Refining moderators of mood contagion: Men's differential responses to depressed and depressed-anxious presentations

Research has established the existence of mood induction in conditions of moderate to intense affective displays. Findings are less consistent with regard to for whom and under what circumstances mood induction occurs. The present study expands upon past work by examining the unique and interactive effects of target mood state (“depressed” vs. “depressed-anxious”) and participant gender on mood induction and interpersonal rejection. Participants viewed a video of either a pure depressed or concurrently depressed and anxious female target, then completed measures of mood symptoms, regard for the target, and willingness to interact with the target. Women reported similar mood symptoms in response to both videos, but men reported elevated depressed and anxious mood following the depressed-anxious video. Men were also more likely to hold the depressed-anxious target in lower regard, but no gender differences were found in willingness to interact with the target. The present findings suggest that women's displays of concurrent depressed and anxious mood, as compared to depressed mood alone, have particularly negative effects upon men's mood.