Positive Emotions Research Articles

Relationship between positive emotion and learning motivation: The mediating role of resilience and the moderating role of social support

Relationship between positive emotion and learning motivation: The mediating role of resilience and the moderating role of social support

Areas for Improvement and Barriers Identified in Measuring the Quality of Nursing Care: Perceptions of Patients and Professionals.

Quality indicators in healthcare are essential to raising awareness about the appropriateness of nursing care. However, identifying the key indicators continues to pose a challenge, above all if one wants to include users and professionals. Identify which aspects of nursing care should be measured to assess the results of nursing care and how to do so. Interpretive qualitative exploratory study. The participants were users and professionals of an autonomous regional health service in Spain. The information was collected by means of two focus groups and eight semi-structured interviews conducted between November 2022 and March 2024. The data were analysed thematically using the Braun and Clarke process. The users and professionals agreed on the need to measure emotional skills and attitudes such as empathy, respect, and warmth when dealing with patients. The professionals highlighted workload and inefficiency of the current record system as barriers to adequately reflecting their work. They proposed improvements in the recording tool and the need for more human resources, as well as leadership that is more focused on quality. It is crucial to develop indicators that reflect both the emotional and technical aspects of nursing care. The participation by patients and professionals alike in this design and selection will make it possible to improve the quality of care and advances in the nursing profession. This study was not registered.

Efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in reducing neuropsychiatric symptomatology after traumatic brain injury.

Neuropsychiatric disorders are highly disabling in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, and psychopharmacological treatments often fail to adequately mitigate their detrimental effects. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an emerging treatment in neurology and psychiatry, showing potential in treating psychiatric disorders. This study investigates the efficacy of a novel, dual-site sequential rTMS protocol designed to treat neuropsychiatric symptoms in a TBI patient who was refractory to conventional treatments. A 34-year-old woman with severe head trauma and complex psychopathology underwent 20 daily sessions of focal-coil rTMS, combining inhibitory stimulation (1 Hz) on the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and excitatory (10 Hz) on the left DLPFC, guided by a neuronavigation system. Psychiatric and neurocognitive assessments were conducted at baseline and at 2, 4, and 8 weeks following the beginning of rTMS treatment. After 2 weeks of treatment, the patient showed decreased impulsivity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, along with improvements in attention and processing speed. After 4 weeks, impulsivity further declined, though no other significant changes were noted. At 8 weeks, a persistent positive effect was observed, including enhanced positive emotions. These findings suggest that guided, alternating neurostimulation of the DLPFC may modulate activity within cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits, providing a promising alternative for managing neuropsychiatric symptoms in TBI patients who are resistant to traditional treatments.

Assessment of the impact of a “user generated” video in the communication of marine environmental threats

“User generated” content is a new popular type of content that shows potential in communicating information to younger age groups in new, creative ways. This study aimed to assess the impact of a “user generated” video in communicating about marine environmental threats, specifically to one hundred and fifty-one young adults enrolled in two different schools: a private higher education school, and a public university, both in the Lisbon metropolitan area (Portugal). The video’s impacts in the cognitive and emotional fields were assessed by comparing them to the impacts of an outreach text similar in content and duration of exposure. A pre-test/post-test methodology was used to evaluate short-term impacts, and a follow-up test was applied to gauge medium-term impacts. Additionally, short focus group sessions further explored topics such as media consumption preferences and trends. The results suggest that “user generated” video has a similar impact to an outreach text in the cognitive field, and a bigger impact in the emotional field when it comes to promoting positive emotions and feelings. Therefore, when used to its full potential, this type of media can be a suitable way to communicate about science and environmental topics, particularly marine environmental threats, and a valuable tool to raise public awareness.

A BreakoutEDU for understanding gene expression in high school. A case study: Design, implementation, and evaluation of the emotions of its implementation.

