How valence affects language processing: Negativity bias and mood congruence in narrative comprehension

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Affective Science
• Narrative Psychology

Background:

• Mood congruence and negativity bias are key concepts in understanding emotional influences on cognition.
• Previous research has explored mood effects on memory and judgment, but less is known about their impact on real-time narrative comprehension.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how induced positive and negative moods affect readers' processing of positive and negative story endings.
• To examine the emergence of negativity bias and mood congruence during narrative comprehension.

Main Methods:

• Participants were induced into either a positive or negative mood state.
• They subsequently read stories with either positive or negative endings.
• Reading times and surprise judgments were recorded.

Main Results:

• Readers took longer to integrate negative story endings compared to positive ones, irrespective of their mood.
• Endings that mismatched the participants' mood were perceived as more surprising.

Conclusions:

• The valence of a story's ending significantly impacts moment-to-moment reading processes.
• Reader's mood influences their expectations for story outcomes after comprehending the entire narrative.