Appraisal Patterns Research Articles

The appraisal patterns and response types of enthusiasm: a comparison with joy and hope

ABSTRACT Enthusiasm is a relatively under-explored emotion. The current research explores the unique characteristics of enthusiasm by examining its cognitive appraisals (Study 1, N = 300) and response types (Study 2, N = 298) and comparing it with joy and hope. Participants in both studies recalled and rated events where they felt enthusiasm, joy, or hope. Study 1 revealed that enthusiasm occurs in pleasurable, intense situations linked to desired goals. More than joy, it is driven by goal-achievement anticipation. Compared to hope, enthusiasm is associated with more control, less uncertainty, and immediate relevance. Study 2 defines enthusiasm as a positive, energetic state marked by smiling, presence, fulfilment, and thoughts of positive outcomes. Compared to joy, it incites more eagerness, risk willingness, and inclination to join a movement. More than hope, it triggers immediate action without contemplation of negative outcomes. We conclude that enthusiasm is a positive, energetic condition often triggered by pleasurable, intense situations aligning with desired goals. It differs from joy and hope. Enthusiasm drives action when goals are attainable, and risks will likely pay off. Hope emerges when a goal is uncertain and distant. Joy typically follows goal accomplishment and is associated with feelings of connection and a desire to savour the moment.

Anthropocentrism in Contemporary Chinese Dictionary: A Synergic Perspective of Critical Lexicographical Discourse Studies and Systemic Functional Linguistics

Abstract Critical Lexicographical Discourse Studies (CLDS) view the dictionary as a discourse and emphasize an ideological, ethico-political dimension to the lexicographical process. Combining CLDS with Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper looks into how anthropocentrism is manifested linguistically in Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Seventh Edition), the most influential authoritative general-purpose Chinese dictionary, by examining the transitivity and appraisal patterns in the definition texts concerning animals and plants. The analysis shows that animals and plants are seldom assigned agency in their own right and that the animals and plants are evaluated either positively or negatively according to whether they are useful to the human beings while their intrinsic value is ignored. In particular, animals are highlighted for their agricultural and medicinal use and plants for their medicinal and ornamental value. However, compared with its previous editions, the dictionary has shown an enhanced awareness of environmental protection by deleting the encyclopaedic information that describes the use of some rare animals’ meat, bones and fur. It is argued that, although modern general-purpose dictionaries are increasingly corpus-based and descriptive, their role in shaping social values and stances cannot be disregarded. Dictionary makers need to balance what words mean with what they can be said to mean or be allowed to mean (Moon, 2014). The study contributes to unmasking and denaturalizing the hidden ideology in colony texts such as the dictionary, enhances a critical use of dictionaries and helps develop the theory of critical lexicography and emerging ecolexicography.

드라마 등장인물에 대한 개인 평가어 연구: 체계기능언어학의 평가어 이론의 관점

Objectives The purpose of this paper is to analyze Appraisal, one of the theories of discourse meaning analysis in Systemic Functional Linguistics(SFL), in relation to the Appraisal patterns of specific individuals. In SFL, this is called Signature. Methods Therefore, this paper focuses on the Signature of 11 characters in the entire script of episode 1 in <What is Love?>. The specific work was conducted in two stages. First, lexical evaluators (I), which examines the types and frequency of Affect, Judgment, Appreciation, and Graduation; and second, grammatical evaluators (II), which examines the number of sentences, types of Mood, types of addressee deference and Engagement words. Results To summarize the results of the above two steps, (A) Need-dissatisfaction type Sim-ae is overwhelmingly frequent in Affect, Judgement, Appreciation, Graduation, and Engagement. She expresses all kinds of lexical evaluatives in a bold way. (B) Repressed and perverse type Sun-ja uses about half as many evaluatives as Sim-ae, but with very different ups and downs. Affect, which express how she feels, and Graduation, which control the intensity of her speech, are high, but Judgement, which evaluates the actions of others, and Appreciation, which express social respect or social approval of a given situation, are low. (C) Paternalistic and assertive Isa-jang is good at utilizing Judgement and Graduation, and is relatively low in Affect and Appreciation. (D) indecisive Park-isa rarely uses Jedgement. He uses the other evaluative words, Affect, Appreciation, Graduation, moderately frequently and appropriately. (E) Women are more likely than men to use Engagement for both setting(‘case-open’) and settled(‘case-closed’). Conclusions The study of Appraisal has a wide range of applications and is a highly scalable area of research. It is expected that the study of Signature can also find some generalizable patterns of Appraisal system if the analysis target is broader.