Knowledge about genetics is essential to build a society capable of participating in socioscientific and ethical debates. However, this subject remains difficult for students, making it necessary to develop new educational strategies, such as gamification. Thus, two main objectives are established in this work: (a) to design and evaluate BreakoutEDU, a gamified activity to improve understanding of the content of gene expression; and (b) to study the emotions triggered by this activity among students. Using questionnaires and observation templates, the implementation of BreakoutEDU is evaluated in two groups of first-year high school students (15 and 10 students). The results are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Bearing in mind the limitations of this study, it is concluded that the designed BreakoutEDU could support gamification as a good strategy to contextualize and approach the abstract content of gene expression. Moreover, the activity could maintain a balance between time, difficulty and students' skills, encourage teamwork and trigger mainly positive emotions.

Effects of multicultural experiences on empathy: A model of the roles of positive emotion and critical thinking

AbstractThe extant empirical evidence indicates that multicultural experiences (MCEs) are linked to numerous positive outcomes, including increased trust, reduced intergroup bias, and the promotion of large‐scale cooperation. These beneficial effects partly depend on the fact that increased MCEs enhance cultural sensitivity, which may enable individuals to better empathize with others. Therefore, we explored the beneficial effects of MCEs on empathy, along with the potential mechanisms. A sample of 1480 Chinese young adults (M = 21.40, SD = 1.86) were employed to complete anonymous questionnaires on their MCEs, positive emotions, critical thinking, empathy, and multicultural breadth. By controlling for gender and family socioeconomic status, parallel mediation analysis revealed that MCEs can independently influence individuals' levels of empathy through both positive emotions and critical thinking. Thereafter, multicultural breadth was determined as a moderator influencing this model. The results highlighted the role of MCEs in increasing empathy through their relationship with cognitive and emotional processes. This study is significant in expanding our understanding of the consequences of MCEs and has practical value in promoting more interpersonal harmony and social tolerance through enhanced empathy.

An exploratory study on second language learner engagement in different types of interactive tasks in video-chat and text-chat communication

Abstract This study investigated 48 Hong Kong English as a second language (ESL) learners’ engagement in three types of interactive tasks conducted via video chat or text chat. The learners, paired with their university friends, completed a descriptive task, a narrative task, and a decision-making task. They were randomly assigned to either the video-chat or text-chat group and were interviewed about their emotional engagement in each task immediately after task performance. The findings revealed that both groups of learners were behaviourally the least engaged but cognitively the most engaged in the decision-making task. They experienced positive emotions during the descriptive task, but fewer reported positive emotions in the other two tasks. The text-chat group was the most socially engaged in the decision-making task. Furthermore, the video-chat group was behaviourally and emotionally more engaged than the text-chat group. These findings have implications for task design and selection in computer-mediated communication.

Qualitative and Artificial Intelligence-Based Sentiment Analysis of Formerly Twitter Messages Related to Water Birth

The benefits of water birth are often emphasized in the literature. While there has been an increase in studies examining women’s experiences of water birth, there has been no study examining formerly twitter statements on this subject. The aim of the study is to determine the opinions about water birth by examining tweets about water birth on formerly twitter. This mixed-method, retrospective study included evaluation of descriptive, quantitative, and qualitative data. In the study, sentiment analysis was performed using quantitative and qualitative methods, using tweets with the expression “waterbirth” and shared between May-July 2023. It has been determined that 87.7% of the 510 tweets that constitute the sample of the study contain positive emotions. The most frequently used words in formerly twitter messages are water, birth, home, epidural, want and baby. Six themes emerged because of the qualitative analysis. These themes were “desire,” “painless and comfortable,” “favorable emotions,” “beneficial and natural,” “undecided emotions and statements,” “unfavorable emotions and statements.” People’s opinions about water birth were mostly positive. Water birth is a desired birth method for people. The results of the study can provide insights for future studies as they present the views of people on water birth.

When Does Positive Communication Maximize Effective Information Flow?

Positive communication and its importance to organizations has become a popular topic of research among organizational scholars. However, there remains a paucity of work exploring nonlinearities in the role of positivity in communication effectiveness, with little research examining whether there can be too much of a good thing when it comes to communication positivity. To address these gaps in the literature on positive communication, I tested the hypothesis that work-related workplace communication will exhibit an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship with positive emotion. This relationship is hypothesized to result from a tradeoff between total workplace communication and the proportion of total workplace communication that is explicitly work-related as communication positivity increases. The results of this study generally support the hypothesized relationship and, save for some minor caveats, the hypothesized mechanisms underlying it. Enclosed are discussions on these caveats and the implications of this study’s findings for both organizational researchers and practitioners.

