Affect In Studies Research Articles

Genomic analysis reveals the association of KIT and MITF variants with the white spotting in swamp buffaloes

BackgroundSwamp-type buffaloes with varying degrees of white spotting are found exclusively in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, where spotted buffalo bulls are highly valued in accordance with the Torajan customs. The white spotting depigmentation is caused by the absence of melanocytes. However, the genetic variants that cause this phenotype have not been fully characterized. The objective of this study was to identify the genomic regions and variants responsible for this unique coat-color pattern.ResultsGenome-wide association study (GWAS) and selection signature analysis identified MITF as a key gene based on the whole-genome sequencing data of 28 solid and 39 spotted buffaloes, while KIT was also found to be involved in the development of this phenotype by a candidate gene approach. Alternative candidate mutations included, in addition to the previously reported nonsense mutation c.649 C > T (p.Arg217*) and splice donor mutation c.1179 + 2T > A in MITF, a nonsense mutation c.2028T > A (p.Tyr676*) in KIT. All these three mutations were located in the genomic regions that were highly conserved exclusively in Indonesian swamp buffaloes and they accounted largely (95%) for the manifestation of white spotting. Last but not the least, ADAMTS20 and TWIST2 may also contribute to the diversification of this coat-color pattern.ConclusionsThe alternative mutations identified in this study affect, at least partially and independently, the development of melanocytes. The presence and persistence of such mutations may be explained by significant financial and social value of spotted buffaloes used in historical Rambu Solo ceremony in Tana Toraja, Indonesia. Several de novo spontaneous mutations have therefore been favored by traditional breeding for the spotted buffaloes.

Whether and how to regulate: Emotion regulation in negative-feedback situations.

Emotion-regulation goals are often studied in isolation, despite them typically occurring in the presence of alternative goals. Negative feedback situations offer an intriguing context to study the interplay of emotion-regulation goals (wanting to feel better) and performance goals (wanting to perform better). Across five preregistered online studies (N = 1,087), we investigated emotion-regulation choice (i.e., whether and how to regulate) in feedback situations. Challenging the assumption that the goal to perform better is the focal goal in negative-feedback situations, we show that negative feedback increases the salience of the goal to feel better via negative affect in Studies 1-2. Moving beyond the question of whether people regulate their emotions when they receive negative feedback, we examined how they regulate their emotions in Studies 3-5. Focusing on the relative importance of the goals to feel and to perform better, we found that the goal to perform better but not the goal to feel better influences negative-feedback recipients' emotion-regulation strategy choice. A salient goal to perform better was associated with a preference for reappraisal over distraction. These results have critical implications for the emotion-regulation literature and models of feedback processing from an emotion-regulation perspective. They demonstrate that affect-oriented processes such as emotion regulation operate when people receive negative feedback. They also highlight the importance of studying alternative goals given their relevance for how people regulate their emotions. From a practical standpoint, the findings may help us to better understand why people sometimes fail to perform better following negative feedback. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Impact of Pathological Narcissism on Affect Following Social Rejection

Previous research has shown that narcissism is associated with interpersonal difficulties and maladaptive affective responses to social rejection. In the current studies, the authors examined two phenotypes of pathological narcissism, narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability, and their impact on individuals' affective responses in two distinctive social rejection paradigms. Participants from Study 1 (N = 239), recruited from a multicultural university and Amazon's Mechanical Turk, completed Cyberball, a computerized social rejection paradigm. Participants from Study 2 (N = 238) were recruited from a multicultural university and participated in an in vivo group rejection paradigm in a laboratory. Results indicated that following the rejection in both studies, narcissistic vulnerability positively predicted explicit negative affect and state anger. In addition, the positive relationship between narcissistic vulnerability and explicit negative affect was moderated by greater implicit negative affect in Study 2. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Powered by virtual realities: promoting emotional recovery through technology-based recovery interventions

