The Effects of Mood on Expository Writing

Past research has shown that analytical writing and problem solving may be influenced by mood and that experiencing intense mood states may be a catalyst for creativity. This experiment sought to test the hypothesis that good and bad moods have differential effects on expository writing. Sixty-two participants were asked to write a fictional story, a non-fictional story, or story of their choosing when they were in either a good or a bad mood. They then completed a questionnaire that assessed their mood again. The results of this study showed that good moods were associated with the stories that expressed positive emotions, used a narrative style, and conveyed concrete concepts, but bad moods were associated with the stories that expressed negative emotions, used a diary style, and discussed abstract concepts.