Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 49, Issue 1 65-78, Copyright © 1987 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Effects of expectancies on women's reports of moods during the menstrual cycle

B Olasov and J Jackson

Social expectancies are assumed by many researchers to influence the reporting of menstrual and premenstrual symptoms. This study investigated the role of expectancies by attempting to manipulate college women's expectancies for a negative mood-menstrual relationship and observing the effect on self-reported daily moods. One group of women viewed a videotaped lecture designed to increase expectancies for a negative mood-menstrual relationship while a second group viewed a lecture designed to decrease such expectancies. A third group was exposed to a lecture on an unrelated topic, and a fourth, blind control group was neither exposed to a lecture nor aware that the study was concerned with the menstrual cycle. Expectancies were assessed immediately before and after presentation of the lectures. In addition, all participants monitored their moods for 40 consecutive days, after which expectancies were reassessed. Results indicated that expectancies were altered in the predicted directions by the experimental manipulations, with group differences apparent even at the 40 day follow-up. Even more importantly, daily moods during the course of the menstrual cycle were also affected by the manipulations, thus supporting the importance of expectancies as a determinant of mood.

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