Affirmation Interventions on Mood

Jeanette Bettes, Jason Green, Ray Helsham, Becca Leo, Kaycee Congmon  

Mt. San Jacinto College Psychology Department

INTRODUCTION/LITERATURE REVIEW METHOD DISCUSSION

•Positive affirmations are defined as positive phrases or statements Participants • The current study showed no significant differences between the
used to challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts (Moore, 2020). •Participants were recruited from two separate Research Methods Maximum and Minimum Score Values for the BMIS
Experimental Condition (Affirmation) and the Control Condition
classes at Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC). Four Mood Dimensions (Relaxation) across any of the four mood dimensions.
•Affirmation practices have been linked to more positive mood, •Originally, the study included data from a total of 60 students.        
reduced stress levels, and enhanced ability to utilize coping Mood Dimension Mood • The current study assessed mood dimension scores after a single instance
However, 20 were eliminated from the study due to a design error Min Max
mechanisms (Edwards & Loprinzi 2018; Düring & Jessop 2016; Adjectivesa of meditation intervention. In other related studies, the effects on mood,
in which the researchers did not appropriately identify participant
Pauketat et al., 2016). Pleasant- stress levels, and coping were analyzed in a longitudinal fashion over a
groups. Unpleasant
16 64 16
period a time (Ali & Mahler, 2018; Chang et al., 2019; Düring & Jessop,
Arousal-Calm
•Mood has the potential to impact many facets of perception, 12 48 12 2016; May et al., 2020).
Demographic Characteristics of Participants
experience, and overall life satisfaction (Chang et al, 2019).   n % Positive-Tired
7 28 7 • The sample of participants included in the current study as were
Gender Identity
•Self affirmation broadens overall perspective and mitigates the impact Female 28 22.0% Negative-Relaxed disproportionately skewed with respect to ethnicity and gender. The
6 24 6 sample population included 50% of Hispanic/LatinX participants and
of negative emotions (Cascio et al., 2015). Male 11 73.5%
Non-Binary 1 4.5% 70% of total participants were Female. In other related studies, the
•Affirmation can reduce the anticipated impact of negative events and Ethnic Identity
Statistical Analysis gender and ethnicity distribution was more uniform across participants
enhance an individual's ability to cope (Pauketat et al., 2016). Asian American 3 7.5% •Univariate between-subjects experimental design. (Biss & Hasher, 2012; Edwards & Loprinzi, 2018). This may have
Black/African-American 3 7.5% •Independent variables were type of meditation interventions impacted the results if cultural or gender nuances exist related to
STUDY HYPOTHESIS Hispanic or LatinX 20 50.0% •The dependent variables were the mood scores based on the affirmation and meditation practice.
Pacific Islander 1 2.5% BMIS scoring model’s four mood dimensions.
White/Caucasian 10 25.0% •The data was then submitted to IBM SPSS Version 25 for Limitations
Other 3 7.5%
analysis using an independent measures T Test where • Twenty participants had to be removed from the sample due to an error in
Researchers hypothesized that participants in the affirmation Employment Status
significance was measured using an alpha level of .05. the survey provided to the first class, resulting in the inability to
meditation group would have higher scores for positive mood Full time 7 17.5%
Part time 10 25.0% distinguish which participants were assigned to either the Affirmation or
dimensions compared to those in the relaxation meditation group. Unemployed 23 57.5% RESULTS Relaxation Meditation.
Marital Status
• The COVID-19 environment necessitated a virtual experiment, however,
REFERENCES Single
Married
29
9
72.5%
22.5% this resulted in some distraction with participants chatting with each other
• The Independent Measures T Test revealed that Affirmation
Other 2 5.0%
Meditation did not affect the Pleasant-Unpleasant mood during the experiment.
Note. N = 40. Participants were on average 24.8
Ali, S. & Mahler, H. (2018). Psi Chi, 23(3), 199-208. years old. dimension of participants.
Future Research
Biss, R. & Hasher, L. (2012). Emotion,12(3), 437-441. Materials • There was not a significant difference in Pleasant-
Chang, E., Chang, O. & Kamble, S. (2019). Journal of Happiness •Materials included an Informed Consent, Affirmation and Relaxation Unpleasant mood scores of those in the Experimental Future studies may benefit from the following:
Studies, 20, 2159-2172. Meditation Videos, the Brief Mood Introspection Survey, a Condition exposed to Affirmation Meditation compared to
• In person design as opposed to a virtual based design to establish more
Düring, C., & Jessop, D. C. (2015). British Journal of Health Demographic Survey, and a Debriefing Statement. those in the Control Condition exposed to Relaxation
control over the experimental conditions.
Psychology, 20(2), 274–289. •The two videos utilized for the study included Meditation.
Edwards, M. & Loprinzi, P. (2018). Health Promotion Perspectives. • A General Relaxation Meditation Video for the Control Condition • A longitudinal based study design, where results are measured over time.
8(3), 171-178. • An Affirmation Meditation video for the Experimental Condition.
Means and Standard Deviations of BMIS Mood Dimension Scores for • Provision of more robust instructions to participants to eliminate outside
May, C., Ostafin, B. & Snippe, E. (2020). European Journal of Social Affirmation and Relaxation Groups
distractions during the experiment.
Psychology, 50, 35-45. Procedure
  Condition  
Moore, C. (2020). Positive affirmations: Is there science behind it? •The study was conducted via a live virtual Zoom meeting.   • A more proportional population distribution to control for the potential
Affirmation Group Relaxation Group
•Participants were provided the Informed Consent through the Zoom chat impact of cultural differences.
Pauketat, J., Moons, W., Chen, J., Mackie, D. & Sherman, D. (2016). Mood Dimension M SD M SD t(38) p
link that indicated the research was measuring mood, provided approximate
Motiv Emot, 40, 750-759. Pleasant-Unpleasant 25.86 9.01 23.68 9.35 -0.748 0.459
Conclusion
length of the experiment, noted participation was voluntary, and there was
Arousal-Calm 26.43 3.28 26.47 2.14 0.051 0.960
no risk involved in participating in the study. Although the current study did not support the hypothesis that a one-time
•The Control group watched the Relaxation Meditation video, and the Positive-Tired 17.95 2.87 17.95 3.21 -0.005 0.996
affirmation meditation intervention positively impacts mood, previous
Experimental group watched the Affirmation Meditation video. Negative-Relaxed 13.05 3.96 12.68 3.61 -0.303 0.764
research has shown a relationship between affirmation and mood
•Upon completion of the Meditation video for each condition, participants (Pauketat, et al., 2016). The current study contained uncontrolled
were asked to complete the Brief Mood Introspection Survey (BMIS) to variables and confounds that deteriorated the statistical power of the study
evaluate their mood via four dimensions. and provided recommendations for future studies.