Integrating Dimensional and Discrete Theories of Emotions: A New Set of Anger- and Fear-Eliciting Stimuli for Children

The selection of appropriate stimuli for inducing specific emotional states has become one of the most challenging topics in psychological research. In the literature there is a lack of affective picture database specifically suited to investigate emotional response in children. Here the authors present the methodology that led us to create a new database (called Anger- and Fear-Eliciting Stimuli for Children) of affective stimuli inducing experiences of 3 target emotions (neutral, anger, and fear) to use in experimental session involving children. A total of 84 children were asked to (a) indicate the perceived emotion and its intensity and (b) rate the three affective dimensions of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). Based on concordance between labeled and expected target emotion, the authors decided to select 15 stimuli to be included in Multivariate modeling techniques were applied to evaluate the association between expected target emotion and SAM ratings. The authors found that the hit rate for the neutral pictures was good (greater than 81%), for fear-eliciting pictures it was greater than 64%, and for anger-eliciting pictures it was moderate (between 45% and 56%). The study results reveal also an age effect only in the arousal scale. However, the authors did not find significant gender-related differences in SAM ratings.     

POST‐BIONIAN DEVELOPMENTS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC FIELD THEORY: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ANTONINO FERRO AND GIUSEPPE CIVITARESE

The Bi‐Personal Field: Experiences in Child Psychoanalysis. By Antonino Ferro. New York: Routledge, 1992 (1999). 232 pp. The Intimate Room: Theory and Technique of the Analytic Field. By Giuseppe Civitarese. New York: Routledge, 2008 (2010). 240 pp. The Necessary Dream: New Theories and Techniques of Interpretation in Psychoanalysis. By Giuseppe Civitarese; translated by Ian Harvey. London: Karnac, 2013 (2014). 246 pp. The Analytic Field and Its Transformations. By Antonino Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese. London: Karnac, 2015. 224 pp.     

James’s theory of emotion and affective turn in psychology / La teoría de las emociones de James y el giro afectivo en psicología

Using William James’s classical theory of the emotions, this article discusses the way the relationship between cognition and emotion are predominantly explained and operationalized in contemporary psychology and neuroscience research. Specific aspects of James’s theory are reconstructed, connecting his more general philosophical framework with arguments about the relationship between subjective experience and the process of corporal change. A review published in the journal Cognition & Emotion (C&E) (2001–11) concludes that almost all its literature is based on the idea of interaction between two different processes, while James suggests that the process of experience is one and the same. Dialogue between these two scenarios facilitates the identification of current research potentialities in terms of mixed-method studies and with emphasis on the temporality of action, overall physiological change, and uniqueness of experience.     

Drawn to danger: trait anger predicts automatic approach behaviour to angry faces

Most people automatically withdraw from socially threatening situations. However, people high in trait anger could be an exception to this rule, and may even display an eagerness to approach hostile situations. To test this hypothesis, we asked 118 participants to complete an approach-avoidance task, in which participants made approach or avoidance movements towards faces with an angry or happy expression, and a direct or averted eye gaze. As expected, higher trait anger predicted faster approach (than avoidance) movements towards angry faces. Crucially, this effect occurred only for angry faces with a direct eye gaze, presumably because they pose a specific social threat, in contrast to angry faces with an averted gaze. No parallel effects were observed for happy faces, indicating that the effects of trait anger were specific to hostile stimuli. These findings suggest that people high in trait anger may automatically approach hostile interaction partners.     

Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery,negative thoughts,and mood-congruent recall

Previous work has shown that a stooped posture may activate negative mood. Extending this work, the present experiments examine how stooped body posture influences recovery from pre-existing negative mood. In Experiment 1 (n?=?229), participants were randomly assigned to receive either a negative or neutral mood induction, after which participants were instructed to take either a stooped, straight, or control posture while writing down their thoughts. Stooped posture (compared to straight or control postures) led to less mood recovery in the negative mood condition, and more negative mood in the neutral mood condition. Furthermore, stooped posture led to more negative thoughts overall compared to straight or control postures. In Experiment 2 (n?=?122), all participants underwent a negative mood induction, after which half received cognitive reappraisal instructions and half received no instructions. Mood-congruent cognitions were assessed through autobiographical memory recall. Again, stooped (compared to straight) position led to less mood recovery. Notably, this was independent of regulation instruction. These findings demonstrate for the first time that posture plays an important role in recovering from negative mood.     

Culture and group-based emotions: could group-based emotions be dialectical?

