Moods as sources of stimulation: Relationships between personality and desired mood states

Theories of optimal arousal and stimulation seeking propose that individuals differ in the amount of stimulation they typically prefer. In the current study we propose that individuals differ in the moods they find desirable, due to the level of arousal inherent in different mood states. Are there meaningful individual differences in the types of moods people desire and, if so, are these predictable from various personality theories? To examine the structure and personality correlates of desired moods, subjects rated a list of 48 mood adjectives twice (the actual frequency of experience, and the desirability of experiencing each item), and completed a series of personality scales known from previous research to correlate with self-rated affect. Results indicate that, on average, desired moods conform primarily to the presence of pleasant and the absence of unpleasant affect, the hedonic dimension of mood. The activation or arousal dimension of desired moods showed strong correlations with personality. For example, extraversion correlated with the desire for activated affect, and neuroticism correlated with the desire for low activation emotions. Factor analyses indicate that the underlying structure of desired moods is similar, but simpler, than that of actual moods.