I am looking for a task which induces positive mood. This would be a control condition which will be compared to an experimental condition for reducing anxiety. In particular, I would be interested in a positive mood induction activity in which the participant perhaps listens to an MP3 track with relaxing music and a narrative that tells the participant to imagine going through a relaxing experience (e.g., spending time on a beach, exploring a tropical forest).
However, I am also interested in hearing about other mood induction tasks which might be better than the described idea I currently have in mind.
An important criteria of this task/activity would be that it had been shown to be effective at inducing a positive mood. Further, it would be important that the task would not have any aspects in which positive memories or images about the self are brought up.
Many thanks for the help
Hi Victor,
Have you ever heard about Neurofeedback?
It is an advanced technology that trains the brains to improve competences and that can change the patient's mood with the repetition of the sections.
It works so good!
I hope I could help,
Bset,
Nazareth Ribeiro
Music is commonly used stimulus for mood induction; there's an extensive literature on physiological response to music listening. Films and stories are also an effective method of mood induction.
Article Emotion Induction through Music: A Review of the Musical Moo...
Article Westermann, R., Spies, K., Stahl, G. K., & Hesse, F. W. (199...
Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. 2013 Oct;7(3):138-48. doi: 10.3371/CSRP.HESA.020813.
Mind-body medicine for schizophrenia and psychotic disorders: a review of the evidence.
Helgason C1, Sarris J.
You might find the above article of interest. Also, I know there lots of benefits documented on listening to music though as someone who used to sing professionally, I would recommend singing, particularly group or choral singing.
Have a look at https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/Research/Centres/SDHR/Home.aspx
When I want a patient to be in a 'better mood' I ask them to stand up, take the shoulders slightly back and look towards the ceiling/sky and lift the angles of the mouth as if they want to smile. This can also be achieved by applying SCENAR using the 'Little Wings' protocol.
This however does not influence anxiety which is a construct in the mind of the anxious person. Changing posture causes changes in the release of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides via neuro feedback - aiding in the change of mood towards 'lighter'.
While I worked for Unilever we tested a number of mood inductions. The Velten procedure works well, but uses self-referent statements, so will not be suitable for you. We also found music and film clips (cartoons) to have an effect. Maybe worth considering a negative mood condition to compare to the positive mood condition you propose, since you will only shift affect a small amout really with music/film manipulations.
"Elementary Pragmatic Model" may help:Every Interaction among the sexteen Functions that bring to function F5.To start you can see my Site www.pierodegiacomo.it
There was a laboratory technique that was used for this purpose, however it may be outdated now. The procedure was called the Velton technique where participants repeated a list of positive mood inducing words, a negative list of words, with their moods being measured after each task or for each group. There was some discussion if the word repetition task really changed their mood or affect.
These are all fantastic ideas. Thanks to everyone for the help and now I have a much better idea of the options available.
My course is: first learn how to guide your mind in the sexteen directions ( that sexteen "hats") of our mind. When they have learned then focalize on "go toward your world fully"(F5) end/or "go toward your world beyond measure"(F13).
see video (unfortunately only in Italian) in www.pierodegiacomo.it
Look into the work of Barbara Fredrickson, an expert in the study of positive emotion. I believe she has used comedy videos (e.g. Seinfeld episodes in the past - these might be a bit out-of-date now) for positive mood induction, among other things.
However, one thing to keep in mind is the "arousal" as well as the "valence" dimension of the mood/emotion you want to induce. Funny material can be positively-valenced and higher-arousal. It sounds like you want more of a low-arousal, calming positive mood induction. Music could work for that.
What I am wondering after reading your question is what the difference is between your control and your experimental condition. The control/positive mood induction example you describe sounds like it, too, would reduce anxiety. Guided relaxation imagery is designed to reduce anxiety (probably also induces a more positive mood, but it seems designed to act on the "arousal" rather than primarily the "valence" aspect of mood.) What "key ingredient" of your experimental condition, the anxiety reduction, are you trying to test? The idea for a control would be to have everything except that key ingredient. In other words, what control condition you choose depends on the research question you are asking.
Best of luck!
I'd also vote for Velten technique, or you could try the Geneva Affective Picture Database!
I would like to agree with Stephen - and add - music works even better when your client/person in question is an active participant in making music.
I use biofeedback (breathing rate, GSR, cardiotach) with music, and coumputer generated display of images reflecting changes. It is a commercial product. It has one setting that lasts 6 minutes and generates a good effect.
There is a nice meta-analysis on mode induction: Lench, H. C., Flores, S. A., & Bench, S. W. (2011). Discrete emotions predict changes in cognition, judgment, experience, behavior, and physiology: A meta-analysis of experimental emotion elicitations. Psychological Bulletin, 137(5), 834–855. doi:10.1037/a0024244
Music is very effective - especially if participants are allowed to bring their own music. Autobiographical recall may also be good. Good luck with the research!
Help somebody. Assist the old lady as she struggles with her bags as she climbs the stairs to her flat, for example. Doing good deeds is a win-win situation for both, and the helper instantly feels happier and more positive.
I teach a 5-minute daily motivational routine I've created and named AcceleratedStateConditioning to induce positive emotion and mood. The routine evokes within moments, multiple episodes of "frisson". Frisson has been linked to significant elevations in dopamine levels (Salimpoor 2011). Dopamine levels of course are associated with elevations in positive emotion. You can read about the routine @ AcceleratedStateConditioning.com or contact me directly at [email protected]
www.AcceleratedStateConditioning.com
I suggest you clearly define what you mean by ‘positive mood’. You need to break down what that means in terms that could be identified as sensory-based descriptions of a ‘positive mood‘. The thing with positive affect, is the invoking of memories which may follow. So maybe a task that makes them be in a positive mood, which also takes up their working memory capacity, so they don’t have ability to reflect on anything at all.. cognitively overload the participants with a stroop or n-back task or a visual field task which absorbs their attention.
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