Previous research indicates that short work breaks in nature can facilitate emotional recovery, but during a workday nature is not always accessible. We conducted two intervention studies (N = 51; N = 101) applying virtual reality technology in a short work break and examined the effect of the degree of immersion into nature and the type of nature (stimulating vs. calming) on the restorative experience and, in turn, on affective states. The results revealed that high immersion promotes being away and perceived fascination. Being away mediated the effect of high immersion on increased positive and decreased negative affect. Perceived fascination mediated the effect of stimulating nature on increased positive affect in both studies and decreased negative affect in Study 2. The present research highlights the unique benefits of virtual realities, degrees of immersion and different types of nature for recovery interventions in organisations. Practitioner Summary: Integrating virtual realities into the work environment is an emerging topic. The present research demonstrates that a short technology-based intervention via virtual reality enhances emotional recovery. The results provide interesting possibilities for the design of work breaks in situations where nature is not within reach or not accessible.

The Impact of Pathological Narcissism on Affect Following Social Rejection.

Previous research has shown that narcissism is associated with interpersonal difficulties and maladaptive affective responses to social rejection. In the current studies, the authors examined two phenotypes of pathological narcissism, narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability, and their impact on individuals' affective responses in two distinctive social rejection paradigms. Participants from Study 1 (N = 239), recruited from a multicultural university and Amazon's Mechanical Turk, completed Cyberball, a computerized social rejection paradigm. Participants from Study 2 (N = 238) were recruited from a multicultural university and participated in an in vivo group rejection paradigm in a laboratory. Results indicated that following the rejection in both studies, narcissistic vulnerability positively predicted explicit negative affect and state anger. In addition, the positive relationship between narcissistic vulnerability and explicit negative affect was moderated by greater implicit negative affect in Study 2. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

Do vegetarians feel bad? Examining the association between eating vegetarian and subjective well-being in two representative samples

Research on the relationship between vegetarianism and subjective well-being (SWB) has produced inconsistent results, which may partly be due to small sample sizes and divergent operationalizations of well-being. For these reasons, the present study aimed to thoroughly examine this association in two large representative samples from Germany (Study 1: N = 12,905, including 665 vegetarians) and Australia (Study 2: N = 15,532, including 383 vegetarians) using a consensual conceptualization of SWB (composed of an affective component, i.e., positive and negative affect, and a cognitive component, i.e., life satisfaction). Results of t-tests showed that vegetarians reported slightly higher scores in negative affect (Study 1 and 2), but also slightly higher levels of satisfaction with health (Study 1 and 2) and life satisfaction (Study 1) compared to meat eaters. No differences emerged regarding positive affect in either study. These differences between vegetarians and meat-eaters in some components of SWB, although significant due to the large sample sizes, are small at best (d around 0.15). Because sex, age, and education were associated with diet type and SWB, analyses controlling for socio-demographic variables were also conducted. In these ANCOVAS, the effect of diet emerged only for one out of the five formerly significant comparisons (negative affect in Study 1, d = 0.09) while the differences between vegetarians and meat eaters in both satisfaction with health and life, as well as the effect on negative affect in Study 2, all became non-significant (d around 0.05). Taken together, the very small effects found in the t-tests for some components of SWB seem to be due to socio-demographic variables, meaning that the true effects of diet on SWB are non-existent or negligible.

Age-related differences in levels and dynamics of workplace affect.