Similar, not universal: the cognitive dimensions of conceptual prototypes of basic emotions in English and in Polish.

The current study explores the differences in conceptualisation of the prototypical basic emotion lexicalisations (anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise) in English and in Polish. Measures of concreteness, imageability and context availability were collected and analysed across the six semantic categories of basic emotions, across different parts of speech and between the self-determined genders of the study participants. The initial results indicate that within these cognitive dimensions the conceptualisations of basic emotions in English and in Polish are only similar on the more general but not the higher levels of conceptualisation. The folk-psychological division between positive and negative emotions and the grammatical parts of speech reveal similar patterns in basic emotion concepts in both Polish and in English. However, on the higher levels of conceptualisations that include specific basic emotion semantic categories and self-identified gender, marked language-specific differences become apparent. Different negative emotions drive the statistical differences in Polish and in English, and the gender effects on the measures of concreteness, imageability and context availability are opposite from one language to the other. In other words, basic emotions may be broadly mutually intelligible, but not exactly the same when communicated across languages and cultures.

Effects of different husbandry systems and attitudes of cattle farmers on the behavior and welfare of cattle in Germany

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between the attitude of cattle farmers toward their animals and the occurrence of behavioral and health problems in cattle. Various factors, including animal behavior, husbandry conditions and the frequency of diseases, are taken into account. The results of an online survey of 1,242 German cattle farmers indicated that a range of factors, including the husbandry system, the number of cattle, grazing practices and the human-animal relationship, can influence the occurrence of abnormal behavior in cattle, such as tongue play, mutual sucking, horse-like sitting and standing up as well as diseases, especially musculoskeletal disorders. Additionally, the study identified two distinct types of basic attitudes among livestock farmers toward cattle: emotional and utilitarian attitudes. A robust foundation between the attitude of the livestock owner and the husbandry conditions can therefore facilitate the welfare of cattle in terms of freedom from pain, disease and psychological suffering, as well as the expression of normal behavior. This, in turn, can reduce the occurrence of abnormal behavior.

The Emotional Impact of L1 Learning Confidence on L2 Learning: A Case of a Study of Translation Majors in Guangxi Universities

This study aims to explore the emotional impact of the confidence developed in Chinese learning on the foreign language learning state of translation major students in universities across Guangxi. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 132 translation major students from various universities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The study found that the confidence developed during Chinese learning positively influences the learners' language learning, helping them view language learning more positively, fostering other positive emotions in the learning process, and encouraging more active engagement in bilingual interactive learning. This research fills a gap in the study of positive emotions in language learning, expands new perspectives for this research direction, and provides practical references for future studies.

Research on the regulation of emotions in elderly people through bedroom audio-visual environments

The indoor environment of buildings has a long-term impact on the psychological and physiological state of people, and a good indoor environment can help the physical and mental health of the elderly. As the mobility of the elderly weakens, the indoor visual and auditory environments are important channels for them to acquire external perceptions. In order to investigate the effects of visual and auditory environments on the psychological (positive and negative emotions) and physiological (heart rate) states of older adults in their bedrooms, the study designed an audio-visual interaction experiment, selecting three common sounds preferred by older adults and six visual scenes that included two types of visual factors , to measure the emotions and heart rate changes under different sound and visual interaction conditions. The study revealed that natural sounds were more effective in positively modulating mood in warm-toned rooms, while artificial sounds were more appropriate for cool-toned rooms. Regardless of the type of therapeutic sound environment, the addition of greenery significantly contributes to mood regulation in older adults. Combining sound environments with visual factors can be an effective design strategy to promote the physical and mental health of occupants.

Value of negativity for tourism resilience: a second-wave positive psychology approach

ABSTRACT This study explains how negative emotions enable tourism resilience as readily as positive ones, and it advances tourism resilience theory using second-wave positive psychology (SWPP). SWPP argues negative emotions can have positive effects, providing an alternative to mainstream positive psychology that prioritises positive emotions. A qualitative research design involving eleven interviews with nine tourism workers in China who survived the COVID-era restrictions was applied. Findings revealed negative emotions including resentment and bitterness helped tourism workers survive the shutdown of the tourism industry by providing alternatives to more damaging emotions like fear, sadness and anger. The paper argues negative emotions generate resilience and it advances tourism resilience theory by applying SWPP. For tourism managers and policymakers, efforts to instil a positive outlook among tourism workers during crises might be unnecessary.

