Mood, stop-rules and task persistence: no mood-as-input effects in the context of pain.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Task persistence despite experiencing pain might be a risk factor for development and maintenance of chronic pain. The Mood-as-Input (MAI) model predicts that the impact of mood on individuals' motivation to persist in a task depends on the interpretation of current mood within a certain motivational context. The aim of the current study was to replicate the original MAI study (Martin, Ward, Achee, & Wyer, 1993), but in a context where the task is painful. METHODS: A 2 Mood (negative versus positive) × 2 Stop-Rule (achievement versus hedonic) between-subjects factorial design was used in which 120 healthy participants (97 women, mean age = 21.78 years, SD = 3.07) performed an impression-formation task while being exposed to mechanically induced pressure pain. RESULTS: The MAI interaction hypothesis was not confirmed. Instead, participants showed more task persistence when they used hedonic stop-rules as a ground to decide on task (dis)continuation than when they used an achievement-oriented stop-rule. Additionally, participants reporting less pain-related fear also spent more time on the painful impression-formation task. The current findings suggest that the MAI perspective might not apply to task persistence behavior in a pain context. LIMITATIONS: These findings may not generalize to task performance in patients with chronic pain.

Effects of responsibility and mood on painful task persistence.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Not just avoidance behaviour, but also painful task persistence might be a risk factor for development and maintenance of pain complaints. In seeking to understand these dysfunctional patterns of task performance, it has been suggested that mood influences the individuals' motivation to persist in a task depending on the interpretation of current mood within a certain motivational context. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of a social responsibility context and mood on persistence on a painful finger pressing task. METHODS: A 2 Mood (positive vs. negative) × 2 Responsibility (high vs. neutral) between-subjects factorial design was used in which 79 healthy participants (53 women; mean age = 22.99 years, SD = 4.77) performed the finger pressing task. RESULTS: The results show that mood and sense of responsibility independently influence task persistence: participants in a negative as opposed to positive mood spent more time on the task; the same was true for participants who reported a stronger sense of responsibility. In addition, an increase in pain during the task was associated with longer task persistence. No effect of pain-related fear on task persistence was found. CONCLUSION: This experimental study was the first to demonstrate an effect of sense of responsibility on persistence in a painful physical task.