Using and being used by categories: The case of negative evaluations and daily well-being

Michael D. Robinson*, Patrick T. Vargas, Maya Tamir, Emily C. Solberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three studies involving 257 undergraduates examined whether a simple choice reaction time task could predict daily experiences of affect. Individuals who were fast to make negative evaluations experienced more negative affect and more somatic symptoms and were less satisfied with their lives, compared with individuals who were slow to make negative evaluations. A fourth study, involving 89 undergraduates, indicated that performance on the task was relatively unaffected by transitory mood states. The results support the idea that categorization provides a useful perspective on personality functioning.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)521-526
Number of pages6
JournalPsychological Science
Volume15
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2004
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The first author acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (9817649) and National Institute of Mental Health (068241).

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