Sender repertoires of pure and blended facial expressions of emotion

Six actors attempted to communicate by facial expression seven assumedly basic emotions (pleasure, surprise, fear, hate, sorrow, disgust and interest), and all pairwise blends, e.g., fear+sorrow. One hundred and eighty-two subjects (divided into groups as to the six actors) judged pictures of these emotions by three methods: (1) mapping, placing the pictures on coordinate systems with denotated axes, (2) identification and (3) sorting similar emotions into the same pile, followed by multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses. Recognition of the emotions was fairly good, though not equally good for all emotions and their blends; also the actors' ability to express emotions varied. Emotions of opposite hedonic tone did not blend well. Interest seemed to lend poignancy to the basic emotion with which it was blended rather than to constitute an emotion in itself. Expressions seemed to be more easily identified if the actor did not try to feel the emotion too deeply.     

Interaction of asthmatics and their spouses: A preliminary study of individual differences

Some asthmatics show evidence of airways reactivity triggered by strong emotions. Six case studies of married patients with severe asthma are reported. The videotaped interactions of the asthmatic and his/her spouse were coded for affect and behavior. Repeated measures of pulmonary function and affective state were recorded before and after two interaction tasks. Over the course of the experimental period, two patients' pulmonary function improved and four patients' deteriorated. In general, decreased pulmonary function was associated with more self-rated hostility and depression. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the intra- and interpersonal factors that are important in asthma management.     

Changes in Cognitions, Emotions, and Behaviors in Depressed Patients and Their Spouses Following Marital Cognitive Therapy, Traditional Cognitive Therapy, Pharmacotherapy, and No Intervention

This study evaluated specific influences of a cognitive marital treatment (CMT) for depression based on an integration of cognitive theory of depression and systems theory. The effects of CMT on variables representing cognitions, emotions, and behaviors were compared with the effects of traditional cognitive therapy (CT), pharmacotherapy (PT), and no treatment (NT). Subjects were Major Depression Disorder and Dysthymic outpatients and their spouses. The changes considered were for pre–post treatment and pre-treatment–follow-up. CMT affected a wider range of variables than other treatments. In most instances it was also superior to the NT condition. Most of the gains were manifested at termination and lasted through follow-up. The variables affected by CMT were patients' and spouses' cognitions and emotions. PT had best effects on patients' emotions. CT affected patients' cognitions, but did not achieve superiority on any of the compared variables. None of the treatments produced significant changes in behaviors.     

The Contribution of Music to Positive Aging: A Review

Many people value music as an important part of their everyday lives. The published literature reveals that the role of music in life is varied: it can be recreational, educational, social, emotional, therapeutic, and spiritual. The importance and relevance of music depends on the life needs and interests of the individual and the social group within which he/she lives. It is now widely recognized that music for many older people is crucial in supporting a sense of well-being. The article reviews the evidence on the role of music in promoting health and well-being, and how it can produce positive psychological and physiological benefits for individuals. The aim of this article is to increase awareness among health professionals of the importance of music and discuss how it can be used to add to older people's lives.     

Role of third parties in conflicts among Colombian children and early adolescents

Research on children's peer conflicts has focused almost exclusively on the conflicts' main parties. This study investigated the role played by third parties of those conflicts. During interviews, 56 participants (ages 8.0 to 14.5) living in poor and violent neighborhoods in urban Colombia narrated 128 recent conflicts they had with, or observed among, peers. Third parties were present in 73%, and actively involved in 65%, of the conflicts. Most commonly, peers supported one side, teachers used repressive means to promote settlements, and parents took over their children's conflicts. Virtually all the participants mentioned ways of promoting a settlement, but only a fraction used them in actual conflicts. Mediation was absent among peer or adult third parties. Third parties' emotions were less intense than those of main parties, suggesting that it might be easier for bystanders to use cognitive capacities acquired through educational interventions promoting peaceful relationships. Aggr. Behav. 31:40–55, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Reasonable Partiality from a Biological Point of View

Speculation about the evolutionary origins of morality has yet to show how a biologically based capacity for morality might be connected to moral reasoning. Applying an evolutionary approach to three kinds of cases where partiality may or may not be morally reasonable, this paper explores a possible connection between a psychological capacity for morality and processes of wide reflective moral equilibrium. The central hypothesis is that while we might expect a capacity for morality to include aspects of partiality, we might also expect these same aspects of the capacity to produce systemic forms of performance-based error. Understanding these errors helps point the way toward a theory of moral competence that includes aspects of both partiality and impartiality.     

