Don't Worry, Be Happy? Neuroticism, Trait -Consistent Mood Regulation, and Performance

People regulate their mood to feel good or to achieve instrumental success (e.g., Martin, 2000). The present studies show that when driven by performance goals, people can be motivated to experience unpleasant mood states when they are trait-consistent, because of their instrumental benefits (Tamir, Robinson, & Clore, 2002). In 4 studies, neurotic individuals preferred to increase their level of worry, as indicated both by self-reported preferences (Study 1) and by actual behavior in experimental settings (Studies 2--4). As predicted, such preferences were evident only when expecting to perform cognitively demanding tasks but not when expecting a non-demanding task (Study 2). Study 4 provides initial evidence that such anti-hedonic mood regulation may lead to beneficial effects on performance.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Tamir, Maya

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ed Diener

• Psychology, Social

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3153440

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82072