Mood-congruent memory is the tendency to recall experiences that match one’s current mood. When happy, people more readily retrieve pleasant memories; when sad, unpleasant ones come more easily to mind.

The effect operates at both encoding and retrieval. Events encoded in a particular mood are more accessible when that mood recurs. At retrieval, the current emotional state serves as a cue that favors similarly toned material. The phenomenon helps explain why depressed individuals often dwell on negative past events and why a good mood can make the past look brighter.

Mood-congruent memory is distinct from mood-dependent memory, which refers to better recall when the mood at retrieval matches the mood at encoding, regardless of the emotional content of the material. Both effects illustrate the close coupling of emotion and memory. Therapeutic approaches sometimes aim to interrupt negative mood-congruent cycles by deliberately accessing alternative memories or by changing current mood.

The past that comes to mind is partly selected by how one feels in the present.