Affective experiences at work are a key contributing factor to long-term job-related well-being and effectiveness, yet may systematically change as workers get older. Given the central role of affect in work settings, it is important to obtain a thorough understanding of older workers' strengths and vulnerabilities in affective functioning. This paper's goal was to comprehensively study age differences in mean levels and dynamics of affect (affect stability, occurrence of positive and negative daily work events, and affective reactivity) and to link these with perceptions of global occupational well-being and effectiveness. In three diary studies, employees of different occupational and cultural backgrounds (Hong Kong Chinese managerial employees, German hospital employees, German office workers) reported daily affective work events and affect across multiple workdays. Higher age was associated with more positive and less negative affect (Study 1), more frequent positive daily work events (Study 2 and 3), and lower variability of negative affect (Study 1 and 2). Age was unrelated to frequency of negative work events and positive event reactivity (all studies). There were mixed age differences in negative event reactivity (lower reactivity in Study 1 and on subtypes of affect in Study 2, but higher worry in Study 3). Several of the indicators of affective experience emerged as mediators of positive age differences in work engagement and self-rated task performance. Overall, with one exception, results point at maintenance or improvement of workers' affective functioning with age. Through improved affective functioning, older workers likely contribute to organizational effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Affect of improve HoLEP and TURP on sexual function and living quality of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objective To study affect of improve holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) and transurethral resection of the prostatic (TURP) on sexual function and living quality of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Methods From January 2015 to January 2017, 124 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who received therapy in our hospital were selected as research objects, were divided into observation group and control group according to different methods, control group was given treatment of TURP, observation group was given improved HoLEP surgical treatment. The operation time, intraoperative blood volume, urinary catheter time, postoperative bladder irrigation time and hospital stay time of two groups were compared. The maximal urine flow rate, residual urine level and international prostate symptom score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL) and international index of erectile function 5 (IIEF-5) scores of the two groups were observed after surgery and at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after operation, the incidence of erectile dysfunction and retrograde ejaculation was observed and the incidence of complications was compared 6-months after operation. Results The intraoper-ative blood volume, urinary catheter time, postoperative bladder irrigation time and hospitalization time were significantly lower than those in the control group(P 0.05), and the maximum urine flow rate of the two groups showed an upward trend at different time points after operation, the maximum urine flow rate in the two groups was higher than that in the control group (P 0.05). The postoperative complications of the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusions Compared with TURP surgery, improved HoLEP in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia can significantly improve the patients quality of life, reduce the postoperative complications, and doesn't increase its influence on postoperative sexual function. Key words: Prostatic Hyperplasia; Transurethral Resection of Prostate; Quality of Life

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Feeding Emotions Scale. A measure of parent emotions in the context of feeding

Assessing parent affect is important because studies examining the parent–child dyad have shown that parent affect has a profound impact on parent–child interactions and related outcomes. Although some measures that assess general affect during daily lives exist, to date there are only few tools that assess parent affect in the context of feeding. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to measure parent affect specific to the feeding context and determine its validity and reliability. A brief instrument consisting of 20 items was developed that specifically asks how parents feel during the feeding process. This brief instrument draws on the structure of a well-validated general affect measure. A total of 296 Hispanic and Black Head Start parents of preschoolers completed the Feeding Emotions Scale along with other parent-report measures as part of a larger study designed to better understand feeding interactions during the dinner meal. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model with independent subscales of positive affect and negative affect (Cronbach's alphas of 0.85 and 0.84, respectively). Concurrent and convergent construct validity was evaluated by correlating the subscales of the Feeding Emotions Scale with positive emotionality and negative emotionality from the Differential Emotions Scale – a measure of general adult emotions. Concurrent and convergent criterion validity was evaluated by testing mean differences in affect across parent feeding styles using ANOVA. A significant difference was found across maternal weight status for positive feeding affect. The resulting validated measure can be used to assess parent affect in studies of feeding to better understand how interactions during feeding may impact the development of child eating behaviors and possibly weight status.

Reflections of affect in studies of information behavior in HIV/AIDS contexts: An exploratory quantitative content analysis

Information seeking and use are critically important for people living with HIV/AIDS and for those who care for people with HIV/AIDS. In addition, the HIV/AIDS context is characterized by significant affective or emotional aspects including stigma, fear, and coping. Thus, studies of information behavior in this context should be expected to take account of emotional variables. In information behavior scholarship, emotional variables have been marginalized in favor of a focus on cognitive aspects, although in recent years greater attention has been paid to the affective realm. This study used quantitative content analysis to explore the degree to which information behavior studies across a range of disciplines actually include affect or emotion in their analyses. Findings suggest that most studies pay little or no attention to these variables, and that attention has not changed over the past 20years. Those studies that do account for emotion, however, provide excellent examples of information behavior research that can lead the way for future work.

