Table of Contents
Background:
Mood experience id comprised of at least two elements: the direct experience of the mood, and the meta-level of experience that consists of thoughts and feelings about the mood. Here, mood is experienced at a reflective level. This reflective level has been studied in part, however the development of the Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS) is a first attempt to integrate these reflective experiences, and to think of them functionally, as the products of a regulatory process that monitors, evaluates, and sometimes acts to change mood.
Psychometrics:
Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities range from 0.76 to 0.83, which was deemed to be quite satisfactory. The scale was also found to have good factor validity.
Author of Tool:
Mayer, J. D., & Gaschke, Y. N
Key references:
Mayer, J. D., & Gaschke, Y. N. (1988). The experience and meta-experience of mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 102-111
Kokkonen, J., Pulkkinen, L. (2001). Examination of the paths between personality, current mood, its evaluation, and emotion regulation. European Journal of Personality, 15(2), 83-104.
Halberstadt, J.B., Niedenthal, P.M., & Kushner, J. (1995). Resolution of lexical ambiguity by emotional state ; Psychological Science, 6(5), 278-282.
Hall, M., & Baum, A. (1995). Intrusive thoughts as determinants of distress in parents of children with cancer. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25(14), 1215-1230.
Mayer, J.D., Allen, J.P. & Beauregard, K. (1995). Mood inductions for four specific moods: A procedure employing guided imagery vignettes with music. Journal of Mental Imagery, 19(1-2), 151-159.
Mayer, JD. & Hanson, E. (1995). Mood-congruent judgment over time. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(3), 237-244.
Primary use / Purpose:
A mood adjective scale with an item sample of 16 adjectives, 2 selected from each of 8 mood states
Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS)
by John D. Mayer
| Lively | XX X V VV | Drowsy | XX X V VV |
| Happy | XX X V VV | Grouchy | XX X V VV |
| Sad | XX X V VV | Peppy | XX X V VV |
| Tired | XX X V VV | Nervous | XX X V VV |
| Caring | XX X V VV | Calm | XX X V VV |
| Content | XX X V VV | Loving | XX X V VV |
| Gloomy | XX X V VV | Fed up | XX X V VV |
| Jittery | XX X V VV | Active | XX X V VV |
Overall, my mood is:
Very Unpleasant Very Pleasant
-10 –9 –8 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Please Note: The “Overall, my mood is” section is usually omitted, although some people use it and fold it into the overall score.
Original Citation:
Mayer, J. D., & Gaschke, Y. N. (1988). The experience and meta-experience of mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 102-111. [Scoring instructions are described there]
Some Other Articles that Have Used the Scale:*
- Examination of the paths between personality, current mood, its evaluation, and emotion regulation. Kokkonen, Marja; Pulkkinen, Lea; European Journal of Personality, Vol 15(2), Mar-Apr pp. 83-104.
- Resolution of lexical ambiguity by emotional state. Halberstadt, Jamin B.; Niedenthal, Paula M.; Kushner, Julia; Psychological Science, Vol 6(5), Sep pp. 278-282.
- Intrusive thoughts as determinants of distress in parents of children with cancer. Hall, Martica; Baum, Andrew; Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol 25(14), Jul 1995. Special issue: Rumination and intrusive pp. 1215-1230.
- Mood inductions for four specific moods: A procedure employing guided imagery vignettes with Mayer, John D.; Allen, Joshua P.; Beauregard, Keith; Journal of Mental Imagery, Vol 19(1-2), Spr- Sum 1995. pp. 151-159.
- Mood-congruent judgment over time. Mayer, John D.; Hanson, Ellen; Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol 21(3), Mar pp. 237-244.
*The scale has been used in many other articles; I do not have a comprehensive list at this time. If you know of other uses, I would be delighted to hear of them.
Cite this article
mohammad looti (2026). Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/brief-mood-introspection-scale-bmis/
mohammad looti. "Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 30 Mar. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/brief-mood-introspection-scale-bmis/.
mohammad looti. "Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/brief-mood-introspection-scale-bmis/.
mohammad looti (2026) 'Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/brief-mood-introspection-scale-bmis/.
[1] mohammad looti, "Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, March, 2026.
mohammad looti. Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.