Evaluation of effectiveness of evoking the researched specific emotions of different mood induction manipulation procedures

Various experimental studies related to emotion have been conducted in cognitive psychology recently. Usually, these studies use mood induction procedures to elicit emotions. Although there are a lot of different mood induction procedures in literature, there is no agreement about which one of these procedures is most effective in eliciting a specific emotion. Previous research showed that the presentation of a film/story was the most effective way in inducing both positive and negative mood states however, these studies were comprised mostly of meta-analyses (Westermann et al.,1996) rather than being obtained from an experimental study. Method: Three mood induction techniques (film, IAPS, imagery) that are used to elicit three specific emotions (fear,disgust,happiness) are examined in the framework of dimensional model and component model of emotional responding. 3 (emotion) ×3 (Mood induction procedure) within-subject experimental design is used in the research.Thirty-two university students (19 women, 13 men) participated in the experiment. Experiential (self-report), and physiological responses of the participants are measured second-by-second during the film, imagination, and IAPS procedures that induce fear, disgust, and happiness. Results: Evaluation of the results obtained from participants' self-reports indicated that all of the three mood induction procedures were successful enough in eliciting targeted emotions, with the exception of IAPS which was not as successful as the other two to evoke fear. However, physiological changes accompanied the experience of all emotions evoked by the film procedure. In conclusion, we can say that the most successful method to awaken both negative (fear,disgust) and positive (happiness) emotions is film.