Effects Of Valence Research Articles

Associations between the late positive potential and PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among trauma-exposed undergraduates

BackgroundThe late positive potential (LPP) is a neural marker of attention to emotional stimuli; dysregulations in those attentional processes might contribute to trauma-related psychopathology. Although higher LPP amplitudes to negative images have been found to be associated with anxiety symptoms, results have been mixed regarding depressive and PTSD symptoms, especially among trauma-exposed populations. Further, the relationships between the LPP to positive and neutral images and psychopathology symptoms have been underexamined. The purpose of the current study was to test the effects of image valence, and PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms on LPP amplitude among trauma-exposed undergraduates. MethodSeventy-three trauma-exposed undergraduates viewed a series of negative, positive, and neutral images while LPPs were recorded. Self-report measures were used to assess recent PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical linear modeling tested valence and symptom main effects, as well as Valence by Symptom interactions on LPP amplitude. ResultsWe found a main effect of valence such that individuals exhibited higher LPP amplitudes to negative images compared to neutral images. We also found a Valence by Depressive Symptoms interaction such that there was an inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and the LPP to neutral images but no associations between depressive symptoms and the LPP for positive or negative images. We found no main effects or interactions for anxiety and PTSD symptoms. ConclusionDepressive symptoms might be related to diminished attention to neutral stimuli among trauma-exposed undergraduates. Further investigation of the relationship between the LPP and psychopathology is needed.

Generic rules for achieving room-temperature superconductivity in ternary hydrides with clathrate structures

The discovery of superconductors with higher superconducting transition temperatures (${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$'s) at ambient physical conditions is a perpetual drive in fundamental studies and for practical applications. Here we conceptualize two generic rules for achieving this goal surrounding metal hydride superconductors. Rule 1: the metal skeletons should be composed of elements with an effective valency of 3 for efficient electron donation to hydrogen. Rule 2: the fractional occupancy of the metal ions should be $\ensuremath{\sim}0.4$ for maximal chemical squeezing on hydrogen. Guided by these rules, and based on first-principles approaches, we predict a collection of new hydride superconductors, including the representative examples of ${\mathrm{CaHfH}}_{12}$, with ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ of $\ensuremath{\sim}360$ K at 300 GPa, and ${\mathrm{CaZrH}}_{12}$, with ${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ of $\ensuremath{\sim}290$ K at 200 GPa. These findings are expected to be instrumental in predictive discoveries of new high-${T}_{\mathrm{c}}$ hydride superconductors at lower pressures.

Effect of Emotional Valence on Emotion Recognition in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated how emotional valence of a perceived emotional state impacted performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RMET) in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) controls. Valence of items on the RMET, Adult (RMET-A) and Child (RMET-C) versions, was first classified in a survey of 113 medical students. Adolescents with ASD (N = 33) and TD adolescents (N = 30) were administered both RMET versions. Individuals with ASD made more errors than TD controls on positive and negative, but not neutral, valence items. The difference in performance was accentuated on the RMET-A compared to the RMET-C. Both emotional valence and complexity of language contribute to RMET performance in individuals with ASD.

Neural Basis of Internal Attention in Adults with Pure and Comorbid ADHD

Objective: To examine whether putatively atypical neuronal activity during internal attention in ADHD yields insights into processes underlying emotion dysregulation. Methods: We used a word processing paradigm to assess neural activations in adults with ADHD (N = 46) compared to controls (N = 43). We measured effects of valence, applied partial-least squares correlation analysis to assess multivariate brainbehavior relationships and ran subgroup analyses to isolate results driven by pure ADHD (N = 18). Results: During internal attention, ADHD, compared to controls, have (1) increased activation in the right angular gyrus (rAG), which appears driven by pure, not comorbid, ADHD and (2) diminished activation in the insula and fronto-striatal circuitry. Diminished activations were driven by negatively-valenced internal attention and negatively correlated with increased affective lability within the ADHD group. Conclusion: Internal attention in ADHD is associated with increased rAG activation, possibly reflecting difficulty converging external and internal information, and diminished activation within emotion regulation circuitry.

