The effects of self-focus on negative mood among depressed and nondepressed Japanese students

Self-focus may contribute to depression. Most investigations of the effects of self-focus on mood and cognition have taken place in the United States. Because cultural differences have been reported between the United States and Japan in both self-processes and depression, the U.S. studies should be replicated in Japan. In the present study, the effects of self-focus on mood were examined in a sample of Japanese university students. A total of 60 participants were assigned randomly to self-, other-, and social-focus conditions. Before and after the manipulation of their attention focus, the participants rated their moods as positive or negative. Under self-focus conditions, the depressed participants reported more negative feelings than did their nondepressed counterparts; however, in other-focus and social-focus conditions, no significant difference emerged between the 2 groups. Consistent with the U.S. studies, the negative effects of self-focus were limited to the depressed participants.