Affective Neuroscience Theory Research Articles

Affective super-traits and/or individual patterns: a variable-centered and a person-centered approach of primary emotional aspects of personality.

Theoretical approaches of personality structure are diverse. We examine the primary emotional aspects of personality as the correspondence of two mainstream constructs: the lexically-based Big Five (BIG5) and the biologically-based Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT) within two approaches. In the variable-centered approach (VCA), our aim is to identify affective super-traits; while in the person-centered approach (PCA) to uncover latent profile patterns. 240 participants (177 women, 63 men) completed the 112-item affective neuroscience personality scales (ANPS), and the 44-item Big Five Inventory (BFI). We identified four super-traits: Negative emotions (FEAR, SADNESS, Emotional instability), Positive emotions and stimulation (SEEK, Extraversion), Affiliation and social bonds (reversed ANGER, CARE, Agreeableness), Self-regulation (PLAY, Conscientiousness. Based on the VCA, we conclude that the four super-traits represent two main affective tendencies (Positive emotions and approaching, Negative emotions and avoidance), interpersonal (Affiliation) and intrapersonal (Self-regulation) dynamics of personality. As a result of Latent Profile Analysis in the PCA, we explored three latent groups with different patterns of primary emotional traits based on their responsiveness (Highly emotional, Balanced, Low emotional). Our findings provide a holistic approach to emotional aspects of personality, and might have further implications for clinical psychology, neuroscience, and cross-cultural studies on emotions.

Affective neuroscience theory and attitudes towards artificial intelligence

AbstractArtificial intelligence represents a key technology being inbuilt into evermore products. Research investigating attitudes towards artificial intelligence surprisingly is still scarce, although it becomes apparent that artificial intelligence will shape societies around the globe. To better understand individual differences in attitudes towards artificial intelligence, the present study investigated in n = 351 participants associations between the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) and the Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence framework (ATAI). It could be observed that in particular higher levels of SADNESS were associated with higher negative attitudes towards AI (fearing AI). The findings are discussed in this work from an evolutionary perspective because primary emotional systems—according to Affective Neuroscience Theory—represent tools for survival, which have been homologously conserved across mammalian species including homo sapiens.

Realizing consumers' existential dreams via product marketing and mixed reality: a perspective based on affective neuroscience theories.

In an era of swift societal changes and escalating consumerism, this paper presents an exploration of an innovative approach that integrates product marketing strategies, mixed reality (MR) technology, and affective neuroscience theories to actualize consumers' existential dreams. MR, with its unique capacity to blend the virtual and real worlds, can enhance the consumer experience by creating immersive, personalized environments that resonate with consumers' existential aspirations. Insights from affective neuroscience, specifically the brain's processing of emotions, guide the development of emotionally engaging marketing strategies, which strengthen the connection between consumers, products, and brands. These integrated strategies not only present a novel blueprint for companies to deepen consumer engagement but also promise more fulfilling and meaningful consumer experiences. Moreover, this approach contributes to societal well-being and prosperity, marking a significant stride in the field of marketing.

Linking primary emotional traits to ideological attitudes and personal value types.

The present study aimed at investigating associations of both ideological attitudes and personal value types with the personality traits derived from the Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT). For that, data of N = 626 (n = 403 men, n = 220 women, n = 3 identifying as neither a man nor a woman) participants of an online survey in the German language were analyzed. Relations of primary emotional traits derived from the ANT with Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), and personal value types, such as the higher-order value type dimensions "Conservation-Openness to Change" and "Self-Enhancement-Self-Transcendence", were examined by means of correlational analyses and structural equation modeling. Results revealed among others relations between low SEEKING, high ANGER and high RWA. Low CARE and high ANGER were associated with high SDO. Moreover, FEAR was related to the higher-order value type dimension ranging from Conservation to Openness to Change. ANGER was associated with the higher-order value type dimension ranging from Self-Enhancement to Self-Transcendence. The present results do not only expand knowledge on the personality traits associated with ideological attitudes and personal value types. Beyond this, considering the neuroanatomical, functional, and neurochemical correlates of the primary emotional traits SEEKING, ANGER, CARE, and FEAR, the present results may provide a roadmap for forthcoming studies aiming at examining biological correlates of ideological attitudes and personal value types, such as those works in the field of political neuroscience.

