Induced mood and the illusion of control

Examined the directionality of the relationship between realism in judging personal control and depression. Depressed and elated mood states were induced transiently in 40 naturally nondepressed and 40 depressed females (Beck Depression Inventory and the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List), and the impact of these transient mood states on susceptibility to the illusion of control was assessed. Naturally nondepressed Ss gave accurate judgments of control while naturally depressed Ss showed an illusion of control and overestimated their impact on an objectively uncontrollable outcome. Mood induction groups showed predicted changes in self-reported affect and a behavioral measure of depression. These results are in contrast to those of L. B. Alloy and L. Y. Abramson (1979). An implication of the present findings may be that therapeutic interventions for depression that successfully remediate depressive symptoms may also increase depressed individuals' susceptibility to the illusion of control. (39 ref)