A Turn of the Tables: Psychological Contracts and Word of Mouth about Sharing Economy Platforms When Consumers Get Reviewed

Abstract The Peer-to-Peer sector of the sharing economy relies on reputation systems through which consumers and providers review each other. Whereas prior research has examined the effects of reviews by consumers on providers and firms, this research examines, for the first time, a turn of the tables in which consumers are evaluated. Across a pilot and seven studies (five preregistered), using multiple actual behaviors and sharing contexts, results reveal that a negative review of the consumer from the peer provider leads to negative word of mouth (NWOM) about the platform. Drawing from psychological contract theory, the research demonstrates that this effect is mediated by consumers' perceived betrayal by the platform. Two sets of moderators are identified. The first set establishes that a breach of consumers' psychological contract with the platform underlies the effect. In the second set, platform policies that may render a breach more or less consequential can intensify or mitigate consumer reactions. Specifically, making the review private (vs. public) and providing opportunities for justice restoration (response, revenge, and dispute) attenuate the effect of review valence on betrayal and NWOM. Implications for sharing economy platform managers and consumers are discussed.

How do word valence and classes influence lexical processing? Evidence from virtual reality emotional contexts.

The current study examines the influence of word class (i.e., noun vs. adjective) and valence (i.e., positive vs. negative vs. neutral) on the processing of emotional words under different virtual reality (VR) emotional contexts. To this end, 115 participants performed a modified affect labeling task after experiencing different VR scenarios. Their galvanic skin responses were also examined to further gauge the different effects of VR contexts. The results demonstrated significant main effect for word valence, indicating more processing of positive words relative to neutral words which are processed more than negative words. The results also demonstrated significant main effect for word class, indicating more processing of nouns in contrast to adjectives. Additionally, the results indicated that both positive and negative VR contexts could stimulate participants to select more positive words though negatively valenced words were processed more under negative VR context relative to positive VR context. However, the amplitude of galvanic skin responses in positive VR was lower than that in negative VR. The results were interpreted in line with the situation-consistency effects, the mood-consistency effects, the specific nature of VR context, and the different features of different word classes in terms of concreteness, imageability, arousal, and valence.

Impact of Actor's Initial State of Engagement in a Course of Action on Judgements of Post-decisional Regret and Joy: Revisiting Kahneman and Tversky (1982).

According to the phenomenon commonly known as action effect and vastly replicated across the judgment and decision-making literature, more regret is associated with decisions resulting from action than inaction. Action vs. inaction, however, might either refer to change vs. no change or doing something vs. not doing something. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of this variation in operationalization of action-inaction on the strength of action effect, for both positive and negative outcomes, across four different domains of employment, finance, education, and health. This was an experimental scenario-based study (N = 215) with four between-subjects conditions varying in outcome valence and the actor's initial state as either engaged or non-engaged in a particular course of action. Action effect was found to be stronger with respect to the initially engaged than the initially non-engaged decision-maker (ηp2 = .04), indicating that action as change results in a stronger action effect than action as doing something. The effect of the initial state was also moderated by domain. In addition, we both replicated and went beyond prior empirical literature regarding the effect of outcome valence and domain on action effect, with our findings being mostly consistent across joy and regret. Findings are discussed in light of the norm theory and its key concept of normality and contribute to the literature on moderators of action effect.

Distinct Effects of Anxiety and Depression on Updating Emotional Information in Working Memory

Anxiety and depression have been shown to negatively influence the processing of emotional information in working memory. However, most studies have examined anxiety-related or depression-related working memory deficits independently, without considering their high co-morbidity. We tested the effects of emotional valence on working memory performance among healthy young adults with varying levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Ninety young adults aged between 18-24 (51 female) completed an emotional 2-back task in which positive, negative, and neutral images were presented. Multi-level modeling was used to examine anxiety and depressive symptoms as predictors of response accuracy and latency across the three emotional valence conditions. The results showed that participants responded to negative images with the highest accuracy and to positive images with the lowest accuracy. Both negative and positive images elicited slower responses than neutral images. Importantly, we found that more severe anxiety symptoms predicted a smaller difference in response accuracy between negative and neutral stimuli, whereas more severe depressive symptoms predicted a larger updating reaction time difference between positive and neutral stimuli. These findings demonstrated the uniquely anxiety-related deficits in processing negative contents and the uniquely depression-related deficits in updating positive contents in working memory, thus highlighting the necessity of novel cognitive bias modification interventions targeting the anxiety-specific and depression-specific deficits in working memory.

