How beliefs influence the relative magnitude of pleasure and pain

Loss aversion is an economic assumption about utility—people value giving up a good more than they value getting it. It also has hedonic meaning—the pain of a loss is greater in magnitude than the pleasure of a comparable gain. But value and pleasure are not necessarily identical. We test the hedonic interpretation of loss aversion in experimental markets. With hedonic forecasts, sellers imagine the pain of losing their endowment, and buyers imagine the pleasure of being endowed. With hedonic experiences, sellers rate the pleasure of having the endowment, and buyers rate the pain of being without it. Contrary to loss aversion, predicted pleasure is greater in magnitude than predicted pain, and experienced pleasure surpasses experienced pain. We show that the relative magnitude of pleasure and pain depends on beliefs about the likelihood of outcomes, as well as utilities. Surprise makes gains more pleasurable and losses more painful. With surprising gains and expected losses, pleasure can surpass pain. But when gains and losses are equally likely (or losses are surprising and gains are expected), the opposite pattern can occur. Finally, within‐group and between‐group prices are significantly correlated with hedonic experiences. Sellers who feel better with their endowments assign higher selling prices, and buyers who feel worse about the absence of endowment assign higher buying prices. Despite the fact that hedonic experiences deviate from loss aversion, these emotions predict the endowment effect. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

偶然情绪对延迟选择的影响机制

本研究旨在探讨偶然情绪对延迟选择的影响及影响机制。本研究包括两个实验, 在被试进行决策前, 分别采用图片和短片诱发其与当前决策任务无关的偶然情绪, 然后要求被试完成选择任务, 并从决策结果和决策过程两个角度考察偶然情绪对延迟选择的影响及影响机制。结果发现, 当可选项中不存在1个优势选项时, 与正性情绪相比, 个体在负性情绪下会更倾向于延迟选择, 而个体对决策信息的加工深度在偶然情绪对延迟选择的影响中具有中介作用。这可能是因为相比于正性情绪, 个体在负性情绪下会采用更深入的加工策略, 增加了决策难度, 进而提高了个体的延迟选择倾向。     

偶然情绪对决策的影响

情绪在决策领域中的引入曾历经过一个从刻意回避到日益重视的过程, 大量研究表明, 即使与决策本身无关的偶然情绪也会对人类的决策行为具有重要作用。本文通过梳理本领域的最新研究提出未来应注重考察：偶然情绪的影响条件、具体情绪的作用以及偶然情绪与可选项的情感属性对决策的交互影响。最后, 本文在情绪激发方法、情绪的操纵检测和决策任务实测等方面进行了总结并提出一点研究建议。     

亲环境行为研究中情感的类别、维度及其作用机理

从近20年来境外学者对亲环境行为的研究文献看, 情感的作用越来越受到关注。一个大致结论是, 情感对亲环境行为的影响往往大于认知, 有更重要的驱动作用。首次对境外学者的情感与亲环境行为研究进行了梳理和回顾。在亲环境行为研究中, 情感的类别和维度有4种划分标准, 即呈现形态、体验结构、时间维度和责任归属; 情感对亲环境行为的作用机理可以通过情感因素在亲环境行为模型中的三种角色加以分析; 情感在规范激活模型和计划行为理论模型的拓展中扮演了重要角色, 有效提升了拓展模型的解释力。未来研究需要更重视情感在亲环境行为中的测量范式、研究深度和动态影响机制。     

诱发的积极情绪会促进多媒体学习吗?

近来, 教育心理学领域开始关注情绪因素对多媒体学习的影响, 其中诱发情绪逐渐成为研究者关注的指导设计形式。已有研究主要通过外部情绪诱发和内部情绪设计来考察诱发的积极情绪在学习过程中的作用, 并发现外部情绪诱发和内部情绪设计能够成功诱发积极情绪, 但由于情绪诱发方式的多样性和多媒体学习过程的复杂性, 诱发的积极情绪对学习效果的促进作用比较微弱。综述发现, 7项涉及外部情绪诱发的实验在学习结果上产生的效应量中值分别为d_保持 = -0.25, d_理解 = 0.04, d_迁移 = 0.30; 14项涉及内部情绪设计的实验在学习结果上产生的效应量中值分别为d_保持 = 0.27, d_理解 = 0.36, d_迁移 = 0.29。诱发的情绪对学习过程的主观体验影响很小。多媒体学习认知情感理论认为诱发的积极情绪会通过动机的中介作用进而促进学习; 相反, 认知负荷理论认为诱发的积极情绪会增加学习者的外在认知负荷从而阻碍学习。未来研究仍需关注情绪的操纵方法、效果评定以及潜在调节变量的作用等。     