Group-based emotions are experienced when individuals are engaged in emotion-provoking events that implicate the in-group. This research examines the complexity of group-based emotions, specifically a concurrence of positive and negative emotions, focusing on the role of dialecticism, or a set of folk beliefs prevalent in Asian cultures that views nature and objects as constantly changing, inherently contradictory, and fundamentally interconnected. Study 1 found that dialecticism is positively associated with the complexity of Chinese participants’ group-based emotions after reading a scenario depicting a positive intergroup experience. Study 2 found that Chinese participants experienced more complex group-based emotions compared with Dutch participants in an intergroup situation and that this cultural difference was mediated by dialecticism. Study 3 manipulated dialecticism and confirmed its causal effect on complex group-based emotions. These studies also suggested the role of a balanced appraisal of an intergroup situation as a mediating factor.     

Authenticity: a mediator in the relationship between attachment style and affective functioning

Attachment has been show to exhibit a strong effect on emotional well-being throughout an individual’s lifetime. This study examined individuals’ authenticity as a potential mediating variable in the relationship between insecure attachment and affective functioning. Authenticity was examined from multiple perspectives to better define its role as a mediating variable. Results showed that avoidant attachment is a predictor of affective functioning, and that authenticity acts as a mediating variable in this relationship. Anxious attachment showed no direct relationship with affective functioning, yet evidence was found for an indirect pathway from anxious attachment through authenticity on affective functioning. The differing results by attachment style support Mikulincer, Shaver, and Pereg’s theory suggesting a two-part model of emotional response style, wherein individuals with avoidant attachment deactivate emotion and individuals with anxious attachment show hyper-activation when coping with emotion. The study examines the construct of authenticity and its importance in affective functioning. Implications for therapists working with clients are made that highlight the importance of authentic relationships in therapy and life.     

The ‘Constitutive Thought’ of Regret

In this paper I defend and develop Bernard Williams’ claim that the ‘constitutive thought’ of regret is ‘something like “how much better if it had been otherwise”’. An introductory section on cognitivist theories of emotion is followed by a detailed investigation of the concept of ‘agent-regret’ and of the ways in which the ‘constitutive thought’ might be articulated in different situations in which agents acknowledge casual responsibility for bringing about undesirable outcomes. Among problematic cases discussed are those in which agents have caused harm through no fault of their own, or have been constrained to choose the lesser of two evils or to act against their moral values. R. Jay Wallace’s ‘bourgeois predicament’ and related cases, in which we recognize that our present advantages have flowed from regrettable antecedents, further show that regret is often not a simple emotion, and it is argued that conflicted regrets are sometimes unavoidable. Finally, the paper looks at Descartes’ account of regret as a form of sadness engendered by the recollection of irrecoverable happy experiences, to which the ‘constitutive thought’ does not readily apply. It is suggested that what Descartes is discussing is a different genre of emotion for which ‘nostalgia’ might be a better name.     

Episodic emotions of Tshivenda cultural community mothers towards their adolescent children’s pregnancies

This study explored Tshivenda mothers’ emotional reactions to the learning of unplanned pregnancies of their adolescent daughters. Ten purposively selected mothers with early parent adolescent children were informants (age range = 40 to 55 years). They responded to semi-structured face-to-face interviews on their reactions to the learning of the pregnancies of their daughters. The interview data were thematically analysed. Findings suggest the mothers experienced anger and embarrassment, objective and subjective burdens supporting their early parent daughter, and fears for the health of their mother-to-be daughters. The mothers reported to cope with pregnancy of their daughters by religion supplication, acceptance and social support, as well as open communication with their adolescent daughters about the pregnancies.     

All role transitions are not experienced equally: Associations among self-change,emotional reactions,and self-concept clarity

Individuals experience numerous transitions across various roles during their lives. These role transitions can be disruptive to the way individuals view their identity, and thus their well-being; however, role transitions do not affect all individuals equally. Therefore, in the current work, we focused on two factors which may influence self-concept clarity and explain differential experiences following role transitions. We tested the relationship between the amount of self-change and positive emotions in reaction to a role transition predicting self-concept clarity, including both role entries (e.g. parenthood/new relationships, Studies 1–4) and role exits (e.g. divorce/job loss, Studies 3 and 4). Across several studies and all role transitions, we found that among individuals who experienced low levels of positive emotions after a role transition, greater self-change predicted reduced self-concept clarity. Among individuals who experienced higher levels of positive emotionality, this association did not emerge.