Self-focused attention and mood during everyday social interactions

This study examined the association of dispositional self-focused attention to mood rated at the time of a negative social interaction in 100 employed , middle-age adults using experience sampling methodology. Results revealed that a self-focusing style was associated with higher negative mood and lo wer positive mood at the time of a negative social interaction during 3 day s of everyday activities. Women who were chronically self-focused were part icularly vulnerable to these negative social interactions in the daily envi ronment; they were more likely than men to report lower positive mood durin g the interaction. In addition, 30 minutes after the negative social intera ction, self-focused individuals with higher preexisting levels of depressiv e symptoms continued to report higher levels of negative mood and lower lev els of positive mood relative to individuals who were not self-focused and did not report higher depressive symptoms. These results provide support fo r the role of self-focused attention in the etiology and maintenance of neg ative moods.