Assessing the role of sustainability competencies in enhancing psychological first aid effectiveness for disaster responders in Fiji.

Psychological first aid (PFA) is essential for mental health and wellbeing after traumatic events. Integrating competency-based outcomes is crucial with the increasing demand for effective psychological first-aid interventions. This study examines the correlation between sustainability competencies and PFA principles within Fiji's disaster responder's context. The research was guided by a theoretical framework based on a comprehensive review of sustainability competencies and PFA principles. A cross-sectional survey assessed the importance of sustainability competencies in disaster responders to deliver PFA effectively. The survey used a stratified random sampling method to get diverse PFA-trained participants (66%) and non-PFA trained (34%), aiming to understand how these competencies can impact PFA success in various disaster situations. The survey, encompassing various domains of disaster response and a diverse range of respondents age, gender, and years of experience, employed the Likert scale to assess the importance of competencies such as integrated problem-solving, strategic, systems thinking, self-awareness, normative, collaboration, anticipatory, and critical thinking. The study involved 49 PFA-trained participants (55% female, 45% male) and 15 non-PFA-trained participants (53% female, 46% male), excluding 10 responses from the latter group due to ambiguous answers to critical questions. The correlation between age, experience, and the valuation of professional competencies among disaster responders indicates that disaster responders, with extensive experience and PFA training, rated competencies as "important," reflecting a perspective shaped by long-term career development and practical experiences. Equally, younger and early career responders emphasize competencies as "very important," indicating an initial recognition of their significance. The appraisal patterns across different age groups, especially among those with PFA training, suggest a tendency to moderate assessments of competency importance with increasing experience. Statistical analysis, including mean, median, standard deviation, and variance, provided a detailed understanding of the data, underscoring competencies like self-awareness in both data sets and integrated problem-solving and collaboration within PFA-trained responders as the key for effective PFA interventions. The study underlines the critical need to integrate sustainability competencies into the PFA curriculum in Fiji's unique sociocultural context. This interplay between age, experience, and competency assessment stresses the diverse factors influencing perceptions in the disaster response field beyond experience alone. The results show that sustainability competencies are the ultimate to the effectiveness of PFA measurement and interventions. The research lays the foundation for future studies to develop validated tools for assessing sustainable competencies in different cultural contexts, thereby improving the effectiveness of PFA in disaster management. Integrating these competencies into PFA training could significantly strengthen PFA intervention and competency-based evaluation.

“I must make the grade!”: the role of cognitive appraisals, irrational beliefs, exam anxiety, and affect, in the academic self-concept of undergraduate students

ABSTRACT 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.

Racial Appraisals by White, Black, Hispanic, and Multiracial Americans

Racial appraisals, defined as people’s judgments of other people’s race, influence racial inequality and discrimination, anti-discrimination efforts, and collective identity. I conduct a survey of 1,102 American adults of all races that builds on recent scholarship about how Americans assess others’ race, in two ways. First, I examine a wider range of cues for race than prior studies. I uncover novel evidence that self-identification and small group (family and intra-cultural) judgments shape appraisals, especially for Hispanic and Native American targets. I also find support for prior work showing that cues like appearance and ancestry are important signals. Second, I move beyond prior studies’ focus on White Americans’ appraisals; I examine how several different racial groups appraise race. I find some similarities but also striking differences, particularly in the wider range of experiential and small group cues that Black and Hispanic Americans use when assessing Whiteness, Blackness, and Latinidad, compared with Whites. I argue that four group-level differences in appraisal patterns uncovered here are rooted in specific aspects of America’s history of racial domination, and consider implications.

