Rumination and the mood-as-input hypothesis: Does congruence matter?

When Should I Stop? Dysphoria Leads to Impaired Task Persistence via Negative Mood

“…In the context of perseverative psychopathologies, a couple of studies support the predictions of the mood-as-input model for pathological worrying, perseverative checking, and depressive rumination (Meeten & Davey, 2011). Most relevant to the present research are four published studies on depressive rumination, which confirmed the expected interaction pattern between mood and stop rule for a rumination interview in a nonclinical sample (Hawksley & Davey, 2010), especially if the content of the interview was mood congruent (Fisak, Kissinger-Knox, & Cibrian, 2018). Furthermore, it was found that high ruminators continued longer in the enough and control conditions compared to the enjoy condition and compared to low ruminators in either condition (Watkins & Mason, 2002).…”

“…On the other hand, similar studies in the context of physical pain have revealed mood and stop-rule main effects in absence of significant interactions (Ceulemans, Karsdorp, & Vlaeyen, 2013). Stop-rule main effects were also observed when the affective content of a rumination interview was incongruent with the mood induction (Fisak et al, 2018). Importantly, our findings are in accordance with several lines of research on motivational deficits in depression and dysphoria regarding approach motivation and task engagement (Brinkmann & Franzen, 2015).…”

Nature can get it out of your mind: The rumination reducing effects of contact with nature and the mediating role of awe and mood

“…Importantly to notice, the suggested importance of mood in the path linking contact with nature to rumination appears in line with the "mood as input theory" (Watkins & Mason, 2002). As highlighted in Fisak, Kissinger-Knox, and Cibrian (2018), this theory predicts that persistence on a perseverative task, such as ruminative thinking, is strongly influenced by negative mood, which signals a lack of achievement or unsuccessful completion of the task leading the individual to perseverate, or ruminate, for an extended period of time. Mood restoration, therefore, might be crucial for individuals to disengage from ruminative thinking.…”