Between meaning and mattering: on affect and porn studies

Affect has recently become something of an academic buzzword and a ‘turn to affect’ has been posed as an alternative to the investigations of meaning, representation and identity that have dominated media studies for the past decades. This article explores the implications, motivations and possibilities of such a turn within the framework of porn studies. It asks what may be gained from accounting for affect in studies of pornography, what limitations such investigations may have and how all this may contribute to our understanding of the fleshy appeal and power of pornography.

Norms of valence, arousal, and dominance for 13,915 English lemmas

Information about the affective meanings of words is used by researchers working on emotions and moods, word recognition and memory, and text-based sentiment analysis. Three components of emotions are traditionally distinguished: valence (the pleasantness of a stimulus), arousal (the intensity of emotion provoked by a stimulus), and dominance (the degree of control exerted by a stimulus). Thus far, nearly all research has been based on the ANEW norms collected by Bradley and Lang (1999) for 1,034 words. We extended that database to nearly 14,000 English lemmas, providing researchers with a much richer source of information, including gender, age, and educational differences in emotion norms. As an example of the new possibilities, we included stimuli from nearly all of the category norms (e.g., types of diseases, occupations, and taboo words) collected by Van Overschelde, Rawson, and Dunlosky (Journal of Memory and Language 50:289-335, 2004), making it possible to include affect in studies of semantic memory.

A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationships Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Impulsivity

Two studies examined the correlational relationships between self-reported mindfulness and impulsivity in samples of 347 and 227 university students. Using multidimensional measures of both mindfulness and impulsivity, results from both studies indicate that several aspects of mindfulness are negatively correlated with elements of impulsivity, even after controlling for trait-level negative affect in Study 1 and current general distress in Study 2. However, the relationships between different facets of mindfulness and types of impulsivity varied in strength and significance level. These results suggest that mindfulness skills may be related to the ability to refrain from maladaptive impulsive behavior in the presence of negative affect or distress and that specific mindfulness skills may be most helpful in addressing different types of impulsive behaviors.

Causal Uncertainty and Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Accommodation (Secondary Control)

Causal uncertainty about one's own outcomes (CU-Own) is associated with negative affect, depression, and a lack of perceived primary control. We predicted that accommodation, or secondary control, would act as a psychological buffer for high-CU-Own individuals, reducing negative affect and depression.We tested this hypothesis in two studies: one cross-sectional (Study 1) and one longitudinal (Study 2). Participants completed measures of CU-Own, harmony control, and depression in Study 1 and measures of CU-Own, harmony control, flexible goal adjustment, and negative affect in Study 2. Analyses reveal that the CU-Own-depression and CU-Own-negative affect associations were weaker when harmony control or flexible goal adjustment was high. Additional analyses in Studies 1 and 2 examined the roles played by primary control, locus of control, optimism, pessimism, and causal importance. Implications for the CU and accommodation literatures are discussed.

“To Avoid Evaluation, Withdraw”: Fears of Evaluation and Depressive Cognitions Lead to Social Anxiety and Submissive Withdrawal

We propose a cognitive model of social anxiety-related submission based upon psycho-evolutionary accounts of social anxiety and depression and present results of two studies supporting this model. We tested a confirmatory factor model consisting of three latent lower-order factors (fear of negative evaluation, fear of positive evaluation, and depressive cognitions), all of which load onto a single latent higher-order submissive cognitions factor. In essence, we propose that the symptoms associated with social anxiety and depression (in part) served adaptive functions for coping with social threats in the ancestral environment and that the cognitive symptoms associated with these disorders may function collectively as integrated components of a social anxiety-related submission mechanism. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the hypothesized model fit well. A score derived from the submissive cognitions factor correlated strongly with social anxiety-related measures and less strongly with measures of generalized anxiety/worry in Studies 1 and 2. Furthermore, this submissive cognitions score correlated in the expected direction with self-report measures of social comparison, negative affect, and positive affect in Study 2, and mediational analyses indicated that submissive cognitions may mediate the relationship between social comparison and submissive behaviors. Findings from both studies provide support for the proposed model.

