The cognitive theory of depression advanced by Beck proposes that a negative view of the self, the world and the future is a condition that is responsible for depression. Recent data, however, have suggested that the relationship between cognition and affect is a reciprocal one in which each influences the other. Temporary mood states were induced in college students (N=60) to determine the extent to which moods alter cognitions about the world and the future. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an elated, depressed or neutral mood induction procedure and completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist after mood induction. The number of rigid and pessimistic statements about human conduct that subjects agreed with differed significantly across the three groups. However, only the difference between the elated and depressed groups reached significance among the individual comparisons. The results support the conclusion that general views of the world are under partial mood control. (Author/JAC)