THE INFLUENCE OF FEEDBACK ON MOOD - LINEAR EFFECTS ON PLEASANTNESS AND CURVILINEAR EFFECTS ON AROUSAL

We investigated the effects of feedback (grades) on two primary mood dimensions-Pleasantness and Arousal. We hypothesized that (a) cognitive comparisons of feedback to multiple standards yield cognitive appraisals of feedback sign, and that (b) feedback sign has a linear effect on harm/benefit appraisal, which influences mood Pleasantness, and a curvilinear effect on need for action appraisal, which influences Arousal. In Study 1 (N = 281), grades (a proxy for the sign of feedback-norm discrepancy) had a linear relationship with Pleasantness and a U-shaped relationship with Arousal. In addition, subjects who received grades had higher Arousal than control subjects. Study 2 (N = 226) replicated the results of Study 1 and showed that after controlling for the relationship of grades with Pleasantness and Arousal, the sign of feedback-expectation discrepancy (a second standard) also had a linear relationship with Pleasantness and a U-shaped relationship with Arousal. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.