The effect of induced happiness versus sadness on three types of self-control tasks

How can people succeed in situations that require self-control? One mechanism might be through positive emotions such as happiness, although previous studies are limited and have yielded inconsistent results. Three studies (total N = 424) therefore examined the effect of induced happiness versus sad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Self and identity 2024-05, Vol.23 (3-4), p.325-349
Main Authors: Tornquist, Michelle, Chiappe, Dan, Herrmann, Eleanor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emotions
happiness
sadness
self-control
self-control performance
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Summary:How can people succeed in situations that require self-control? One mechanism might be through positive emotions such as happiness, although previous studies are limited and have yielded inconsistent results. Three studies (total N = 424) therefore examined the effect of induced happiness versus sadness on three different self-control tasks that required delaying gratification (Study 1), persistence on an aversive task (Study 2), and breaking a habitual response (Study 3). Results showed that happiness improved performance on these tasks compared to sadness, while controlling for baseline emotions, practice performance, and trait self-control. This research advances our causal knowledge of the facilitating effect of happiness versus sadness on tasks that measure different self-control components, and has important practical implications that we discuss.
ISSN:1529-8868
1529-8876
DOI:10.1080/15298868.2024.2375800