Social learning modulates the lateralization of emotional valence

Although neuropsychological studies of lateralization of emotion have emphasized valence (positive vs. negative) or type (basic vs. complex) dimensions, the interaction between the two dimensions has yet to be elucidated. The purpose of the current study was to test the hypothesis that recognition of basic emotions is processed preferentially by the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), whereas recognition of complex social emotions is processed preferentially by the left PFC. Experiment 1 assessed the ability of healthy controls and patients with right and left PFC lesions to recognize basic and complex emotions. Experiment 2 modeled the patient’s data of Experiment 1 on healthy participants under lateralized displays of the emotional stimuli. Both experiments support the Type as well as the Valence Hypotheses. However, our findings indicate that the Valence Hypothesis holds for basic but less so for complex emotions. It is suggested that, since social learning overrules the basic preference of valence in the hemispheres, the processing of complex emotions in the hemispheres is less affected by valence.     

Effects of the premenstrual syndrome on facial expressions of sadness

This study examined the relationship between PMS and emotion-related electromyographic facial activity at different phases of the menstrual cycle. Twenty-four women of reproductive age (12 with PMS, 12 controls) participated in two EMG sessions (T1 and T2) in which they were shown photographic images that can elicit various emotions (IAPS stimuli). T1 took place in the follicular phase, T2 in the luteal phase. The activity of the musculus depressor anguli oris ("depressor", expression of sadness) was measured. Depressor activity was compared to activity of musculus orbicularis oculi ("orbicularis"; expression of joy). ANOVA yielded a significant increase of the activity of the depressor at T2 in the PMS group. The PMS group showed more frequent depressor activity during the luteal than the follicular phase. Orbicularis activity did not change from T1 to T2. Conclusions: The PMS group experienced various visual stimuli in a more depressed way during the luteal phase.     

INCREASING OUR COMPASSION FOOTPRINT: THE ANIMALS' MANIFESTO

Our relationships with animals are wide‐ranging. When people tell me that they love animals and then harm or kill them I tell them I'm glad they don't love me. Many individuals, including scientists, ignore their responsibility when they interact with animals and fail to recognize that doing something in the name of science, which usually means in the name of humans, is not an adequate reason for intentionally causing suffering, pain, or death. “Good welfare” usually is not “good enough”. Existing regulations allow animals to be treated in regrettable ways that demean us as a species. Compassion is the key for bettering both animal and human lives. A good way to make the world a more compassionate place for animals is to increase our compassion footprint. We could begin by deciding that we will not intrude on animals' lives unless our actions are in the best interests of the animals irrespective of our desires. It is simple to make more compassionate choices about what we eat and wear and how we educate students, conduct research, and entertain ourselves at the expense of animals. The time to make these changes is long overdue.     

小学儿童自我意识情绪理解发展及其与亲社会行为、同伴接纳的关系

自我意识情绪理解会影响儿童的社会行为与社会适应。运用自我意识情绪理解情境故事、亲社会行为问卷和社会计量方法,对314名1～6年级小学儿童进行施测,探讨了小学儿童自我意识情绪理解的发展特点及其与亲社会行为、同伴接纳的关系。研究发现:(1)小学儿童自我意识情绪理解水平随着年级的升高而提高,1～3年级提高的较快,3年级以后提高速度变缓。(2)小学儿童的自我意识情绪理解水平与亲社会行为、同伴接纳显著呈正相关,并且自豪的理解和亲社会行为对同伴接纳有显著的预测力,羞愧的理解对亲社会行为有显著的预测力。     

The Role of Communicating Social Emotions Accompanying Apologies in Forgiveness

Apologies are an effective strategy used by transgressors to restore relationships with an injured party. Apologies are often motivated by emotions the transgressor feels in relation to the situation. We report the results of two studies that examined how an injured person's knowledge that an apology was driven by one or more of the social emotions of guilt, shame, and pity affected forgiveness. Findings suggest that the knowledge that guilt and/or shame motivated the apology increased forgiveness. In contrast, knowledge that pity induced the apology decreased forgiveness. These findings are consistent with the view that the communication of emotions has the social function of monitoring and shaping social relationships. We are grateful to the editor and an anonymous reviewer for their most helpful comments and suggestions to earlier versions of this paper.