Even Lawyers Get the Blues: Gender, Depression, and Job Satisfaction in Legal Practice

It is an intriguing puzzle that women lawyers, despite less desirable working conditions and blocked career advancement, report similar satisfaction as men lawyers with their legal careers. The paradoxical work satisfaction reported by women and men lawyers obscures a more notable difference in their depressed or despondent feelings. Using a panel study of women and men lawyers practicing in Toronto since the mid-1980s, we find at least three causal pathways through which gender indirectly is connected to job dissatisfaction and feelings of despondency. The first path is through gender differences in occupational power, which lead to differential despondency. The second path is through differences in perceived powerlessness, which directly influence job dissatisfaction. The third path is through feelings of despondency that result from concerns about the career consequences of having children. The combined picture that results illustrates the necessity to include measures of depressed affect in studies of dissatisfaction with legal practice. Explicit measurement and modeling of concerns about the consequences of having children and depressed feelings reveal a highly gendered response of women to legal practice that is otherwise much less apparent. Women are more likely to respond to their professional grievances with internalized feelings of despondency than with externalized expressions of job dissatisfaction. That is, they are more likely to privatize than publicize their professional troubles.

Distinguishing between deservingness and entitlement: earned outcomes versus lawful outcomes

AbstractTwo studies are described that investigated a proposed distinction between deservingness and entitlement. Deservingness was assumed to relate to the evaluative structure of actions and their contingent outcomes and entitlement to an external framework involving rights, rules and social norms. Study 1 investigated reactions to scenarios in which a student running for election in a national student organization exerted either high or low effort, was either eligible or ineligible for election by virtue of age, and was either elected or not elected. Study 2 investigated reactions to a scenario in which a stimulus person suffering from an illness had to decide how much money to leave in a will to a son, nephew, or friend who provided him with either help or limited help. In both studies, student participants (n = 134 in Study 1, n = 236 in Study 2) completed ratings of deservingness and entitlement, as well as other measures. Results of both studies supported the distinction between deservingness and entitlement. Whether an outcome was deserved depended on amount of effort in Study 1 and on amount of help in Study 2. Results are also reported for other justice variables and for reported affect in Study 1, and for the amount allocated in the will in Study 2. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Depression in patients with chronic renal disease: What we know and what we need to know

Depression is a common, but underdiagnosed and understudied problem in patients with renal disease. The overlap between symptoms of chronic medical illness and those of depression make for a particularly challenging diagnosis in this illness. The prevalence of depression varies with the diagnostic tool employed. The gold standard for the psychiatric diagnosis is the interview, using DSM-IV TR criteria. Researchers in the field of renal disease have often not distinguished between the diagnosis of major depression and high levels of depressive affect in studies. There are almost no data regarding the magnitude of depression in patients with chronic renal insufficiency, patients treated with peritoneal dialysis, and children with renal disease, compared with adults with end-stage renal disease treated with hemodialysis. The relationships between age, ethinicity, marital status and satisfaction, and perception of quality of life and level of depressive affect and diagnosis of depression, and medical outcomes have not been determined in patients with renal disease. The mediators which may underlie the deleterious effects of depression in patients with renal disease, and their relationship with stage of renal dysfunction have not been delineated. More emphasis must be placed on well-designed treatment studies and survival analyses in these populations, using longitudinal techniques.

Attentional nonspecificity in depressive and generalized anxious affective states

Separate but parallel lines of theory and research have suggested that heightened self-focused attention is an important factor in both depression and anxiety. While studies have shown increased self-focusing in both of these dysfunctional states, adequate conclusions cannot be drawn because of the high cooccurrence of depressive and anxious affect in studies of this type. The present study separated subjects into depressed and anxious groups and examined levels of self-focused attention on two different measures. Results indicated that both affective states are separately characterized by heightened self-focused attention. These findings suggest conceptual difficulties for theoretical models of either depression or anxiety that separately propose self-focused attention variables as central to these disorders.