Effects of induced mood states on objective and projective dependency scores

In two experiments involving a total of 144 participants (72 women and 72 men), we examined the effects of induced mood states on college students' scores on widely used objective and projective measures of dependency. In both experiments, induced mood states significantly influenced participants' scores on the projective dependency test but did not affect their scores on the objective dependency test. Findings are discussed in the context of previous studies comparing objective and projective dependency measures and with respect to theoretical frameworks that distinguish implicit from self-attributed dependency needs.