Appraisal Patterns in Selected Speeches in COP27: A Cross-Linguistic Eco-Critical Discourse Analysis Study

Appraisal Patterns in Selected Speeches in COP27: A Cross-Linguistic Eco-Critical Discourse Analysis Study

Pervasiveness of health information in everyday life in Germany: insights from a photo-elicitation diary study on implicit health knowledge using the documentary method

Abstract Aim In an information society, the complexity of health discourses and media–technological developments touch upon processes of finding, understanding, appraising, and using information. Encounters with health information in everyday life are omnipresent. Hence, applying perceived health information to lifeworlds becomes challenging. We were therefore particularly interested in understanding appraisals and practices regarding random encounters with health information. Subject and methods A photo-elicitation diary study was designed and conducted to collect data from encounters with health information in everyday life. Drawing on a sociology of knowledge approach and using the documentary method, appraisal patterns of health information were reconstructed. Results Four appraisal patterns were reconstructed: control, optimization, responsibility, and confidence. Conclusion The findings contribute to a critical reflection on the pervasiveness of health information in lifeworlds, also referred to as infodemic. The identified appraisal patterns and orientation frames offer insights into the impact of random encounters with health information in everyday life; they also provide a foundation for critically discussing quality criteria for health information in a diverse society, and can inform initiatives for strengthening individual and collective health literacy.

‘We despair’: Examining the role of political despair for collective action and well‐being

AbstractAnecdotally, people often report feeling despair about the political status quo. We conceptualise these feelings as political despair. But what is political despair, and what are its effects? We adapt intergroup emotion theory to analyse political despair in the context of racial inequality (Studies 1 and 2) and climate change (Study 3). Three cross‐sectional studies (total N = 866) tested the measurement of political despair (relative to anger and hope), its pattern of appraisals and outcomes for conventional and radical actions along with well‐being (stress, burnout and optimism). Structural equation modelling differentiated political despair from anger and hope and found that despair is associated with evaluations that the situation is both illegitimate and intractable (unchangeable). Moreover, political despair consistently had a negative relationship with well‐being and positive relationships with conventional and radical collective action. The results suggest political despair is negatively associated with well‐being and impact people's engagement in action for social change.

Challenges in Grief-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder

Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is a potential deleterious outcome of bereavement that is associated with significant negative psychological consequences. The condition is thought to be maintained through a dynamic interplay between painful memories, maladaptive appraisal patterns, and unhelpful coping behaviors, including a persistent avoidance of reminders of the loss. Grief-focused cognitive behavior therapies (GF-CBT) targeting these mechanisms have been found to ameliorate symptoms, with treatments that include exposure-based processing of memories of the loss showing superior outcomes. However, data indicate that treatments involving exposure-based techniques are typically underutilized by mental health clinicians. In this clinical report we describe a series of cases that illustrate common challenges encountered in implementing GF-CBT and outline practical approaches to address these challenges.

Examination of cognitive appraisals, irrational beliefs, and challenge and threat evaluations in the prediction of tournament affective states and performance of competitive elite Indian golfers.

