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Abstract
The capacity to repair sad mood through the deliberate recall of happy memories has been found to be impaired in dysphoric individuals. Rumination, or adopting an abstract processing mode, has been proposed as a possible mechanism underpinning this effect. In low and high dysphoric participants, we examined the relative consequences of adopting an abstract or concrete processing mode during happy memory recall or engaging in distraction for (1) mood repair and (2) cognitive content. Recalling a happy memory in either an abstract or concrete way resulted in greater happiness than distraction. Engaging in abstract recall of a happy memory resulted in high dysphoric participants generating negative evaluations and negative generalisations. These findings raise the interesting possibility that abstract processing of positive memories has the potential to generate negative cognition.
We would like to thank Aliza Werner-Seidler for her assistance in coding memory content.
This study was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award to Kate Hetherington, and also received support from a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant [grant number 1004151] awarded to Michelle Moulds. Michelle Moulds is supported by an Australian Research Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.
We would like to thank Aliza Werner-Seidler for her assistance in coding memory content.
This study was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award to Kate Hetherington, and also received support from a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant [grant number 1004151] awarded to Michelle Moulds. Michelle Moulds is supported by an Australian Research Fellowship from the Australian Research Council.