The Predictive Role of visual attention bias in aggressive driving decisions among violation-involved drivers on attitudes of right-of-way

This study, based on dual-process theory, explores the aggressive driving decision-making characteristics and cognitive processing of violation-involved drivers in right-of-way infringement scenarios. It aims to identify an eye-movement indicator that can predict drivers’ prosocial behaviors. The study recruited 75 drivers aged 19–58 years, who completed a video-based aggressive driving decision-making test and the Driver Attitudes of Right-of-way Questionnaire (DARQ). The results indicate that age moderates the relationship between violation history and visual attentional bias. Younger drivers with a history of violations exhibit an attentional bias towards aggressive words, whereas older drivers do not. After controlling for age, violation-involved drivers demonstrated a higher rate of aggressive decision-making, especially in situations with very short lane-change time headway. Visual attentional bias towards aggressive words can effectively predict positive emotions in attitudes towards the right-of-way. This suggests that early eye movement indicators during the driving decision-making process represent a form of socioemotional characteristic. The more positive the driver’s right-of-way attitude, the stronger their prosocial behavior and the weaker their intuitive impulsiveness during the early cognitive processing stages of driving decision-making. This indicates that the driving decision-making eye-movement assessment paradigm is an objective and effective method for evaluating drivers’ pro-sociality.

Reception of War Trauma in Art: Measures of Permissible Cruelty of Reflection

The aim of the article is to study the reflection of percepting the war trauma in art in the context of the cruelty problem. Results. Ways of reception of the war topic issue in art are viewed, as well as conflict, struggle and manifestation are indicated. After conducting interviews and questionnaires, two paradigms are determined in grounding the war reception: 1) “two paradigms, possible solutions aimed at overcoming this conflict are determined. Scientific novelty. The ways of reception of the war trauma in art through reflection and adaptation are separated and analysed. Art is a safe refuge”, therefore, everything that can injure should be avoided, and during wartime, art should be exclusively entertaining (the leading directions are adaptation and allegorical escapist reflection without direct reference to traumatic topics), and 2) “Naturalistic art about war”, according to which art should be as serious and tragic as possible, faithfully convey the war horrors, avoid entertaining content (the ways of reception are naturalistic reflection and actions of art activism in manifestation options (murals) and struggle (actions of artistic resistance)). Conclusions. The conducted research shows that despite the fierce competition, the paradigms are not controversial but complementary in nature. They reflect different stages of reception and, accordingly, the aspirations of various social segments that go through these stages of trauma perception. If only one of these paradigms is defined as a generally accepted cultural policy, this can significantly discriminate some part of population: entertainment content traumatises those social segments that have undergone adaptation and are now actively working to overcome it. Therefore, they feel guilty for not being serious and sympathetic to suffering. Naturalistic art can traumatise those who suffered from the war, have not yet passed the stage of adaptation, have not yet received psychological help, do not know the means of stabilization, and seek to replenish their resource of positive emotions through art. As well as denying the entertainment component, avoiding cruelty in art is not a solution of the problem, because in times of war people are in different life situations, and turn to art with various purposes. The practice of warning about somewhat sensitive content is quite effective, helping art to find a proper audience and helping to overcome trauma.

Predictors of Intention to Interact with Apparel Products on Instagram: Do creativity and Positive Emotion Matter?