Dissociable feedback valence effects on frontal midline theta during reward gain versus threat avoidance learning.

While frontal midline theta (FMθ) has been associated with threat processing, with cognitive control in the context of anxiety, and with reinforcement learning, most reinforcement learning studies on FMθ have used reward rather than threat-related stimuli as reinforcer. Accordingly, the role of FMθ in threat-related reinforcement learning is largely unknown. Here, n=23 human participants underwent one reward-, and one punishment-, based reversal learning task, which differed only with regard to the kind of reinforcers that feedback was tied to (i.e., monetary gain vs. loud noise burst, respectively). In addition to single-trial EEG, we assessed single-trial feedback expectations based on both a reinforcement learning computational model and trial-by-trial subjective feedback expectation ratings. While participants' performance and feedback expectations were comparable between the reward and punishment tasks, FMθ was more reliably amplified to negative vs. positive feedback in the reward vs. punishment task. Regressions with feedback valence, computationally derived, and self-reported expectations as predictors and FMθ as criterion further revealed that trial-by-trial variations in FMθ specifically relate to reward-related feedback-valence and not to threat-related feedback or to violated expectations/prediction errors. These findings suggest that FMθ as measured in reinforcement learning tasks may be less sensitive to the processing of events with direct relevance for fear and anxiety.

Emulsion imaging of a DNA nanostar condensate phase diagram reveals valence and electrostatic effects.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in macromolecular solutions (e.g., coacervation) is relevant both to technology and to the process of mesoscale structure formation in cells. The LLPS process is characterized by a phase diagram, i.e., binodal lines in the temperature/concentration plane, which must be quantified to predict the system's behavior. Experimentally, this can be difficult due to complications in handling the dense macromolecular phase. Here, we develop a method for accurately quantifying the phase diagram without direct handling: We confine the sample within micron-scale, water-in-oil emulsion droplets and then use precision fluorescent imaging to measure the volume fraction of the condensate within the droplet. We find that this volume fraction grows linearly with macromolecule concentration; thus, by applying the lever rule, we can directly extract the dense and dilute binodal concentrations. We use this approach to study a model LLPS system of self-assembled, fixed-valence DNA particles termed nanostars (NSs). We find that temperature/concentration phase diagrams of NSs display, with certain exceptions, a larger co-existence regime upon increasing salt or valence, in line with expectations. Aspects of the measured phase behavior validate recent predictions that account for the role of valence in modulating the connectivity of the condensed phase. Generally, our results on NS phase diagrams give fundamental insight into limited-valence phase separation, while the method we have developed will likely be useful in the study of other LLPS systems.

Individual differences in visual word recognition: the role of epistemically unwarranted beliefs on affective processing and signal detection

AbstractPrevious studies have brought conflicting results regarding the effects of valence and arousal in visual word processing. Some authors have pointed to participants’ individual differences as one of the possible explanations for these inconsistencies. The main aim of the present research was to examine whether participants’ individual differences in the level of epistemically unwarranted beliefs (EUB) contribute to these conflicting results. Therefore, participants who varied in their level of paranormal, pseudoscientific and conspiracy beliefs (assessed by self-report measures) performed a lexical decision task (LDT) and a recognition memory task. Linear mixed-effects models over LDT response times revealed that the effects of words’ emotional content (both valence and arousal) were modulated by the degree of individuals’ EUB. In addition, signal detection theory analyses showed that in the recognition task (but not in the LDT) response bias became more liberal as individuals’ EUB increased. These patterns of effects were not general to all EUB instances. The obtained results highlight the need to consider participants’ individual differences in affective word processing and signal detection. In addition, this study reveals some basic psychological mechanisms that would underlie EUB, a fact that has both theoretical and applied relevance.

