Individual differences in negative affect repair

The extant literature implicates affect repair ability as one source of individual differences in negative affect. Emerging from this literature are three regulatory traits that should predict repair ability (negative mood regulation expectancies, monitoring, labeling), yet no experimental examination of this possibility exists. Two studies explored this issue. Participants (Ns=305, 146) watched negative affect-inducing videos and completed a repair or control writing task, before and after which they reported their affect. Results revealed wide individual differences in repair ability. Specifically, participants with high expectancies of repair success and those who attend to and understand their affect experienced the largest decreases in negative affect and largest increases in positive affect following the repair tasks. These findings advance understanding of individual differences in affect regulation and have implications for future research.     

Risk factors for nonsuicidal self‐injury in Japanese college students: The moderating role of mood regulation expectancies

Self‐injurious behavior is increasing among college students, and is common in both psychiatric and nonclinical populations. People's engaging in self‐injury is associated with childhood maltreatment, poor negative mood regulation expectancies, and depression. During times of distress, maltreated children without healthy coping strategies tend to have impairment in mood regulation, which contributes to engaging in self‐injury. This study investigated differences between nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) and non‐self‐injury groups in history of childhood maltreatment, negative mood regulation expectancies, and depression in a sample of Japanese college students. We also assessed risk factors for self‐injurious behavior, including mood regulation expectancies as a moderator of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and NSSI. Participants were 313 undergraduate students, who completed anonymous self‐report questionnaires—Deliberate Self‐Harm Inventory, Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, Negative Mood Regulation Scale, and short version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale. Ten percent (n = 31) of all participants had injured themselves. Consistent with past literature, participants with self‐injury history reported more severe childhood maltreatment, poorer mood regulation expectancies, and more depression, compared to non‐self‐injurers. Frequency of NSSI positively correlated with childhood maltreatment and depression, and negatively correlated with negative mood regulation expectancies. Regression analysis revealed that stronger expectancies for negative mood regulation interacted with maltreatment to predict self‐injury: More maltreatment was associated with more self‐injury, particularly among those with weaker expectancies. Results suggested childhood maltreatment, low expectancies for negative mood regulation, and depression predicted self‐injury. Consistent with our moderation hypothesis, strong expectancies for negative mood regulation buffered the effects of childhood maltreatment, reducing the risk for self‐injury.     

An examination of mood effects on positive alcohol expectancies among undergraduate drinkers

Alcohol expectancies have been found to be related to both alcohol use and abuse. To date, very little research has examined whether state biases known to affect the recall and endorsement of other types of information can influence alcohol expectancies. Mood-congruent memory theory and coping theory are reviewed, and are found to make opposing predictions regarding the relationship between state negative and positive affect and endorsement of positive alcohol expectancies. Study 1 (n = 121 undergraduate drinkers) used a correlational approach to show that negative affect predicted increased endorsement of positive alcohol expectancies. Study 2 (n = 55 undergraduate drinkers) used an experimental approach to show that participants assigned to a negative mood induction endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies than participants assigned to a positive mood induction. Together, these findings suggest that state negative affect can produce transient changes making alcohol use appear to be an attractive coping strategy.     

Impact of experimentally induced positive and anxious mood on alcohol expectancy strength in internally motivated drinkers

The effects of musically-induced positive and anxious mood on explicit alcohol-related cognitions (alcohol expectancy strength) in 47 undergraduate students who consume alcohol either to enhance positive mood states (for enhancement motives) or to cope with anxiety (for anxiety-related coping motives) were investigated. Pre- and post-mood induction, participants completed the emotional reward and emotional relief subscales of the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire - Now. The hypothesis that anxiety-related coping motivated drinkers in the anxious mood condition (but not those in the positive mood condition) would exhibit increases in strength of explicit emotional relief alcohol expectancies after the mood induction was supported. An additional, unanticipated finding was that enhancement-motivated drinkers in the anxious condition also showed significant increases in strength of explicit emotional relief (but not emotional reward) alcohol expectancies. The hypothesis that enhancement-motivated (but not anxiety-related coping motivated) participants would exhibit increases in explicit emotional reward expectancies following exposure to the positive mood induction procedure was not supported. Taken together with past research findings, the current results highlight the importance of distinguishing between subtypes of negative affect (i.e., anxious and depressed affect) in exploring the affective antecedents of explicit alcohol outcome expectancies.     

