Suppress for success? Exploring the contexts in which expressing positive emotion can have social costs

Researchers and lay people alike have tended to focus on social benefits of expressing positive emotion and, as a result, tend to overlook potential social costs. In this paper, we consider limits to the idea that expressing positive emotion is universally beneficial and review literature demonstrating that, in some contexts, expressing positive emotion can have social costs. Building on our own and others’ work in this space, we outline three sociocontextual factors that influence the social success of positive emotion expression: To avoid potential costs, we suggest that positive emotion should generally be expressed in the right situation, by (and to) the right person, and in the right way. Where positive emotion expression may incur social costs, we propose people can effectively down-regulate positive emotion through use of expressive suppression, and review literature demonstrating that there can be social benefits to down-regulating positive emotion. This review advances theorising on the importance of considering context when seeking to understand socially successful emotion expression and regulation.     

Rats are sensitive to ambiguity

In the present study, we investigated response decisions made under conditions of incomplete information in rats. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on either a positive patterning (PP; A-, B-, AB+) or a negative patterning (NP; A+, B+, AB-) instrumental lever-press discrimination. Subjects that had learned an NP discrimination responded less to Cue A when Cue B was covered at test. The cover did not, however, affect test responses to Cue A in the PP condition. In Experiment 2, rats received concurrent training on both PP and NP discriminations. After concurrent training, responses to Cue A were different with B covered versus uncovered for both NP and PP discriminations. We discuss possible accounts for why exposure to a nonlinearly soluble discrimination (NP) may have affected sensitivity to cue ambiguity produced by the cover. These results have interesting implications for representational processes engaged in problem solving.     

The link between statistical segmentation and word learning in adults

Many studies have shown that listeners can segment words from running speech based on conditional probabilities of syllable transitions, suggesting that this statistical learning could be a foundational component of language learning. However, few studies have shown a direct link between statistical segmentation and word learning. We examined this possible link in adults by following a statistical segmentation exposure phase with an artificial lexicon learning phase. Participants were able to learn all novel object-label pairings, but pairings were learned faster when labels contained high probability (word-like) or non-occurring syllable transitions from the statistical segmentation phase than when they contained low probability (boundary-straddling) syllable transitions. This suggests that, for adults, labels inconsistent with expectations based on statistical learning are harder to learn than consistent or neutral labels. In contrast, a previous study found that infants learn consistent labels, but not inconsistent or neutral labels.     

Cognitive-behaviour therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: comparison of outcomes within and outside the confines of a randomised controlled trial

Outcomes for cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have rarely been compared to those in routine clinical practice. Taking the case of CBT for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we evaluated the results of a successful RCT against those of the same treatment given in the same setting as part of routine practice. Fatigue and social adjustment scores were compared for patients who received CBT for CFS as part of a RCT (N=30) and patients who received CBT as part of everyday clinical practice (N=384). The results in the RCT were superior to those in routine clinical practice. Between pre-treatment and 6-month follow-up, the RCT showed a larger reduction in fatigue and greater improvement in social adjustment than those in routine treatment. The changes in fatigue scores were similar for both groups during treatment but were greater in the RCT between post-treatment and follow-up. Potential reasons for the superior results of the RCT include patient selection, therapist factors and the use of a manualised treatment protocol. Practitioners need to pay particular attention to relapse prevention and ensuring adequate follow-up in addition to encouraging patients to continue with cognitive-behavioural strategies once treatment has ended.     

Rumination-focused cognitive behaviour therapy for residual depression: a case series

The treatment of chronic and recurrent depression is a priority for the development of new interventions. The maintenance of residual symptoms following acute treatment for depression is a risk factor for both chronic depression and further relapse/recurrence. This open case series provides the first data on a cognitive-behavioural treatment for residual depression that explicitly targets depressive rumination. Rumination has been identified as a key factor in the onset and maintenance of depression, which is found to remain elevated following remission from depression. Fourteen consecutively recruited participants meeting criteria for medication--refractory residual depression [Paykel, E.S., Scott, J., Teasdale, J.D., Johnson, A.L., Garland, A., Moore, R. et al., 1999. Prevention of relapse in residual depression by cognitive therapy--a controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry 56, 829-835] were treated individually for up to 12 weekly 60-min sessions. Treatment specifically focused on switching patients from less helpful to more helpful styles of thinking through the use of functional analysis, experiential/imagery exercises and behavioural experiments. Treatment produced significant improvements in depressive symptoms, rumination and co-morbid disorders: 71% responded (50% reduction on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) and 50% achieved full remission. Treating depressive rumination appears to yield generalised improvement in depression and co-morbidity. This study provides preliminary evidence that rumination-focused CBT may be an efficacious treatment for medication--refractory residual depression.     

Violence in College Students' Dating Relationships1

In a survey of 504 college students examining predictors of violence in heterosexual relationships, over half of both men and women had committed at least one physically violent act, and men more often than women reported having been the victims of such acts. Most respondents who reported some experience with violence had both committed and received it, were involved in relatively few different types of violence, and first experienced violence when a relationship had moved beyond the casual dating stage. Modest associations between physical violence and sexual aggression were uncovered. In a series of discriminant analyses, men who abused their partners were not readily distinguished from men who did not, but tended to be young, low in family income, traditional in attitudes toward women, abused as children, currently living with a woman, and from Appalachian areas. Women who abused were more readily discriminated and scored low in social desirability, were abused as children, and were from non-Appalachian areas. Men who were abused were likely to be living with a woman and tended to be low in family income; similarly, cohabitation was related among women to being a target of violence, as were having been abused as a child and scoring low in social desirability. Findings are related to those of other studies of dating abuse, as well as to the family violence and aggression literatures.     

Infant state in relation to its environmental context

Two neonatal intensive care units (NICU) were observed every 15 minutes for at least 72 consecutive hours. Although infants on both NICUs were exposed to considerable amounts of stimulation, there were differences between the units for each environmental measure in the amount of stimulation and/or the pattern of circadian periodicity. The two NICUs also differed in the amount of time infants spent in various states and in the pattern of state periodicity. In general, the diurnal rhythms of the infant states were associated with the diurnal rhythms of different environmental events; furthermore, the patterns of association were not the same on the two NICUs. The results point to potential problems in depicting a “typical” NICU. More importantly, they suggest that the environmental of NICUs has a recognizable influence on aspects of their inhabitants' behavior and that the nature of influence is different from NICU to NICU. The effects are potentially significant for physical, social, and cognitive development.