Mood Matters: A response to Mellalieu

Abstract

Psychological states such as mood, emotion, and affect have recently received a great deal of attention in the sport psychology literature (Hanin, 2000, 2003; Lane & Terry, 2000; Lazarus, 2000; Mellalieu, 2003). Lane and Terry (2000) proposed a definition of mood and a conceptual model of mood and performance with a focus on depression. Mellalieu (2003) provided detailed commentary and analysis of this work. We argue that although Mellalieu’s paper raised several important and justifiable concerns, in doing so it is arguably moving knowledge in circles rather than forwards. The present paper thus provides a response to Mellalieu’s commentary with reference to recent research.