Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Rumination Induction On Attentional Breadth For Self-Related Information, M. Grol, Paula T. Hertel, E. H.W. Koster, Rudi De Raedt

Psychology Faculty Research

The attentional scope model of rumination describes the links between rumination and attentional breadth. The model postulates that a more narrow attentional scope, caused by negative mood, increases the likelihood that thoughts become repetitive on the same topic, which in turn could exacerbate negative mood and lead to more attentional narrowing. We experimentally tested this model by examining the attentional effects of rumination using a newly developed rumination- versus problem-solving induction. In the first experiment we found that only at high levels of trait rumination, induction of rumination compared to a problem-solving approach was associated with more attentional narrowing for …