Investigating Primary Emotional Systems and the Big Five of Personality including their relations in patients with major depression and healthy control persons

ABSTRACT This study investigates two concurrent personality theories in the context of depression: Pankseppian affective neuroscience theory (ANT) describes primary emotional systems related to depression, whereas in the five-factor model (FFM), neuroticism is most robustly related with depression. Of note, ANT has been established via neuroscientific cross-mammalian-research, while the FFM belongs to the realm of Big Five personality theory, which has been established by a lexical approach. This study aimed to investigate whether the previously suggested systems or factors in depression within each of these approaches would correspond with depression, and with each other across factors/systems, in a single large sample of patients with major depression (n = 184) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 183). Subjects filled in the NEO-FFI and the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) along with Beck’s Depression Inventory-II. In line with the literature, depressed patients demonstrated higher FEAR/SADNESS and lower SEEKING/PLAY scores when applying ANT. Also consistent with the literature, higher neuroticism scores could be observed in the depressed sample compared to the control sample. Against the background of ANT, we suggest that Panksepp’s FEAR/SADNESS might be the “bottom-up” drivers of the personality trait neuroticism. The present study shows that the observed differences in SEEKING, FEAR, and SADNESS between depressed and healthy control participants are in line with the literature and therefore can be seen as robust. The same is true for the differences in neuroticism between both samples. Finally, we discuss the applicability of the NEO-FFI and ANPS in depression research.

Anxiety-Related Coping Styles and Individual Differences in Primary Emotional Systems Against the Background of Affective Neuroscience Theory: a Study Using Samples from Germany and China

Scientific literature suggests that Neuroticism is an important predictor in understanding individual differences in anxiety-related coping styles such as vigilance (positive association) and cognitive avoidance (negative association). Considering Pankseppian Affective Neuroscience (AN) theory could contribute to understand these relationships more in-depth, because the evolutionary old subcortical brain systems of FEAR, SADNESS, and ANGER might represent brain-anatomical bottom-up drivers of Neuroticism. N = 594 German participants (n = 170 males; mostly student background) and N = 332 Chinese participants (n = 72 males; mostly student background) completed the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) and the Mainz Coping Inventory (Angstbewältigungsinventar; ABI) to assess individual differences in primary emotional traits and anxiety-related coping styles, respectively. As hypothesized, associations between the three emotional systems and the two coping styles cognitive avoidance and vigilance were observed. There were some differences in correlations between the Chinese and German samples, mainly regarding associations between ANGER and cognitive avoidance. Moreover, linear regression analyses revealed FEAR as a main predictor of vigilance (positive) and cognitive avoidance (negative) in the German sample. In the Chinese sample, FEAR was the main predictor of cognitive avoidance (negative), only; for vigilance SADNESS (positive) was the main predictor. Theoretical assumptions behind primary emotional traits indicate that the brain systems underlying FEAR and SADNESS indeed influence anxiety-related coping styles in a bottom-up fashion.

The future of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales: A reflection on seven pressing matters.

The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) were designed to provide researchers in the mental sciences with an inventory to assess primary emotional systems according to Pankseppian Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT). The original ANPS, providing researchers with such a tool, was published in 2003. In the present brief communication, about 20 years later, we reflect upon some pressing matters regarding the further development of the ANPS. We touch upon problems related to disentangling traits and states of the primary emotional systems with the currently available versions of the ANPS and upon its psychometric properties and its length. We reflect also on problems such as the large overlap between the SADNESS and FEAR dimensions, the disentangling of PANIC and GRIEF in the context of SADNESS, and the absence of a LUST scale. Lastly, we want to encourage scientists with the present brief communication to engage in further biological validation of the ANPS.

The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales: Linking the adjective and statement-based inventories with the Big Five Inventory in English and German-speaking samples.

Jaak Panksepp's Affective Neuroscience Theory is of high relevance not only for a better understanding of affective brain disorders but also in personality research. To make Panksepp's theory more accessible for psychologists and psychiatrists, Davis, Panksepp, and Normansell (2003) developed the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS). These scales assess the manifestation of the primary emotional traits in humans based on a personality trait approach. Given their putative foundation in old subcortical areas in the brain, these primary emotional traits (assessed via the ANPS) could represent the evolutionarily oldest manifestations of personality (but this notion is still a matter of a debate). However, the ANPS inventories were based on using contextual items (e.g., about specific attitudes, behaviors, and feelings in specific situations). Recently, an adjective-based ANPS (ANPS-Adjective Ratings or ANPS-AR) was developed for a less context-dependent and more efficient assessment of Panksepp's primary emotional systems in humans for use by both individuals and independent observer raters. The present work introduces the first German version of the ANPS-AR. Moreover, the current work investigates the original and ANPS-AR versions of the ANPS and their associations with the Big Five personality traits in two independent English- and German-speaking samples. The results show that the ANPS measures are very similarly correlated with the Big Five personality traits across different samples and scales. This work replicates the previous findings in an English version, and demonstrates the reliability and validity of the adjective-based German ANPS-AR.

