The Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal

by Robert E. Thayer

Overview

What is the biological function of daily mood variations? What is the relationship between mood and such factors as exercise, time of day, nutrition, stress, and illness? Drawing on his own wide-ranging research concerning subjective assessments of mood and on extensive research by others, Dr. Thayer presents a comprehensive theory of normal mood states, viewing them as subjective components of two biological arousal systems, one which people find energizing, and the other which people describe as producing tension. The author explains these two mood effects in relation to a complex relationship between energy and tension. Relevant research is systematically reviewed, and moods are analyzed in relation to circadian rhythms, exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress, and cognition. Perceptual and motivational effects of mood are also discussed, as are measurement and research design issues. Unique in its depth and comprehensiveness, this book will be of interest not only to researchers in psychology, biology, and medicine, but its clear style of presentation and the practical activities suggested for mood regulation will make it interesting to general readers as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195068276
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/27/1990
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.29(w) x 6.14(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Robert E. Thayer, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at California State University, Long Beach. His training is in psychology of personality with specialties in biopsychology and psychophysiological approaches to mood, emotion, and personality. His research is widely cited in the scientific literature, and recently his work has received a great deal of attention in the popular literature in relation to the mood effects of walking, sugar snacking, and biological cycles.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Modern Perspectives on Mood3. Arousal: A Basic Element of Mood and Behavior4. Daily Rhythms of Subjective Energy and Other Biopsychological Cycles5. Determinants of Energetic and Tense Arousal, Including Cognitive-Mood Interactions6. The Natural Interaction of Energetic and Tense Moods: A Multidimensional Arousal Model7. Issues Relating to Formal and Informal Research on Mood8. Toward an Understanding of Nonpathological Mood States: Evidence, Speculations, and Applications

Editorial Reviews

"This is a courageous and most welcome effort to establish the concept of mood as an important part of psychology. It reviews the literature exhaustively, and organizes it in terms of the writer's own long continued work in this area. He is not afraid to look at the biological as well as the introspective aspects of moods, and gives us an integrative model of moods and mood changes which will dominate research in the coming years." —H.J. Eysenck, University of London

"Thayer brings together in his book all of the important perspectives on mood, as represented both in current research and in historically older concepts, such as arousal. In his review of the literature Thayer ranges wide, including—although the book is primarily about normal mood—references, to the mood/cognition experiments in abnormal psychology which themselves have done much to advance interest in the topic." —The Psychologist

"Ideally, the publication of this book will not only alert more people to the existence of Thayer's intriguing theory, but it will also inspire both researchers who favor his model and those who oppose it to conduct more empirical work to support their ideas." —Contemporary Psychology

From the Publisher