION OF COGNITIVE BALANCE AND MOOD INDUCTION ON SELF-DESCRIPTIONS - A Q-METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

Predictions based on cognitive balance and mood induction theories wer e used to investigate how participants reacted to positive or negative feedback on a Q-sorting task. Positive and negative feedback was pres ented by giving some participants positive and negative adjectives wit h which to describe themselves, while giving a third group of particip ants neutral adjectives. The effect of the feedback was assessed by co rrelating self-descriptions with reference to their current self, how they remembered being in the past, and how they wanted to be in the fu ture. These correlations were then compared across groups. The mean co rrelations between the current self-description and other self-descrip tions were significantly lower for the positive and negative groups th an they were for the control group. These findings appear to support t he concept of cognitive balance and also indicate a possible chronolog ical basis for balancing self-descriptions across a life span.