The influence of personality traits on mood induction and memory

Abstract

This study examines how recall measured over three time periods can be affected by mood induction, personality traits, and image characteristics. There were 101 people who participated in Session 1, 92 participants completed Session 2, and 77 participants completed Session 3. Subjects were randomly assigned to a group with negative mood induction or to a control group. Personality traits were measured using the NEO-FFI. The participants were asked to view 57 images and rate them by pleasantness and arousal. Following the presentation of images participants were asked to recall as many images as possible immediately after the presentation, one day after presentation, and one week after presentation. Generalized Linear Models were used to analyze the data. Unpleasant images were recalled with greater frequency during all three time periods. In addition, a quadratic expression was used to demonstrate that pleasant images also were recalled with greater frequency than neutral images. The personality trait of Neuroticism was negatively correlated with recall during Session 1 and Session 3. It is postulated that higher levels of Neuroticism provide a protective role when viewing negative images through reduced attention. Alternatively, it is possible that people with a higher level of Neuroticism may be desensitized to negative images and therefore less affected by unpleasant images. People who experienced a negative mood induction experienced images more pleasantly although this did not affect recall ability. This study is one of the first to examine how mood induction can interact with personality variables the hedonic valence of the images to affect recall over three time periods. The implications for these findings are discussed and suggestions are provided for future research.