Gaze direction and brightness can affect self-reported emotion

Previous studies revealed that emotion (pleased or depressed) could bias perception in a metaphorically consistent manner (e.g., happy = white (up), depressed = dark (down)). The present study extended this view by investigating whether these metaphors can also affect the emotion of an observer in a metaphorically consistent manner. In Experiment 1, after gazing at a black screen, participants became more depressed and less pleased temporarily. Conversely, after gazing at a white screen, participants became more pleased and less depressed temporarily. Results from Experiment 2 revealed that after gazing at the top of the screen, participants felt more pleased and less depressed temporarily but felt the reverse when gazing at the bottom of the screen. These results suggest that metaphors can, at least temporarily, affect the emotion of an observer along a pleased-depressed dimension.