Impact of Experimentally Induced Positive and Anxious Mood on Alcohol Expectancy Strength in Internally Motivated Drinkers

The effects of musically‐induced positive and anxious mood on explicit alcohol‐related cognitions (alcohol expectancy strength) in 47 undergraduate students who consume alcohol either to enhance positive mood states (for enhancement motives) or to cope with anxiety (for anxiety‐related coping motives) were investigated. Pre‐ and post‐mood induction, participants completed the emotional reward and emotional relief subscales of the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire – Now. The hypothesis that anxiety‐related coping motivated drinkers in the anxious mood condition (but not those in the positive mood condition) would exhibit increases in strength of explicit emotional relief alcohol expectancies after the mood induction was supported. An additional, unanticipated finding was that enhancement‐motivated drinkers in the anxious condition also showed significant increases in strength of explicit emotional relief (but not emotional reward) alcohol expectancies. The hypothesis that enhancement‐motivated (but not anxiety‐related coping motivated) participants would exhibit increases in explicit emotional reward expectancies following exposure to the positive mood induction procedure was not supported. Taken together with past research findings, the current results highlight the importance of distinguishing between subtypes of negative affect (i.e., anxious and depressed affect) in exploring the affective antecedents of explicit alcohol outcome expectancies.     

The relationship of negative mood regulation expectancies with rumination and distraction

Individuals high in negative mood regulation expectancies believe that a wide variety of actions has the potential to improve their negative mood. According to response expectancy theory, negative mood regulation expectancies affect mood in a nonvolitional and self-confirming manner. The present study evaluated this claim by assessing the ability of negative mood regulation expectancies to predict current depression after controlling for a variety of volitional coping responses, including rumination, distraction, active coping, and avoidant coping. 105 Introduction to Psychology college students at the University of Connecticut, 47 men and 58 women (M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.5), completed measures of each of the latter constructs for course credit. Results were consistent with response expectancy theory: negative mood regulation expectancies predicted current depression above and beyond coping behaviors. In addition, higher negative mood regulation expectancies were associated with greater use of adaptive coping responses. Results of this study further support the notion that effects of negative mood regulation expectancies on mood cannot be fully accounted for by intentional coping behaviors.     

Mood repair and processing mode in depression

Recalling positive autobiographical memories is a powerful emotion regulation strategy that can be used to repair low mood and alleviate negative affect. Unlike healthy individuals, those with current or past depression do not experience an improvement in mood as a consequence of recalling positive memories. We tested whether differences in processing mode might account for this impairment. Following mood induction procedures designed to ensure equivalence of mood state, depressed (n = 35) and recovered depressed (n = 33) participants were instructed to recall a positive memory and focus on it while adopting either an abstract or a concrete mode of processing. Participants in the abstract processing condition experienced no change in mood, while those in the concrete processing condition showed improved mood after memory recall. This research illustrates that the process by which positive autobiographical memories are recalled is important in determining their emotional impact and suggests that psychological interventions for depression may be improved by explicitly targeting processing mode.     

How affective states, task difficulty, and self-concepts influence the formation and consequences of performance expectancies

Positive versus negative affective states are associated with the use of broad versus specific knowledge structures. We predicted that specific self-concepts and task difficulty would affect performance expectancies only for individuals in a negative mood; for individuals in a positive mood, only the general self-concept, but not task difficulty, would affect performance expectancies. In an experiment, we manipulated task difficulty and mood, and we assessed self-concepts, performance expectancies, and task performance. The expected interactions for the formation of performance expectancies (mood × general self-concept, mood × specific self-concept, mood × difficulty) were found. Concerning the consequences of performance expectancies, we predicted that expectancies would affect actual performance only if the task was difficult and if task difficulty was taken into account when the expectancy is generated. This hypothesis was supported: The relationship between performance expectancies and actual performance was significant only for difficult tasks and given negative mood.     

Mood, source characteristics, and message processing: A mood-congruent expectancies approach

Based on two lines of research, a model is proposed to explain when individuals in a positive mood as well as individuals in a negative mood invest more or less effort in message processing. First, research has shown that moods affect likelihood estimates. That is, positive (negative) mood leads to a mood-congruent increase regarding the occurrence of positively (negatively) valenced events. Second, research has shown that mood-unrelated expectancies affect message processing. Combining both lines of research, I argue that mood-congruent expectancies also affect message scrutiny, that is, more effortful processing given expectancy disconfirmation rather than expectancy confirmation. This prediction was tested in two experiments involving initial information regarding source honesty and likability, respectively. As predicted, individuals in both positive and negative moods evinced more effortful message processing when initial information disconfirmed rather than confirmed expectancies. Thus, these results are consistent with a quite flexible view of individuals in both positive and negative moods regarding the effort invested in information processing.     

Emotional valence and arousal interact in attentional control

ABSTRACT— A recent study demonstrated that observers' ability to identify targets in a rapid visual sequence was enhanced when they simultaneously listened to happy music. In the study reported here, we examined how the emotion-attention relationship is influenced by changes in both mood valence (negative vs. positive) and arousal (low vs. high). We used a standard induction procedure to generate calm, happy, sad, and anxious moods in participants. Results for an attentional blink task showed no differences in first-target accuracy, but second-target accuracy was highest for participants with low arousal and negative affect (sad), lowest for those with strong arousal and negative affect (anxious), and intermediate for those with positive affect regardless of their arousal (calm, happy). We discuss implications of this valence-arousal interaction for the control of visual attention.     

Generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation predict change in anxiety and depression among college students

Negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, or the beliefs held by individuals that, when faced with various manifestations of stress and negative affect, they can successfully cope with such mood states, have proven to be a most useful construct in the context of better understanding self-regulatory processes. In the present prospective study, we examined the predictive utility of NMR expectancies with respect to its ability to predict residual change in both depressive and anxiety symptoms over an 8-week timeframe in a sample of 322 college students. Initial correlational analyses revealed that, as anticipated, NMR expectancies were negatively correlated with depressive and anxiety symptomatology, as well as with maladaptive coping style. Conversely, NMR expectancies were positively associated with self-reported adaptive coping. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, even when controlling for age, sex, baseline levels of affective distress (depression or anxiety), and coping styles, NMR expectancies predicted change in both depressive and anxiety symptomatology. Implications of the findings pertinent to theory building and testing are discussed.     

The Impact of Positive and Negative Affect and Issue Framing on Issue Interpretation and Risk Taking

Two studies examined the influence of transient affective states and issue framing onissue interpretationandrisk takingwithin the context of strategic decision making. In Study 1, participants in whom transient positive or negative affective states were induced by reading a short story showed systematic differences in issue interpretation and risk taking in a strategic decision making context. Compared to negative mood participants, those in a positive mood were more likely to interpret the strategic issue as an opportunity and displayed lower levels of risk taking. Study 2 replicated and extended these results by crossing affective states with threat and opportunity frames. Results showed that framing an issue (as a threat or an opportunity) had a stronger impact on issue interpretation among negative affect participants than among positive affect participants. Affective states also moderated the impact of issue framing on risk taking: the effect of framing on risk-taking was stronger under negative rather than positive affect. These results are interpreted via information-processing and motivational effects of affect on a decision maker.     

Coping with a breakup: negative mood regulation expectancies and depression following the end of a romantic relationship

Three studies assessed the impact of generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation on the severity of depression individuals experience following the end of a romantic relationship. The Negative Mood Regulation Scale (NMR) measured these expectancies. In Study 1 (n = 583), the NMR predicted college students' reports of initial depression in the first week after the relationship ended. Study 2 (n = 114) demonstrated that subjects with higher expectancies used active coping strategies more than those with lower expectancies. Study 3 (n = 78) provided prospective data that showed subjects' NMR scores to predict initial depression in the first week after a relationship ended--when that relationship ended subsequent to their taking the NMR. Results support the importance of expectancies for negative mood regulation as determinants of emotional reactions to distressing events, and they support the validity of the NMR.     

情绪如何引发暴力犯的攻击?基于情绪调节理论的解释

本文基于情绪调节理论, 以暴力犯为被试, 通过2项研究探究了情绪在攻击产生过程中的作用。研究1采用改编的反应时竞争范式测量个体攻击行为。结果发现, 情绪调节动机在负性情绪与攻击间起完全中介作用, 证实了负面情绪状态下, 暴力犯会为了调节情绪而实施攻击。研究2进一步表明, 攻击的确能起到调节情绪的作用。具体来说, 在暴力犯群体中, 实施反应性攻击之后, 会伴随着正性情绪的提升和负性情绪的下降; 实施主动性攻击之后, 个体的正性情绪和负性情绪都会提升。文章从对攻击结果的预期和攻击的实际效果两个角度, 对攻击的情绪调节理论进行了验证, 为情绪在攻击产生过程中的作用提出了新的解释。今后的研究和实践过程中, 应设法避免个体通过攻击调节情绪, 引导其使用合理的方式调节情绪以减少攻击行为的产生。     

Positive memory enhancement training for individuals with major depressive disorder

When in a negative mood state, individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) may have difficulties recalling positive autobiographical memories in a manner that repairs that negative mood. Using cognitive bias modification techniques, investigators have successfully altered different aspects of cognition among individuals with MDD. However, little has been done to investigate the modification of positive autobiographical memory recall. This study examined the impact of a novel positive memory enhancement training (PMET) on the memories and subjective affective experiences of individuals with MDD (N = 27). Across a series of trials, participants first recalled a sad memory to elicit a negative mood state. They then recalled a happy memory and completed procedures to elicit a vivid, here-and-now quality of the memory. PMET procedures were hypothesized to promote mood repair via the recall of increasingly vivid and specific positive memories. PMET participants demonstrated improved memory specificity and greater perceived ability to “relive” positive memories. The procedures also repaired mood; PMET participants’ affect following recall of positive memories did not differ from control participants’ affect following recall of neutral memories. Results provide preliminary support for PMET as a method to improve the quality of positive memories and facilitate emotion regulation in MDD.     