Outcome effects, moral luck and the hindsight bias

In a series of ten preregistered experiments (N = 2043), we investigate the effect of outcome valence on judgments of probability, negligence, and culpability – a phenomenon sometimes labelled moral (and legal) luck. We found that harmful outcomes, when contrasted with neutral outcomes, lead to an increased perceived probability of harm ex post, and consequently, to a greater attribution of negligence and culpability. Rather than simply postulating hindsight bias (as is common), we employ a variety of empirical means to demonstrate that the outcome-driven asymmetry across perceived probabilities constitutes a systematic cognitive distortion. We then explore three distinct strategies to alleviate the hindsight bias and its downstream effects on mens rea and culpability ascriptions. Not all strategies are successful, but some prove very promising. They should, we argue, be considered in criminal jurisprudence, where distortions due to the hindsight bias are likely considerable and deeply disconcerting.

Effects of Approach–Avoidance Swiping Interactions on the Valence Estimation Using Tablet AAT

Bodily activity may influence subjects’ cognitive processing against embodied cognition. Approaching positive objects and avoiding negative ones facilitate the cognitive processing of emotional information by enhancing valence estimation. The effect may be termed the “Approaching positive and Avoiding negative Compatibility Effect (AACE)”. Implicit approach–avoidance behavior towards stimuli can be measured using the Approach–Avoidance Task (AAT). We recently expanded a touchscreen tablet AAT which seems a more flexible tool for measuring approach–avoidance effects on the valence estimation. In addition, the impact of emotional information on physical behavior might vary depending on the level of arousal. Therefore, we here integrated affective arousal with the AACE to investigate the change of valence estimations of emotional pictures with different (high/low) arousal levels before and after swiping them (toward/away) directly by hand on a touchscreen tablet. Eighty participants evaluated the valence of 40 emotional pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) twice, first after watching them and second after swiping them, either toward or away from their bodies. As hypothesized, the results are consistent with the AACE, that is, swiping positive pictures toward the body or swiping negative ones away on the touchscreen tablet directly by hand led to a positive change in their valence estimation. Additionally, the change of the valence estimation was significantly enlarged when approaching emotional pictures with higher affective arousal. However, this higher arousal effect was not found when swiping pictures away. We argue that the effect of affective arousal and valence on approach–avoidance behavior seems to be separated. The approaching movement (toward) was more susceptible to the higher arousal of the stimuli, while the avoidance movement (away) was more sensitive to the valence. Furthermore, the touchscreen tablet AAT seems efficient and can reliably measure known approach–avoidance behavior toward cognitive processing testing both in the laboratory and in the field.

Supplemental Material for Examining the Effects of Emotional Valence and Arousal on Source Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Behavioral Evidence

Supplemental Material for Examining the Effects of Emotional Valence and Arousal on Source Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Behavioral Evidence

Feeling better but not thinking better: the effects of scene valence and category on restoration.

Feeling better but not thinking better: the effects of scene valence and category on restoration.

Re-examining the spread of moralized rhetoric from political elites: Effects of valence and ideology.

We examine the robustness of previous research finding increased diffusion of Twitter messages ("tweets") containing moral rhetoric. We use a distributed language model to examine the moral language used by U.S. political elites in two corpora of tweets: one from 2016 presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and one from U.S. Members of Congress. Consistent with previous research, we find greater diffusion for tweets containing moral rhetoric, but this is qualified by moral language valence and elite ideology. For both presidential candidates and Members of Congress, negative moral language is associated with increased message diffusion. Positive moral language is not associated with diffusion for presidential candidates and is negatively associated with diffusion for Members of Congress. In both data sets, the relationship between negative moral language and message diffusion is stronger for liberals than conservatives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Role of stimulus types and valence on the affective memory performance of adults with anxiety