Research aims: This study aims to determine the effect of perceived creativity, positive emotion, affective commitment on people intention to interact.Design/Methodology/Approach: The study procedures were carried out using a quantitative approach and data were collected with online questionnaires from July to December in 2023. The participants were selected using purposive sampling based on specific criteria, such as experience in purchasing products online. A total of 225 participants were selected and analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach with SmartPLS.Research findings: The results showed that perceived creativity had a significant relationship on positive emotion and affective commitment. Positive emotion was shown to have a significant effect on interaction intention. However, perceived creativity had no significant impact on interaction intention of apparel brand. This indicated that creative content was inadequate in attracting Instagram users to interact with brand’s account. The results also showed that positive emotion lacked a significant correlation with affective commitment, while affective commitment had a significant relationship with interaction intention.Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study provides meaningful contribution to Stimulus-Organism-Response theory by incorporating creativity to assess Instagram social media platform.Practitioners/Policy Implications: These results can assist business owners and social media marketers in developing creative marketing campaigns and building strong bond with their followers.Research Limitations/Implications: One of the limitations of this study is that it only assessed the use of Instagram in the fashion industry. Therefore, future studies are advised to explore different industries and recruit participants with a specific occupation to obtain better understanding of online consumer behavior.

Flourishing Intervention: Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Hard-Of-Hearing Adolescents

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to explore the effect of the PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Accomplishment) flourishing intervention on basic psychological needs satisfaction in hard-of-hearing adolescents. This research was a quasi-randomised controlled trial design. Twenty-eight hard-of-hearing adolescents aged 14–17 years were randomly selected from the Deaf Center and Baghcheban Deaf School in Kashan, Iran. They were randomly replaced to experimental (n = 13) or control (n = 15) groups. The experimental group participated in the 10-session intervention, while the control group did not participate in this programme. Both groups completed the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale (BNSG-S before and after intervention. The results showed that after intervention, scores on the subscales of basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) in hard-of-hearing adolescents significantly and positively increased (p < 0.001). Therefore, the PERMA flourishing intervention was feasible and acceptable to these adolescents.

Do employees matter, or is everything a facade? Effective knowledge management targeting well-being

Purpose The competency trap can occur when organizations become resistant to change due to their existing competencies, leading to a culture of complacency and hindering adaptability and innovation. This paper aims to understand this trap and its hindrance to organizational learning and knowledge acquisition. The study aims to integrate employee well-being into knowledge management (KM) strategies to overcome obstacles and demonstrate its significant contribution to effective KM and improving overall organizational health. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) process was used in this research, with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol used to scrutinize articles for review. Only 50 peer-reviewed articles from 2000 to 2023 that focused on KM and employee well-being were included for review. Findings Organizations can tackle the competency trap by managing knowledge effectively and prioritizing employee well-being. When considered for effective KM, the PERMA (positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning and accomplishment) facets of well-being strategically supports knowledge sharing and sustainable organizational change through KM. Practical implications Focusing on PERMA facets of well-being in KM, an organization can emphasize employees' sense of achievement, addressing the competency trap to build a culture of knowledge sharing. This approach benefits professionals in developing an effective KM system. Originality/value This paper addresses the challenge of the competency trap, which has gained less academic attention, and explores KM from a well-being perspective.

EFL Teachers’ Emotions Toward Online-Merge-Offline Teaching Mode in University

The Online-Merge-Offline (OMO) teaching mode has emerged as a prominent new approach in language education reform with the expansion of online teaching in China. Due to the emotional complexity involved in educational reforms, this study explores the emotions expressed by Chinese EFL teachers in OMO classes, investigates the situational causes, and examines emotion regulation strategies in English Language Teaching. A questionnaire was distributed to 48 Chinese EFL teachers teaching General English (GE) using OMO mode across three normal universities, followed by semi-structured interviews for deeper insights. After collecting and analyzing data from questionnaires and interviews, the findings revealed a spectrum of emotions were experienced by EFL teachers, with positive emotions prevailing, particularly in GE classes. Love, surprise, and joy were prominent across different settings. Situational triggers encompassed classroom dynamics, institutional factors and social influences; reflecting teachers’ beliefs and identities, students’ learning engagement, behavior and academic achievements, colleagues and administrators’ work support and emotional support, policy makers’ reform mandate, and the Confucian heritage cultures. To regulate positive and negative emotions, Chinese EFL teachers primarily employed appraisal, followed by situation modification and selection. This study underscores the importance of emotional awareness for both students’ learning achievement and teachers’ professional development in ELT. It encourages Chinese EFL teachers to recognize the significance of their emotions in teaching effectiveness and offers insights for educators and administrators into supporting teachers’ emotional well-being and professional growth.