Evoking ‘A Keen Sense of Life— A Violent Belief in our Existence’: Emotion and Thought in Katherine Mansfield

Research on residents’ attitudes toward tourism suggests an exchange relationship between perceived tourism impact and support among residents. However, there is limited knowledge about the cognitive processes through which such a relationship occurs. This study demonstrates the potential utility of integrating cognitive appraisal and social exchange theories to explain the cognitive process linking perceived tourism impact, quality of life, and residents’ support for tourism. We used a survey of residents of Klamath and Linn Counties in the state of Oregon, United States, to obtain data from a random sample of 782 respondents. Using a structural equation modeling approach, we tested three competing theoretical models: the social exchange baseline model, the cognitive appraisal model, and a model integrating both theories. Results suggest that conceptual integration of social exchange and cognitive appraisal theories potentially improves the prediction of residents’ support for tourism. Results also suggest that positive tourism attributes and positive affective emotions can play vital roles in the cognitive processes determining residents’ support for tourism. We discuss the implications of these findings for future tourism research.

PurposeConsumption situations can be emotionally charged. Identifying the cause(s) of emotions has clear practical import to the understanding of consumer behaviour. Cognitive appraisal theory serves this purpose; however, a consensus has not yet emerged concerning terminology, number of relevant concepts and concomitant construct measurements, and theoretical linkages between constructs. This paper attempts to rectify this shortcoming.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper provides an extant review of emotions literature as it pertains to cognitive appraisals and consumption behaviours. Based on this review an integrative cognitive appraisal theory is advanced that is parsimonious and incorporates similarities across the various appraisal theory perspectives to date.FindingsFour appraisals are proffered that appear capable of implicating specific emotions and their effects on consumer behaviour. The appraisals advanced are outcome desirability that encompasses pleasantness and goal consistency, agency which includes responsibility and controllability, fairness, and certainty. Sample propositions concerning how cognitive appraisals affect information processing extensiveness have also been provided.Originality/valueFirst, the paper provides an extant review of cognitive appraisal theories of emotions, which makes transparent the looseness in terminology and differences in theoretical perspectives that currently exist. Second, based on this review the paper advances a unifying theory of consumption appraisals and explore their relevance to marketers. The theory proposed could explain inconsistent findings in the current literature. Third, directions for future research highlighting confounds that should be considered in study designs complete the paper.

The entrepreneurial firms may be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms are also threatened by the revenues decline and business failure, which vehemently affect their well-being. The mental health of the entrepreneur decides whether the entrepreneurial firms can make the right decision, which is related to the healthy development of the entrepreneurial firms. Based on the event system theory and the cognitive appraisal theory, this paper aims to explore the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety, and the threat perception and performance pressure are introduced to investigate the mediating mechanism and boundary of this effect. Using the simple random sampling to obtain questionnaire survey data, 168 entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms have participated in the empirical study, and the research results are as follows. First, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly positively affects entrepreneur anxiety. Second, the entrepreneur threat perception plays a mediating role between the COVID-19 pandemic and the entrepreneur anxiety, which means the COVID-19 pandemic can enhance the external threat perception of entrepreneurs, and then affect the entrepreneur anxiety. Third, the positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety is strengthened by the entrepreneur performance pressure, while the positive effect of entrepreneur threat perception on entrepreneur anxiety is weakened by the entrepreneur performance pressure. The above findings are helpful to explore the mechanism of the COVID-19 pandemic and other critical crisis events on entrepreneurs' mental health from the new perspective of cognitive appraisal theory and event system theory, filling the research gaps between the COVID-19 pandemic and entrepreneur anxiety. Besides, this study broadens the applied range of the cognitive appraisal theory and the event system theory in the fields of crisis situations and entrepreneur research, and enriches the research outputs. Furthermore, this study will help provide a new theoretical analysis insight for the related research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects entrepreneurs' psychology, and further deepen researchers to understand the mechanism of entrepreneur anxiety under the COVID-19 pandemic, providing theoretical inspirations for reducing entrepreneur anxiety. What's more, this study finds that individual pressure can affect their cognitive appraisal, which means that future research should take the pressure influential mechanism into consideration in the process of exploring "external stimulus--cognitive appraisal--emotional response," further expanding the theoretical model of cognitive appraisal proposed from the perspective of pressure.

Based on cognitive appraisal theory, this research explores the internal mechanism of stimulating the cognitive and emotional responses of backers by manipulating project innovation and information transparency of fundraisers in the context of reward-based crowdfunding, thereby inducing backers’ impulsive support. In this study, a 2×2 inter-group experiment was designed and a structural equation model was established, which was tested with 236 backers participating in reward-based crowdfunding events as a data sample. The results show that project innovation and information transparency of fundraisers are significantly positively correlated with the backers’ cognitive appraisal of situational state, which in turn affects the backers’ positive emotion of joy and induces their impulsive support. At the same time, they are considered to be the direct cause of the impulsive support of backers.