Researchers have intimated that cognitions and emotions can change in the lead up to important events. However, previous research has adopted atemporal cross-sectional designs, making it challenging to understand how cognitions and emotions unfold in the lead up to a competition. In the current study, we extended previous research by examining the temporal patterns of cognitive appraisals, irrational beliefs, and challenge and threat evaluations in predicting pre-competitive affective states (hedonic balance and anxiety) in the lead up to an actual competition, among competitive elite Indian golfers (N=107). We adopted a within-subjects repeated-measures design and collected data in the lead up to an actual golf tournament, at three timepoints; 1week before (T1), the night before (T2), and an hour prior (T3). Self-reported measures of cognitive appraisals, irrational beliefs, challenge and threat evaluations, affect, and anxiety were completed. Also, objective golf performance was collected from participants. Crossed-lagged path analysis did not find a causal effect for irrational beliefs on any of the variables across the three time points. On the other hand, hierarchical multiple regression analysis determined that changes in irrational beliefs predicted changes in cognitive appraisals, threat evaluation, cognitive and somatic anxiety, and the directional interpretation of anxiety. The findings of temporal patterns in the current research indicated that sport psychologists should consider the dynamic nature of antecedent cognitions and affective states in the lead up to competition, and accordingly provide adequate support to the athletes. Further, limitations and future research is discussed with reference to the results.

Initial validation of the 12-item Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in a retrospective sample of adults with chronic headache.

An area of emerging interest in chronic pain populations concerns fear of pain and associated fear of movement (kinesiophobia)-a cognitive appraisal pattern that is well-validated in non-headache chronic pain. However, there is limited research on whether this construct can be measured in a similar manner in headache populations. The current project details a confirmatory factor analysis of the 12-Item Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-12) using a clinical data set from 210 adults with diverse headache diagnoses presenting for care at a multidisciplinary pain clinic. One item (concerning an "accident" that initiated the pain condition) was excluded from analysis. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis for the remaining 12 items indicated adequate model fit for the previously established 2-factor structure (activity avoidance and bodily harm/somatic focus subscales). In line with previous literature, total TSK-12 scores showed moderate correlations with pain severity, pain-related interference, positive and negative affect, depressive and anxious symptoms, and pain catastrophizing. The current study is the first to examine the factor structure of the TSK-12 in an adult headache population. The results support the relevance of pain-related fear to the functional and psychosocial status of adults with chronic headache, although model fit of the TSK-12 could be characterized as adequate rather than optimal. Limitations of the study include heterogeneity in headache diagnosis and rates of comorbid non-headache chronic pain in the sample. Future studies should replicate these findings in more homogenous headache groups (eg, chronic migraine) and examine associations with behavioral indices and treatment response.

Emotional women and promiscuous men: Language use as discursive stances of wives on cheating husbands

This paper investigates the dimensions of emotive language used by women to situate their stances on cheating husbands in Calabar, Southern Nigeria. The data for the study were generated by means of non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews, aided by audiotape recording and field notes. One hundred married women constitute the representative sample from whom the data were elicited. Findings show that the participants used emotional language to establish different stances in discourses on adulterous acts of their husbands. The participants’ stances are construed to be nuanced in religious, punitive, revengeful, sociobiological, reconciliatory and legal considerations. Participants’ choices were influenced by the women’s religious, gendered and sociocultural orientations, educational background and level of exposure, family and social pressure, personal safety and psychological state. These differentials connect the appraisal patterns with the consequences of each stance which should also serves as expository guide on the rational for such decisions by women on cheating spouses. The emotive outbursts by the participants stress the need for men to be faithful to their wives to sustain mutual happiness and peaceful marriages.

Computer-Assisted Avatar-Based Treatment for Dysfunctional Beliefs and Eating-Disorder Symptomatology: A Randomized Control Pilot Study

Dysfunctional beliefs influence the pathogenesis and maintenance of eating disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to modify these specific beliefs and mediate functional patterns of appraisal and thinking. The present pilot study aims to experimentally validate a computer-assisted avatar-based treatment (CAT-DB) to reduce dysfunctional body-related cognitions and symptom severity in a sample with subclinical eating disorder symptomatology. In a randomized controlled trial, 48 participants were assigned to either the control group or CAT-DB. The conviction of individual body-related cognitions and eating disorder-specific symptom expression was measured shortly before the beginning of the intervention (pre-measurement), directly after the intervention (post-measurement), and 14 days later (follow-up). There was a significant interaction effect for symptom severity, as reductions in eating disorder-specific symptomatology were significantly greater in the CAT-DB group compared to the control group at follow-up. Compared to the control group, CAT-DB resulted in non-significant but expected improvements in individual body-related automatic thoughts. The present study offers preliminary evidence suggesting that CAT-DB could be efficacious in addressing certain symptoms associated with eating disorders. Further studies with representative clinical samples diagnosed with eating disorders are needed to provide more evidence of the efficacy of CAT-DB as a support for classical CBT in a variety of therapeutic and research contexts.