Discussing digital technology overuse in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: On the importance of considering Affective Neuroscience Theory

IntroductionDuring the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown/social distancing, many scientists pointed towards the problem of increased digital technology overuse in both children and adolescents. MethodsAlthough a review of the literature shows that digital technology overuse in youth represents an important topic to be studied itself (during the pandemic and afterwards), the present work also takes into account findings from Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT). ResultsAn investigation of digital overuse while the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond) against the background of ANT calls for a shift of perspective in research, at least as an important supplement to research efforts querying the actual nature of digital overuse. In the present work, we argue that it is high time to more comprehensively address why children spend too much time with screens and to also highlight the indirect media effects of screen time use (e.g. less mammalian rough and tumble PLAY time outside and elevated SADNESS due to parental neglect). ConclusionsIn sum, insights from ANT are put forward to guide research shedding light on detrimental aspects of too much screen time in youth.

Structural equation modeling of the associations between amygdala activation, personality, and internalizing, externalizing symptoms of psychopathology.

There is an expanding literature on the theoretical and empirical connections between personality and psychopathology, and their shared neurobiological correlates. Recent cybernetic theories of personality and psychopathology, as well as affective neuroscience theory, provide grounding for understanding neurobiological-personality-psychopathology (NPP) associations. With the emergence of large sample datasets (e.g., Human Connectome Project) advanced quantitative modeling can be used to rigorously test dynamic statistical representations of NPP connections. Also, research suggests that these connections are influenced by sex, and large samples provide the opportunity to examine how NPP associations might be moderated by sex. The current study used a large sample from the Duke Neurogenetics Study (DNS) to examine how amygdala activation to facial expressions was linked with self-report of personality traits and clinical interviews of internalizing and externalizing symptoms of psychopathology. Structural equation modeling results revealed direct associations of amygdala activation with personality trait expression, as well as indirect associations (though personality) with symptoms of psychopathology. Moreover, the NPP links were moderated by sex. The current results are in line with research that identifies a broader role played by the amygdala in personality and provide potential insights for continued research in personality neuroscience and recent theories on the neurobiology of personality.

Relations Between Lexical and Biological Perspectives on Personality: New Evidence Based on HEXACO and Affective Neuroscience Theory

We provide evidence on the convergence of language-based questionnaire and biological perspectives on personality traits. The first study, conducted on Serbian students, provided evidence on the position of Panksepp’s Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) in the personality space defined by HEXACO facets. The second, replicatory study was conducted on a sample of German young adults. Results show that the instruments based on these 2 approaches target highly similar personality phenomena, which is revealed in the high canonical correlations between them (the first 3 being above .70 in both samples). Despite the overlap, the scales measuring emotional systems do not map onto HEXACO factors one-to-one, and mostly have substantial loading on more than 1 HEXACO factor. The pattern of correlations between HEXACO and ANPS scales was highly similar in the 2 samples. The importance of the findings for the personality taxonomy and theory is discussed.

A Serbian version of the ANPS and its link to the five-factor model of personality

AbstractThis short communication presents a Serbian version of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS). The ANPS is a self-report measure assessing individual differences in primary emotional systems as derived from Jaak Panksepp’s Affective Neuroscience Theory. As a recent work by Montag & Panksepp (2017a) confirmed the original demonstration of strong associations between primary emotions and the Five-Factor Model of Personality (Davis et al., 2003) across different cultures (USA, Germany, China), we replicated these findings in a Serbian sample. Moreover, following the idea of a recent commentary of Di Domencio & Ryan (2017) on Montag & Panksepp’s (2017a), we present for the first time detailed associations between Five-Factor Model facets as assessed with the NEO-PI-R and primary emotions.

Affective Neuroscience Theory and Personality: An Update.