PurposeWith the rapid growth of the Internet and the wide acceptance of e-commerce, online impulse buying is rising; however, the consumer motivation to buy impulsively within the digital setting calls for continuous exploration. Through the lens of cognitive appraisal theory, the authors aim to explore the relevance of web quality factors (cognitive processes) and hedonism (emotional response) for online impulse buying in the cross-cultural context of India and Croatia. The study also attempts to investigate the varying effects of sales promotion and payment options (cognitive processes) on the relationship between hedonism and online impulse buying.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers in the present study have adapted the refined eTailQ scale along with factors like hedonism, sales promotion and payment options determining impulse buying—the measurement instrument comprised of a highly structured questionnaire covering consumers' attitudes and opinions regarding the explored concepts. A total of 526 responses were generated in the data collection process, wherein 264 were from India and 262 were from Croatia.FindingsThe results reveal that not all web quality determinants affect impulse buying similarly. Web informativeness significantly, but negatively, impacts impulse buying only regarding Croatian consumers, while customer service influences impulse buying in the Indian market. Web layout and privacy do not influence impulse buying. However, besides hedonism's direct impact on impulse buying in both countries, the results show that the influences of web layout and privacy on impulse buying are mediated via hedonism. Given the varying effects, this study shows that, unlike the payment options, only sales promotion represents a significant moderator that enhances the relationship between hedonism and impulse buying in both countries.Originality/valueThis study utilises cognitive appraisal theory to compare the effects in two countries through cognitive appraisals, emotional responses, and situational factors for explaining online impulse buying behaviour. The study also offers practical managerial implications.

Cognitive appraisal theories, which link human emotional experience to their interpretations of events happening in the environment, are leading approaches to model emotions. Cognitive appraisal theories have often been used both for simulating “real emotions” in virtual characters and for predicting the human user’s emotional experience to facilitate human–computer interaction. In this work, we investigate the computational modeling of appraisal in a multi-agent decision-theoretic framework using Partially Observable Markov Decision Process-based (POMDP) agents. Domain-independent approaches are developed for five key appraisal dimensions (motivational relevance, motivation congruence, accountability, control and novelty). We also discuss how the modeling of theory of mind (recursive beliefs about self and others) is realized in the agents and is critical for simulating social emotions. Our model of appraisal is applied to three different scenarios to illustrate its usages. This work not only provides a solution for computationally modeling emotion in POMDP-based agents, but also illustrates the tight relationship between emotion and cognition—the appraisal dimensions are derived from the processes and information required for the agent’s decision-making and belief maintenance processes, which suggests a uniform cognitive structure for emotion and cognition.

Cognitive appraisals and individual differences in sense of humor: Motivational and affective implications

Cognitive appraisal theories of stress and emotion propose that cognitive appraisals precede physiological responses, whereas peripheralist theories propose that physiological arousal precedes cognitive processes. Three studies examined this issue regarding threat and challenge responses to potential stress. Study 1 supported cognitive appraisal theory by demonstrating that threat and challenge cognitive appraisals and physiological responses could be elicited experimentally by manipulating instructional set. Studies 2 and 3, in contrast, found that manipulations of physiological response patterns consistent with challenge and threat did not result in corresponding changes in cognitive appraisal. Appraisals in Study 3, however, were related to subjective pain independent of the physiological manipulation. These studies suggest a central role for cognitive appraisal processes in elicitation of threat and challenge responses to potentially stressful situations.

Cognitive appraisal theories of stress and emotion propose that cognitive appraisals precede physiological responses, whereas peripheralist theories propose that physiological arousal precedes cognitive processes. Three studies examined this issue regarding threat and challenge responses to potential stress. Study 1 supported cognitive appraisal theory by demonstrating that threat and challenge cognitive appraisals and physiological responses could be elicited experimentally by manipulating instructional set. Studies 2 and 3, in contrast, found that manipulations of physiological response patterns consistent with challenge and threat did not result in corresponding changes in cognitive appraisal. Appraisals in Study 3, however, were related to subjective pain independent of the physiological manipulation. These studies suggest a central role for cognitive appraisal processes in elicitation of threat and challenge responses to potentially stressful situations.

Based on social cognitive theory and stress cognitive appraisal theory, this paper explores the relationship between leadership creativity rejection and employee transgressive innovation. Leadership creativity rejection is a common phenomenon in the process of organizational innovation, but the mechanism of its influence on employees' innovative behavior has not been fully revealed. Social cognitive theory emphasizes that individual behavior is influenced by observational learning and self-efficacy, while the cognitive appraisal theory of stress states that an individual's cognitive appraisal of a stressful event determines his or her emotional and behavioral responses. This study argues that leadership creativity rejection, as a stressful event, triggers different cognitive appraisals and emotional responses from employees, which in turn affects their transgressive innovation behavior.