Neuroticism and well-being? Let's work on the positive rather than negative aspects

The present studies show that certain cognitive strategies (e.g. savoring, practicing gratitude) enable individuals high in neuroticism to maintain or recover their positive emotions. In Study 1, participants (regardless of neuroticism differences) felt positive about a pleasant event if they savored it; however, dampening the event caused individuals high but not low in neuroticism to feel less positive. Study 2 showed that being grateful for things in their lives helped participants maintain their affect balance after a positive mood induction, or regain their affect balance after a negative mood induction. This research is thus the first step toward illuminating how people (including individuals high in neuroticism) could improve their momentary affect via the alternative route of maintaining or increasing positive emotions, rather than the traditional solution of reducing negative emotions.     

The effects of affective states on the formation of performance expectancies

Positive vs. negative affective states are associated with the use of broad vs. specific knowledge structures. These findings were applied to the field of performance expectancies. It was predicted that individuals with positive mood should infer their performance expectancies concerning a specific task from their general self-concept, whereas given negative mood, performance expectancies should be inferred from the relevant specific self-concept. In an experiment, positive vs. negative mood was induced in 158 university students. General and specific self-concepts were assessed. Furthermore, we assessed task-specific performance expectancies and task performance. Specific self-concept was predictive of expectancies given negative mood, whereas with positive mood, expectancies could only be predicted on the basis of the general self-concept. Furthermore, mean expectancies were higher and less accurate with positive mood. The results are in line with the theoretical predictions. They underline that affective states also influence the formation of motivational variables like performance expectancies.     

Variability in affective change among aging men: Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study

We examined change in both positive and negative affect over ages 45 to 97 among 1534 men (mean age = 69 years). Positive affect demonstrated a linear decline with age, while negative affect declined until approximately 70 years, and thereafter showed a gradual increase. Results indicated significant individual differences in rates of change for both positive and negative affect. We then examined whether personality, health, and work status might account for individual differences in levels and rates of change in affect. Higher extraversion was associated with higher levels of positive affect, but not with rate of change. Higher neuroticism predicted higher levels of negative affect, as well as an attenuated decline in middle-adulthood, and a steeper increase in later adulthood. Better health was associated with higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative, but was also found to predict less decline in negative affect. Work predicted lower levels of positive affect and higher levels of negative affect, as well as greater declines in positive affect. These findings indicate that individuals differ in the manner in which they change in affect over time.     

Prediction of symptoms of emotional distress by mood regulation expectancies and affective traits

Three studies examined negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) and affective traits as independent predictors of self‐reported symptoms of emotional distress. NMRE represent individuals' beliefs that they can alleviate unpleasant emotional states. Stronger NMRE are associated with more adaptive coping, more positive cognition during negative moods, more effective responses under stress and less emotional distress. Affective traits represent long‐term tendencies toward particular affective experiences; they confer risk for specific symptoms of emotional distress. In Study 1, NMRE, trait negative affect (TNA) and trait positive affect (TPA) were all independently associated with depression among students and staff of a German university. In Study 2, in prospective analyses among U.S. college students traits exhibited hypothesised relationships with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and NMRE uniquely predicted anhedonic depression. Study 3 revealed independent prediction of change in symptoms over time by NMRE among U.S. college students, whereas traits were not associated with change in distress, anxiety and depression symptoms. Results suggest independent roles for NMRE and traits in the development of depression and anxiety symptoms and highlight the importance of NMRE as a potential target of therapeutic intervention in the process of symptom change.     

Effects of written emotional expression: the role of positive expectancies.

OBJECTIVE: Writing in an emotional way about stressful or traumatic experiences has beneficial effects on emotional well-being and physical health. Yet the mechanisms that underlie these effects still need to be explored. Integrating research on the effects of positive expectancies, the authors suggest that positive effects of written emotional expression may, in part, depend on expectancies induced by writing about emotional experiences. DESIGN: Two studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. In both studies, participants wrote about either an upsetting event or trivial issues. After the writing period, participants rated their expectancies that the writing intervention would improve (or impair) their emotional well-being over time. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Study 1 assessed the emotional impact of an upsetting event, whereas Study 2 assessed subjective reports of physical symptoms. In both studies, outcome variables were collected both before and 6 weeks after the writing intervention. RESULTS: The results showed that (a) writing about upsetting experiences induced higher positive expectancies than writing about trivial issues and (b) expectancies associated with written emotional expression were related to a reduction in the emotional impact of an upsetting event (Study 1) and to a reduction in physical symptoms (Study 2). CONCLUSIONS: There may be 2 alternative ways to render written emotional expression effective in reducing negative emotions: (a) by rendering an emotional experience more meaningful and (b) by inducing positive affect regulation expectancies.