Positive, Negative, and Neutral Mood Induction and Emotional Prediction in Anxious Students: Emotional Intelligence as a Moderator
Downloads
Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of mood induction (positive and negative) on emotional prediction, considering the moderating role of emotional intelligence in a clinical population exhibiting anxiety symptoms.
Methods and Materials: An experimental person × environment (P×E) design was used with emotional intelligence (high vs low) as a trait factor and mood induction (positive/negative/neutral) as a manipulable factor, forming a 2×3 structure. The population comprised students at Islamic Azad University, West Tehran Branch (2023–2024). Sixty counseling-seeking students meeting inclusion criteria (including Beck Anxiety Inventory score >25) were purposively recruited and randomly allocated to six cells (n≈10 per cell). Emotional prediction was assessed using Gilbert’s Emotional Prediction Questionnaire, and emotional intelligence was measured with Schering’s Emotional Intelligence Scale. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), controlling for pretest scores, followed by Bonferroni pairwise comparisons.
Findings: The interaction between mood induction and emotional intelligence level was significant for emotional prediction (F=32.63, p<0.01; η²=0.561). Pairwise comparisons showed no significant differences between high- and low-emotional-intelligence groups under negative or neutral mood induction (p>0.05). Under positive mood induction, however, individuals with high emotional intelligence demonstrated significantly higher emotional prediction scores than those with low emotional intelligence (mean difference=2.93, p<0.01)
Conclusion: In anxious students, positive mood induction appears to facilitate more accurate emotional prediction primarily among individuals with higher emotional intelligence. Brief positive mood–enhancing procedures may serve as an adjunctive supportive strategy when integrated with broader anxiety-focused interventions.
Downloads
Ashby, F. G., Zetzer, H. A., Conoley, C. W., & Pickering, A. D. (2024). Just do it: A neuropsychological theory of agency, cognition, mood, and dopamine. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 153(6), 1582. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001587
Association, A. P. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. American psychiatric association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Barry, M. J., Nicholson, W. K., Silverstein, M., Coker, T. R., Davidson, K. W., Davis, E. M., Donahue, K. E., Jaén, C. R., Li, L., & Ogedegbe, G. (2023). Screening for anxiety disorders in adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Jama, 329(24), 2163-2170. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.9301
Batool, I., Fatima, S., Batool, H., & Ishaq, G. (2025). Impact of Mood on Perception: A Mood Induction Study. Southern Journal of Social Sciences, 3(01), 41-53. https://sjss.isp.edu.pk/index.php/about/article/view/49
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. (1993). Beck anxiety inventory. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/t02025-000
Britton, J. (2021). Teaching Children Emotional Intelligence: A Closer Look at the Barbie Vlogs.
Buehler, R., McFarland, C., Spyropoulos, V., & Lam, K. C. (2007). Motivated prediction of future feelings: Effects of negative mood and mood orientation on affective forecasts. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(9), 1265-1278. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207303014
Casares, M. Á., Díez-Gómez, A., Pérez-Albéniz, A., & Fonseca-Pedrero, E. (2024). Anxiety and depression in educational settings: Prevalence, assessment, and impact on psychological adjustment. Revista de Psicodidáctica (English ed.), 29(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psicoe.2023.12.003
Diener, E., Kanazawa, S., Suh, E. M., & Oishi, S. (2015). Why people are in a generally good mood. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(3), 235-256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868314544467
Dulewicz, V., & Higgs, M. (2000). Emotional intelligence–A review and evaluation study. Journal of managerial Psychology, 15(4), 341-372. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940010330993
Fathi-Ashtiani, A. (2019). The effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on reduction of the negative emotional schemas, alexithymia and signs of patients with somatic symptoms. Journal of Research in Behavioural Sciences. doi: 10.22122/rbs.v17i2.2315
Fredrickson, B., & KURTZ, L. E. (2011). Broaden and build theory. Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society, 35. https://books.google.com/books?id=ogytAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA35&ots=-C8yrlXWK_&dq=Fredrickson%2C%20B.%2C%20%26%20KURTZ%2C%20L.%20E.%20(2011).%20Broaden%20and%20build%20theory.%20Applied%20Positive%20Psychology%3A%20Improving%20Everyday%20Life%2C%20Health%2C%20Schools%2C%20Work%2C%20and%20Society%2C%2035.&lr&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false
Fulford, D., Feldman, G., Tabak, B. A., McGillicuddy, M., & Johnson, S. L. (2013). Positive affect enhances the association of hypomanic personality and cognitive flexibility. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 6(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2013.6.1.1
Gamst, G., Meyers, L. S., & Guarino, A. J. (2008). Analysis of variance designs: A conceptual and computational approach with SPSS and SAS. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801648
Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2009). Why the brain talks to itself: Sources of error in emotional prediction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1521), 1335-1341. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0305
Gilbert, P. (2015). An evolutionary approach to emotion in mental health with a focus on affiliative emotions. Emotion Review, 7(3), 230-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915576552
Guslyakova, N. I., & Guslyakova, A. V. (2020). Emotional intelligence as a driving force in the study of foreign languages in higher education. Arpha Proceedings, 3, 781-792. https://doi.org/10.3897/ap.2.e0781
Hezel, D. M., Stewart, S. E., Riemann, B. C., & McNally, R. J. (2019). Affective forecasting accuracy in obsessive compulsive disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 47(5), 573-584. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465819000134
Iau, E. A., & Verhaeghen, P. (2025). A well-regulated mind: emotional intelligence as a mediator between mindfulness and mental health and wellbeing. Current Psychology, 44(5), 3548-3563. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-07414-w