The present work gives a short overview of central aspects of Jaak Panksepp's Affective Neuroscience Theory (AN theory) and its relevance for modern personality neuroscience. In contrast to the widely used Big Five approach to studying and understanding human personality, AN theory provides researchers with a distinct roadmap to the biological basis of personality, including molecular and neuroanatomical candidates, to understand individual differences in human behavior. Such molecular and neuroanatomical brain candidates have been derived by means of electrical brain stimulation and pharmacological challenges, while investigating primary emotional systems anchored in the subcortical mammalian brain. Research results derived from the study of emotions in mammals are also of relevance for humans because ancient layers of our minds-those layers where primary emotions originate-have been homologously conserved across species. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense because primal emotions represent "built-in tools for survival" for all mammals. In this context, Montag and Panksepp recently illustrated a potential ancient neurobiological effect by carving out robust associations between individual differences in primary emotions (assessed via self-report) and the Big Five in a cross-cultural study with data from the United States, Germany, and China. These associations together with some ideas derived from MacLean's Triune Brain concept highlighted (a) that primary emotions likely represent the phylogenetically oldest parts of human personality and (b) that primary emotions influence human personality in a bottom-up fashion given their localization in ancient subcortical brain regions. A comment on the work by Montag and Panksepp asked for insights on putative links between primary emotions and facets of the Big Five. Therefore, we provide some first insights into such associations from recent Germany data. In addition, the present work provides a new short version of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales to assess individual differences in primary emotions.

Creative Engagement: Embodied Metaphor, the Affective Brain, and Meaningful Learning

ABSTRACTIn this commentary, I build on recent interdisciplinary models for embodied cognition with additional perspectives from affective neuroscience, educational psychology, creativity theory, and science education. I invoke William James and John Dewey, pioneers of an embodied philosophy of mind, alongside recent affective neuroscience theory about the role of bodily emotional response in learning. I present educational implications of the need for meaning making through body–mind and affective interaction with a social learning environment. I reformulate the problem of learner engagement in school to look beyond the need for autonomy, belonging, and competency to include the need for creative meaning making in learner engagement. To provide context, I explore the experience of adolescent students using a drama‐based pedagogical tool to learn an abstract science concept. This example illustrates how embodied, creative learning rich with metaphor shapes meaning making in science learning. I conclude by elaborating further on a proposed model of creative engagement.

Towards Homo Digitalis: Important Research Issues for Psychology and the Neurosciences at the Dawn of the Internet of Things and the Digital Society

The present article gives an overview on central challenges humans face at the dawn of complex digital societies and the Internet of Things (IoT), i.e., a world completely connected to the Internet. Among the many challenges to be handled in digital societies is a growing fragmented life style leading to loss of productivity as well as moments for self-reflection. In all this, it is of tremendous importance to understand the impact of digital worlds on our brains and psyches and to reveal possible unintended side-effects of technology use. Does human nature change due to constant interactions with virtual realities? In this context, we also face the challenge to design digital worlds according to our mammalian-emotional heritage deeply anchored in subcortical areas of the human brain. Here, we refer to emotional needs as carved out by Panksepp’s Affective Neuroscience Theory and how they can or cannot be fulfilled in digital worlds. Aside from a review of several key studies dealing with the raised challenges, some first solutions to successfully meet the mentioned problems are provided to achieve sustainable and healthy digital worlds, with whom humans can interact carefree on a daily basis.

Functional connectivity in the resting brain as biological correlate of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales

According to Jaak Panksepp's Affective Neuroscience Theory and the derived self-report measure, the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS), differences in the responsiveness of primary emotional systems form the basis of human personality. In order to investigate neuronal correlates of personality, the underlying neuronal circuits of the primary emotional systems were analyzed in the present fMRI-study by associating the ANPS to functional connectivity in the resting brain. N=120 healthy participants were invited for the present study. The results were reinvestigated in an independent, smaller sample of N=52 participants. A seed-based whole brain approach was conducted with seed-regions bilaterally in the basolateral and superficial amygdalae. The selection of seed-regions was based on meta-analytic data on affective processing and the Juelich histological atlas. Multiple regression analyses on the functional connectivity maps revealed associations with the SADNESS-scale in both samples. Functional resting-state connectivity between the left basolateral amygdala and a cluster in the postcentral gyrus, and between the right basolateral amygdala and clusters in the superior parietal lobe and subgyral in the parietal lobe was associated with SADNESS. No other ANPS-scale revealed replicable results. The present findings give first insights into the neuronal basis of the SADNESS-scale of the ANPS and support the idea of underlying neuronal circuits. In combination with previous research on genetic associations of the ANPS functional resting-state connectivity is discussed as a possible endophenotype of personality.