The present study investigated how tourists engage with destination stimuli to construct emotional connections with a place. Guided by Lazarus' cognitive appraisal theory (CAT), this interpretive qualitative study adopted a constructivist paradigm and hybrid thematic analysis to explore emotional experiences in a Chinese slow tourism (ST) context. The present study identified five types of stimuli, namely, the built environment, the natural environment, the social environment, events and products, and the brand-related effect, underpinning three emotional connections, namely, temporal-spatial reconstruction, healing, and anti-consumerism. Emotion was viewed as an active, meaning-making process rather than a passive reaction. The present study challenges the conventional interpretation of emotion as a static psychological state by reconceptualising the core concept of "slowness" in ST as a subjective appraisal shaped by cognitive and emotional engagement. It offers an analytical framework for emotion-oriented tourism research by linking the identification of inductive stimuli with cognitive appraisals. The present study also highlights strategies prioritising authentic restoration, tourist-led storytelling, and community co-governance, offering an alternative to branding and top-down management.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes an integral part of organizational operations, collaboration between humans and AI is transforming employees' work experiences and behavioral patterns. This study examines the psychological challenges and coping responses associated with such collaboration. Drawing on Cognitive Appraisal Theory, we construct and test a theoretical framework that connects employee-AI collaboration to knowledge hiding via job insecurity, while considering AI trust as a moderating variable. Data were collected through a three-wave time-lagged survey of 348 employees working in knowledge-intensive enterprises in China. The empirical results demonstrate that (1) employee-AI collaboration elevates perceptions of job insecurity; (2) job insecurity fosters knowledge-hiding behavior; (3) job insecurity mediates the link between collaboration and knowledge hiding; and (4) AI trust buffers the positive effect of collaboration on job insecurity, thereby reducing its indirect impact on knowledge hiding. These findings reveal the paradoxical role of AI collaboration: although it enhances efficiency, it may also provoke defensive reactions that inhibit knowledge exchange. By highlighting the role of AI trust in shaping employees' cognitive appraisals, this study advances understanding of how cognitive appraisals influence human adaptation to intelligent technologies. Practical insights are offered for managers aiming to cultivate trust-based and psychologically secure environments that promote effective human-AI collaboration and organizational innovation.

Background and objectives Examination anxiety is a common occurrence, and is potentially detrimental to student attainment. In recent theorizing, it has been suggested that cognitive appraisals, as put forth in cognitive appraisal theory, and irrational beliefs, as put forth in rational emotive behavior therapy, may interact to predict affectivity. The current research examines the antecedents and associates of examination affect and academic self-concept in undergraduate students. Design A preliminary study applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the factor structure of an irrational beliefs inventory. Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional and correlational approach to testing core theoretical assumptions. Study 2 took a two-wave longitudinal and path analytical approach to examine temporal effects between target variables. Method All self-report data collection took place in the United Kingdom with university students. We recruited n = 1150, n = 362, n = 662 for preliminary, study 1, and study 2, respectively. Results Across studies, data indicated that a pattern of adaptive cognitive appraisal was associated with more advantageous affectivity, and better academic self-concept. Conclusions Reciprocal temporal relationships were revealed between many variables, supporting an interactive and bidirectional view of how cognition and affect are related pertaining to examination anxiety.

This study examines how teacher digital technology anxiety influences digital literacy development through cognitive appraisal mechanisms. Employing a three-wave longitudinal design spanning one academic year, we surveyed 1,247 in-service teachers across urban, suburban, and rural schools in China at six-month intervals. Cross-lagged panel modeling revealed that digital technology anxiety significantly predicted subsequent decreases in digital literacy development, with this relationship demonstrating temporal precedence over reverse pathways. Mediation analyses grounded in cognitive appraisal theory indicated that approximately 65% of anxiety’s total effect operated through interpretive mechanisms, specifically threat appraisals and resource appraisals, which subsequently shaped coping strategies. Teachers experiencing heightened anxiety more readily interpreted technological demands as threatening to professional competence while perceiving fewer available coping resources, ultimately constraining skill acquisition. These findings extend cognitive appraisal theory into technology acceptance contexts and illuminate affective-cognitive mechanisms often overlooked in digital literacy development models. Practical implications suggest multilevel interventions targeting cognitive reappraisal training, resource provision, and psychologically safe organizational environments to support teachers’ digital professional development.

Users’ negative emotions are crucial in human-computer interactions with healthcare decision support systems, as they affect mental well-being and the success of artificial intelligence (AI) medical services. However, this emotional aspect remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap through an empirical investigation in China (n = 603), where AI-powered healthcare is rapidly growing. By extending cognitive appraisal theory (CAT), we develop a framework to examine relationships among users’ negative emotions, cognitive appraisals, and their antecedents. The framework is tested using Partial-Least-Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Artificial-Neural-Network (ANN) analyses. The results show that cognitive appraisals differ in importance when triggering users’ negative emotions, including sadness, frustration, dislike, fear, and anger. The findings also indicate that cognitive appraisals are shaped by perceived usefulness, ease of use, social influence, facilitating conditions, habitual experience, hedonic value, and monetary value in AI agent-based medical consultation services. These findings contribute to future research on AI healthcare adoption and provide practical insights for policymakers and practitioners. They also help address psychological barriers to innovative services and support the broader integration of AI agents into healthcare systems for societal benefit.