A possible combined appraisal pattern: predicting the prognosis of patients after esophagectomy

ObjectiveTo investigate the predictive merit of combined preoperative nutritional condition and systemic inflammation on the prognosis of patients receiving esophagectomy, with the assessment of model construction to extract a multidisciplinary phantom having clinical relevance and suitability.MethodsThe software of R 4.1.2 was utilized to acquire the survival optimal truncation value and the confusion matrix of survival for the continuity variables. SPSS Statistics 26 was employed to analyze the correlation of parameters, where including t-test, ANOVA and the nonparametric rank sum test shall. Pearson chi-square test was used for categorical variables. The survival curve was retrieved by Kaplan–Meier method. Univariate analysis of overall survival (OS) was performed through log-rank test. Cox analysis was for survival analyze. The performance of the prediction phantom through the area under curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), decision curve analysis (DCA), nomogram and clinical impact curve (CIC) was plotted by R.ResultsThe AUC value of albumin-globulin score and skeletal muscle index (CAS) is markedly superior. Patients with diminished AGS and greater SMI were associated with improved overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (P < 0.01). The CAS composite evaluation model was calibrated with better accuracy and predictive performance. The DCA and CIC indicated a relatively higher net revenue for the prediction model.ConclusionsThe prediction model including the CAS score has excellent accuracy, a high net revenue, and favorable prediction function.

The different ways to write publishable research articles: Using cluster analysis to uncover patterns of APPRAISAL in discussions across disciplines

Most existing English for Academic Purposes (EAP) studies from a discourse analysis perspective adopt a discipline-based framework that foregrounds the influence of discipline on linguistic features. However, this practice may become unproductive and impractical, given the increasing interdisciplinarity of research. Informed by APPRAISAL theory, this study used Cluster Analysis and identified five different linguistic profiles in research article (RA) discussions (n = 240) from four disciplines: Chemistry, Geoscience, Education, and Management. The distinctions of the profiles cannot be fully explained by disciplinary characteristics. Instead, they may be shaped by the interplay of various factors, including 1) positively appraising the practical significance of the research, 2) mitigating claims and addressing alternative voices, 3) drawing upon existing knowledge, 4) reiterating experimental procedures and real-world observations, 5) idiosyncratic styles, and 6) journal specificities. The findings contribute to a new understanding of linguistic features and variations of research writing and offer empirical support to the recent call for re-examining the foregrounding of disciplinary influence in writing research. The identified linguistic profiles and shaping factors can guide the teaching and learning of the different ways to write publishable RAs across disciplines.

An appraisal‐based examination of language teacher emotions in anxiety‐provoking classroom situations using vignette methodology

AbstractDespite emerging evidence for the link between teacher emotions and student outcomes, research on language teachers’ classroom emotions is still scarce. This study adopts a framework rooted in appraisal‐based emotion theory to explore the complexity of teachers’ emotional lives and the nature of language teacher emotions in the classroom, using anxiety as a starting point and drawing on vignette methodology for emotion elicitation. A total of 272 foreign and second language teachers from North America, Asia, and Europe completed an online version of the Foreign Language Teacher Emotion Questionnaire. Each teacher evaluated two vignettes of anxiety‐provoking classroom scenarios along six appraisal dimensions and reported their emotions. Results indicate great levels of emotional complexity, revealing both the frequent presence of multiple positive emotions and the rare experience of anxiety as the sole emotion in anxiety‐provoking classroom scenarios. At the same time, regression analyses found that anxiety's appraisal pattern explains between 16% and 48% of the variance in anxiety across all vignettes. Implications for adopting appraisal‐based emotion theories and vignette methodology in language teachers’ classroom emotion research in second language acquisition are discussed.

