Researchers from the University of Arizona have found that people in a negative mood tend to catch errors more quickly while listening to stories. This finding appears in research published in Boundaries in Communication.
In the study, mood was manipulated by presenting participants with video clips from the somber film Sophie’s Choice or the lighthearted series Friends. The comedy clips did not noticeably shift mood, while the sad clips produced a measurable drop in mood among the participants. All participants in the study were women.
After mood induction, participants listened to a set of emotionally neutral audio passages. Each passage consisted of four sentences, with one sentence containing a logical flaw. For instance, a passage about driving at night might include the sentence “You see less when the lights are on,” while a passage about looking at the stars might include the sentence “You observe more when the lights are off.” In the first example, that statement is false; in the second, it is true.
Results showed that those in a more negative mood were more efficient at detecting the errors. Brainwave monitoring supported these behavioral findings, indicating greater attention and heightened perceptual focus under negative mood states. These results suggest mood can influence error detection efficiency even when the material is emotionally neutral, highlighting a link between affective state and cognitive monitoring processes as observed in this controlled setting. (University of Arizona, Boundaries in Communication)