Another Search for the “Hot” Cognitions: Appraisal, Irrational Beliefs, Attributions, and Their Relation to Emotion

One study examined the hypothesized status of appraisal and irrational beliefs relative to attributions, as proximal antecedents of emotion. In our study, which looked at 4 pairs of functional and dysfunctional negative emotions (i.e., concern/anxiety, sadness/depression, remorse/guilt, annoyance/anger), undergraduates (N = 120) reported on their attributions, appraisal, irrational beliefs, and emotions during past encounters associated with various negative events. Congruent with both Smith and Lazarus' (1993) appraisal theory and Ellis' (1994) cognitive theory of emotion, the results of this study indicate that the emotions (both functional and dysfunctional negative emotions) were more directly associated with appraisal and with irrational beliefs (dysfunctional negative emotions only) than they were with attributions. Also, irrational beliefs were strongly associated with appraisal; while demandingness (DEM) was associated more with primary appraisal, awfulizing/catastrophizing, low frustration tolerance, and global evaluation of human worth (including self-downing) were associated more with secondary appraisal. Dysfunctional emotions seem to involve primary appraisal associated with DEM while functional emotions involve primary appraisal associated with preferences. These findings lend to support the status of appraisal and irrational beliefs as the proximal cognitive antecedents of emotion and the status of irrational beliefs as a differencing factor between functional and dysfunctional emotions.     

Shame expressions reduce the recipient’s insult from outgroup reparations

Despite a growing literature on the consequences of group-based guilt and shame, little work has examined how expressions of self-conscious emotions are received by targets of collective wrongdoing. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that when an outgroup member offers apologies accompanied by reparations, the recipients are likely to take insult unless the outgroup member expresses the self-abasing emotion of shame rather than guilt. Experiment 1 showed that when reparations were offered, participants were less insulted by shame than guilt expressed by an outgroup member, rather than an ingroup member. Experiment 2 improved Experiment 1 by manipulating the culprit’s action (reparation vs. withdrawal), and this experiment replicated Experiment 1’s interaction on a measure of insult, but only when reparations were offered. These interactions on insult were not explained by the emotion’s perceived intensity or surprisingness. Our results indicate a possible functional aspect of expressions of shame in an intergroup context. Self-abasement, as opposed to a mere admission of culpability and regret, can reduce the insult taken from an outgroup’s reparations.     

Personality and the four faces of positive affect: A multitrait-multimethod analysis using self- and peer-report

The present study investigates the relationship between personality and positive affects (contentment, love, interest, and joy). Using multitrait-multimethod analysis and structural equation modeling procedures with self- and peer-report, the authors demonstrated the importance of differentiating between the positive affects. A multidimensional model fitted better than a general-factor model. Concerning the personality–affect relationship, the strongest relations were found between extraversion and both joy and love, agreeableness and love, openness to experiences and interest, and neuroticism and contentment. Thus, results suggest that it is insufficient to concentrate solely on extraversion when investigating the personality–positive affect relationship.     

Procedural justice effects on self-esteem under certainty versus uncertainty emotions

Building upon the idea that procedural justice effects are more pronounced when uncertainty is high, we proposed that recall of an uncertainty-eliciting emotion (fear) will render people more responsive to variations in procedural justice than will recall of a certainty-eliciting emotion (disgust). Results from Study 1, (n = 79 undergraduate students) confirmed that a fair procedure (voice condition) enhanced self-esteem relative to an unfair procedure (no voice condition) to a greater extent when people recalled fear than when they recalled disgust. Results from Study 2 (n = 147 undergraduate students) also showed that a fair, relative to an unfair, procedure enhanced self-esteem more strongly when recalling the emotion of fear rather than disgust, but only when these emotions were recalled from a self-immersed than a self-distanced perspective. These findings confirm that discrete emotions that orient people to interpret situations in uncertain versus certain ways are important antecedents of procedural justice effects.