The mediating role of appraisal on health-related quality of life in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors (first diagnosed with cancer at age 15-39) are distinct within the cancer community due to their unique challenges and diverse psycho-behavioral characteristics. This study aimed to analyze psycho-behavioral pathways and further explore the mediating role of cognitive appraisals on AYA cancer survivors' quality of life (QoL). Three hundred and eighty-nine AYA cancer survivors were eligible for analyses and recruited to self-administer questionnaires on QoL (the Chinese version of EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 v3.0), resilience, coping, and appraisal on site. This study performed structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine pathways on QoL based on the Rapkin & Schwartz QoL Appraisal Model. The average age of participants (47.6% female) was 32.7 ± 4.1years. The SEM results closely fit the measured data (RMSEA = 0.053, GFI = 0.955, CFI = 0.964, SRMR = 0.052). The final model showed direct negative effects of later clinical-stage, more comorbidities, and more Acceptance-Resignation coping on QoL; indirect positive effects of better resilience on QoL through less Acceptance-Resignation coping (β = 0.286, P = 0.002). Appraisal mediated the effects of treatment and resilience on QoL (β = -0.024, P = 0.038). Further, Calm, Peaceful, and Active appraisal patterns were associated with improved Cognitive Functioning (β = 0.119, P = 0.009). Appraisal, coping, and resilience could significantly mediate the effects of cancer and its treatment on the QoL of AYA cancer survivors. Future interventions targeting cognitive appraisals and psycho-behaviors will be helpful. Figuring out what matters to such a unique population and how they appraise a cancer diagnosis through treatment trajectories could help nurses adjust support.

Relationship of Appraisal, Coping, and Personal Resources on Four Outcomes of COVID Related Stressor

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust a wide variety of stressors on people. We looked at four possible measured outcomes to those stressors across three different groups: individuals continuously employed, individuals whose employment was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and non-employed university students. No significant differences were found between those groups on the outcomes of negative affect, positive affect, subjective wellbeing, and thriving. However, unique patterns of association were found for the different outcomes in perceived stress, personal resources (psychological capital (PsyCap) and loneliness), stress appraisal, and coping styles. Both bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses showed significant results. PsyCap and loneliness were significant for different outcomes. An approximate mirror image of coping styles was evident between negative affect and subjective wellbeing. Threat appraisal was the only stress appraisal to rise to the level of significance. Although different patterns of appraisal and coping were significant for most outcomes, thriving only correlated with the internal resource of PsyCap. The different patterns of perceived stress, personal resources stress appraisal and coping indicate that the four outcomes measure different constructs and have different patterns of association following the cognitive-phenomenological framework of stress and coping.

Self-compassion and depression in Chinese undergraduates with left-behind experience: Mediation by emotion regulation and resilience.

The protective role of self-compassion in emerging adult depression has garnered empirical support. It makes more sense to understand the psychological processes underlying this relationship. Based on the stress appraisal patterns, the present study examined the mediating roles of emotion regulation (ER) and resilience in the link between self-compassion and depression among college students with left-behind experience (LBE). A total of 391 LBE college students (Mage = 18.43 years; SD = 0.79 years) in Chongqing reported their demographic information and self-compassion (the Self-Compassion Scale) level at baseline (T1) and reported their levels of ER (the Emotion Regulation Scale), resilience (the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), and depression (the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale) 3 months later (T2). The results revealed that (a) both ER (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and resilience separately mediated the association between self-compassion and depression; (b) cognitive reappraisal and resilience sequentially mediated this association. These findings reveal the underlying mechanisms of the associations between self-compassion and depression among LBE college students and have implications for interventions aimed at mitigating their depression.