Depression and Interpersonal Responses to Others' Moods: The Solicitation of Negative Information about Happy People

Abstract

A total of four experiments tested the prediction that social comparison concerns lead depressed individuals to solicit more negative disclosures from happy people than they otherwise would. In Experiments 1 and 2, depressed, mildly depressed, and nondepressed subjects reviewed information about another person that included ratings of that person's mood (Experiment 2 also included a control condition without mood information). After reviewing the material, subjects chose a subset of items from a list of positive, negative, and neutral questions to ask the person in an upcoming meeting. Experiment 3 replicated this procedure but used a mood manipulation to define subject groups. Experiment 4 examined the impact of subjects' line of questioning on others. Taken together; the results indicate that when they believe their partner is happy, depressed individuals are especially likely to solicit negative information about that person. This unfavorable interpersonal response increases depressed individuals' risk of social rejection.