In compartmentalized organization of self, positive and negative self-knowledge are isolated in a given aspect, so that each aspect contains exclusively positive or negative one. This study investigated whether the content and organization of self-representation predicted the extremity of affective reactions to positive and negative events as well as the intensity of mood variability. The proportion of positive items was used as an index for the content of self-representation. The measure of compartmentalization was the average score of absolute value of the proportion difference between positive and negative items for each aspect of the self. Results were as follows: 1) Those high in compartmentalization and those low in positive-item proportion experienced significantly more negative affect following negative events. 2) The content and organization of self-representation had no effect on positive affect. And 3) those high in compartmentalization experienced significantly greater mood variability. These results suggest that self-representation may have asymmetric effects on positive and negative affect and that integrated self-organization, in which each aspect contains a mixture of positive and negative self-knowledge, may function as a buffer against extreme mood variability.
Key words:mood variability, compartmentalization, self-organization, self-representation