Dysphoria and the prediction and experience of emotion

Abstract

Depression and dysphoria have been characterised by dampened positive emotional experiences. However, it remains unclear whether dysphoria is also characterised by dampened expectancies about positive emotional experiences. In the present study, participants with (dysphoric group; n=36) and without (non-dysphoric group; n=36) dysphoria reported on their expected and actual emotional responses to winning and losing money in a computer task. Results showed the dysphoric group predicted and experienced less happiness and contentment after winning money than the non-dysphoric group. Results also showed the dysphoric group predicted and experienced as much negative emotion after losing money as the non-dysphoric group. Moreover, the dysphoric group predicted they would experience more happiness after winning money than they actually did, whereas the non-dysphoric group experienced as much happiness as they had predicted. Results suggest that disturbances in positive emotional responding are characteristic of people experiencing dysphoria.

Keywords:

• Depression
• Dysphoria
• Emotion
• Happiness
• Prediction
• Expectancy

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a fellowship from the National Science Foundation awarded to JWY.

We thank Barbara Mellers for consulting on the study design and Brandon Bickford for programming the study tasks.