Previous studies have found that the emotion of anxiety in adults is easily influence by negative stimuli However, few studies have explored the effect of stimulus types on working memory performance and cognitive processing of adults with anxiety. This study aimed to explore the effects of anxiety on affective working memory and the role of stimulus types and valences on affective working memory performance. Forty adults were recruited for the experiment and were divided into two groups according to their anxiety levels. The valence and type of stimulus were manipulated in a memory recognition experiment. The results indicated that individuals with anxiety performed poorer when subjected to positive stimuli than for neutral and negative stimuli, whereas healthy adults exhibited the opposite. Furthermore, participants outperformed on affective pictures than affective words, but the effect size of the words was larger than that of the pictures for the difference between the valence and anxiety groups. This study highlights the differences in affective working performance across stimulus types and valences between healthy adults and adults with anxiety. The findings clarified the effect of positive valence and affective words on the affective working memory processing mechanism in adults with anxiety.

The within-person bidirectional association between physical activity and loneliness in the daily lives of adolescents and young adults

Adolescents and young adults are at high risk for experiencing loneliness, a well-established risk factor for mental health symptoms. Being physically active is known to reduce feelings of loneliness. We explored the association between physical activity and loneliness using the experience sampling method, allowing us to investigate moment-to-moment variations on the within-person level. The sample consisted of 784 participants (58.0% females), aged 15–25 years (mean 16.9 years). They responded to a questionnaire ten times a day for six days. We hypothesized an inverse bidirectional relationship between within-person physical activity and within-person loneliness. Additionally, we hypothesized an interaction effect of the within-person affective valence and of depression and anxiety symptoms. Univariate multilevel models were used. Results did not show a significant association between physical activity and loneliness on the within-person level, but there was a significant interaction effect where physical activity was associated with less subsequent loneliness at moments with high affective valence. These findings indicate that only when physical activity is experienced as something young people enjoy doing, feel competent about and when it does not require too much effort, it decreases feelings of loneliness the subsequent moment. There was no significant interaction effect with depression and anxiety symptoms. In conclusion, the results of this study give us a better understanding of the association between physical activity and loneliness in young people. This study highlights the importance of contextual factors when investigating psychosocial outcomes of physical activity.

Consumer reviews and product life cycle: On the temporal dynamics of electronic word of mouth on movie box office

Research on customer reviews has flourished in the last two decades, accelerating the study of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). However, we know little about how the effects of eWOM change over a product’s life cycle. In this article, we investigate the temporal dynamics between eWOM and box office sales over the life cycle of movies. We build a simultaneous equations model to study these temporal dynamics and find that (i) the positive effects of cumulative eWOM volume and valence on box office sales decline fast over a movie’s life cycle; (ii) to accurately estimate their effects it is necessary to account for their interaction over time, and (iii) the effect of cumulative eWOM valence on current eWOM valence stays positive over the life cycle while the positive effect of cumulative eWOM volume on current eWOM volume decays fast. These results offer actionable insights to practitioners seeking to leverage eWOM effects.

Anticipatory Stress Increases Deontological Inclinations: The Mediating Role of Emotional Valence.

Previous studies have explored the differences in moral judgments under normal situations and acute stress using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). The present study examined whether anticipatory stress (i.e., induced by an anticipated speech) could elicit similar effects and further explored the mediation of emotional responses between acute stress and moral judgments with a process-dissociation approach. Fifty-three undergraduate students (20 males and 33 females) were randomly assigned to the stress and control groups. In the first stage, they were instructed to prepare a public speech (the stress group) or just recall events during the previous vacation (the control group). In the second stage, they reported emotional valence and arousal for each moral dilemma in a set of 12 moral dilemmas, followed by judgments on moral acceptability of the agent's action. The manipulation check confirmed that anticipatory stress was reliably induced, as indicated in both self-reported and physiological data. The traditional dilemma analysis revealed that participants in the stress group would make fewer utilitarian judgments than those in the control group. The process dissociation (PD) analyses further revealed that the stress group exhibited higher deontological inclinations than the control group, but no significant differences in utilitarian inclinations. Emotional valence played a mediating role in the association between stress and deontological inclinations. To sum up, our study extended the investigation of the relationship between acute stress and moral judgment to anticipatory stress, clarified its distinct impact on deontological and utilitarian inclinations, and revealed the mediating effect of emotional valence.