Kendler, K. S. (2016). The nature of psychiatric disorders. World Psychiatry, 15(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20292
Khesht-Masjedi, M. F., Omar, Z., & Masoleh, S. K. (2015). Psychometrics properties of the Persian version of Beck Anxiety Inventory in North of Iranian adolescents. Int J Educ Psychol Res, 1(2), 145. https://doi.org/10.4103/2395-2296.152233
Khorsandpour, T., Rezakhani, S. D., & PASHA, S. H. (2020). Development and standardization of irrational beliefs questionnaire (Iranian version) among students. https://sid.ir/paper/950694/en
Kilduff, M., Chiaburu, D. S., & Menges, J. I. (2010). Strategic use of emotional intelligence in organizational settings: Exploring the dark side. Research in organizational behavior, 30, 129-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2010.10.002
Lerner, J. S., & Keltner, D. (2001). Fear, anger, and risk. Journal of personality and social psychology, 81(1), 146. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.1.146
Limonero, J. T., Fernández-Castro, J., Soler-Oritja, J., & Álvarez-Moleiro, M. (2015). Emotional intelligence and recovering from induced negative emotional state. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 816. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00816
Malterer, M. B., Glass, S. J., & Newman, J. P. (2008). Psychopathy and trait emotional intelligence. Personality and individual differences, 44(3), 735-745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.007
Martins, A., Ramalho, N., & Morin, E. (2010). A comprehensive meta-analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and individual differences, 49(6), 554-564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.029
Mathersul, D. C., & Ruscio, A. M. (2020). Forecasting the future, remembering the past: Misrepresentations of daily emotional experience in generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44(1), 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-019-10048-5
Mohammed, A.-R., & Lyusin, D. (2022). The effect of an induced negative mood on the updating of affective information. Cognitive Processing, 23(1), 91-98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-021-01060-3
Nuijs, M., Larsen, H., Klein, A., Grasman, R., Wiers, R., de Voogd, E., & Salemink, E. (2025). Combining Unguided Web-Based Attentional Bias Modification and Affective Working Memory Training to Decrease Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-024-10565-y
Ogston, P. L., Mackintosh, V. H., & Myers, B. J. (2011). Hope and worry in mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder or Down syndrome. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(4), 1378-1384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.01.020
Petagna, K. D., & Wormwood, J. B. (2025). Who can predict their future feelings? Individual differences in affective forecasting accuracy. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 16(2), 182-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506231208749
Rauch, A. A., Soble, J. R., & Silton, R. L. (2025). Anxiety symptoms are distinctly related to working memory deficits in adults with ADHD. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2024.2449170
Robinson, E., Hull, L., & Petrides, K. (2020). Big Five model and trait emotional intelligence in camouflaging behaviours in autism. Personality and individual differences, 152, 109565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109565
Sampson, E., Kavakbasi, E., Mills, N. T., Hori, H., Schubert, K. O., Fourrier, C., & Baune, B. T. (2024). Emotional blunting in depression in the PREDDICT clinical trial: inflammation-stratified augmentation of vortioxetine with celecoxib. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 27(3), pyad066. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyad066
Senta, J. D., Bishop, S. J., & Collins, A. G. (2025). Dual process impairments in reinforcement learning and working memory systems underlie learning deficits in physiological anxiety. PLOS Computational Biology, 21(9), e1012872. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012872
Smith, A. D., & Kelly, A. (2015). Cognitive processes. The encyclopedia of adulthood and aging, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa213
Spira, A. P., Friedman, L., Aulakh, J. S., Lee, T., Sheikh, J. I., & Yesavage, J. A. (2008). Subclinical anxiety symptoms, sleep, and daytime dysfunction in older adults with primary insomnia. Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology, 21(2), 149-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891988707317120
Taylor, B. K., Eastman, J. A., Frenzel, M. R., Embury, C. M., Wang, Y.-P., Stephen, J. M., Calhoun, V. D., Badura-Brack, A. S., & Wilson, T. W. (2021). Subclinical anxiety and posttraumatic stress influence cortical thinning during adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(10), 1288-1299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.11.020
Thompson, R. J., Spectre, A., S. Insel, P., Mennin, D., Gotlib, I. H., & Gruber, J. (2017). Positive and negative affective forecasting in remitted individuals with bipolar I disorder, and major depressive disorder, and healthy controls. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41(5), 673-685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-017-9840-2
Vaughan, R. S., Hagyard, J. D., Brimmell, J., & Edwards, E. J. (2021). The effect of trait emotional intelligence on working memory across athletic expertise. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(6), 629-637. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1840039
Wang, H., Liu, Y., Zhang, S., Xu, Z., & Yang, J. (2023). Investigating links between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and self-rated health status in adolescents: the mediating roles of emotional intelligence and psychosocial stress. Children, 10(7), 1106. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071106
Zarei, F., Akbarzadeh, I., & Khosravi, A. (2019). The relationship between emotional intelligence and stress, anxiety, and depression among Iranian students. Shahroud Journal of Medical Sciences. doi:10.22100/ijhs.v5i3.668
Zhang, R.-T., Gao, Y., Yang, T.-X., Yan, C., Wang, Y., Lui, S. S., & Chan, R. C. (2025). Real-life affective forecasting in young adults with high social anhedonia: An experience sampling study. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, 6(1), sgaf003. https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgaf003
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
