Emotional Arousal Research Articles

Internet image search outputs propagate climate change sentiment and impact policy support

AbstractA critical step in tackling climate change involves structural, system-level changes facilitating action. Despite their ubiquity, little is known about how internet search algorithms portray climate change, and how these portrayals impact concern and action. In a sample of 49 countries, we found that nationwide climate concern, but not nation-level climate impact, predicted the emotional arousal caused by climate change Google Image Search outputs, as rated by a naive sample (n = 383). In a follow-up experiment we randomly assigned another sample (n = 899) to receive the climate change image outputs resulting from searches conducted in countries high or low in pre-existing climate concern, and found that participants exposed to images from countries with high pre-existing concern (compared to low) became more concerned about climate change, supportive of climate policy and likely to act pro-environmentally, suggesting a cycle of climate sentiment propagation systemically facilitated by internet search algorithms. We discuss the implications of these findings for climate action interventions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and metabolic syndrome: the role of some antioxidants in treatment

The basis for the pathogenesis of cardiovascular, cancer, metabolic diseases, low-grade chronic inflammation (LGCI) and many other disorders is an imbalance between prooxidants and the antioxidant defense system. It is believed that the link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is based on oxidative stress (OS), increased autonomic nervous system activity, glucocorticoid synthesis activation, or immunological dysregulation. Moreover, pathophysiological changes in the systemic LGCI pathways that result from modifications in glucocorticoid receptor reactivity (secondary to emotional and physiological arousal) may be the basis for inappropriate social behavior consistent with PTSD and MetS manifestations. Recently, evidence has emerged suggesting that a combination of high levels of systemic OS and activation of LGCI plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PTSD. On the other hand, PTSD is a type of recurrent and long-term trauma that exacerbates OS and accele­rates cellular aging. LGCI is accompanied by the release of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, proinflammatory cytokines, and other biologically active substances that cause OS. The purpose of this review was to discuss the role of individual antioxidants, in particular polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, N-acetylcysteine, melatonin, L-arginine, C and E vitamins, zinc, copper, and selenium, in the prevention/treatment of comorbid pathology of PTSD and MetS, as well as to analyze new trends and directions for future research. The search was conducted in Scopus, Science Direct (from Else­vier) and PubMed, including MEDLINE databases. The keywords used were “post-traumatic stress disorder,” “metabolic syndrome,” and “antioxidants.” To identify research results that could not be found during the online search, a manual search of the bibliography of publications was used.

Human Perception of the Emotional Expressions of Humanoid Robot Body Movements: Evidence from Survey and Eye-Tracking Measurements

The emotional expression of body movement, which is an aspect of emotional communication between humans, has not been considered enough in the field of human–robot interactions (HRIs). This paper explores human perceptions of the emotional expressions of humanoid robot body movements to study the emotional design of the bodily expressions of robots and the characteristics of the human perception of these emotional body movements. Six categories of emotional behaviors, including happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust, were designed by imitating human emotional body movements, and they were implemented on a Yanshee robot. A total of 135 participants were recruited for questionnaires and eye-tracking measurements. Statistical methods, including K-means clustering, repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA), Friedman’s ANOVA, and Spearman’s correlation test, were used to analyze the data. According to the statistical results of emotional categories, intensities, and arousals perceived by humans, a guide to grading the designed robot’s bodily expressions of emotion is created. By combining this guide with certain objective analyses, such as fixation and trajectory of eye movements, the characteristics of human perception, including the perceived differences between happiness and negative emotions and the trends of eye movements for different emotional categories, are described. This study not only illustrates subjective and objective evidence that humans can perceive robot bodily expressions of emotions through only vision but also provides helpful guidance for designing appropriate emotional bodily expressions in HRIs.

How 808 bass affect people's mental performance

This article delves into the "rage music" trend led by Trippie Redd through his song "Miss the Rage" in 2021, particularly focusing on the psychological implications of the pivotal 808 bass drum within this genre. Originating from the Roland TR-808 drum machine, the 808 bass, with its deep and prolonged tone, has become an iconic element in hip-hop music, eliciting potent psychological and physiological responses from listeners. Research indicates that the 808 bass not only stimulates emotional arousal and excitement due to its unique sonic characteristics but may also trigger aggressive behavior as a result of its long-term association with provocative content. While this connection necessitates substantial repetition to establish, the widespread dissemination of hip-hop music has significantly manifested the provocative effect of the 808 bass within specific demographics. Furthermore, the high volume and multimodal perception of the 808 bass during mental performance contribute to the aggressive behavior of audiences. Nevertheless, the study acknowledges that the direct link between the 808 bass and mental performance requires further investigation, taking into account factors such as cultural backgrounds and listening environments.

Detecting Emotional Arousal and Aggressive Driving Using Neural Networks: A Pilot Study Involving Young Drivers in Duluth

Driving is integral to many people’s daily existence, but aggressive driving behavior increases the risk of road traffic collisions. Young drivers are more prone to aggressive driving and danger perception impairments. A driver’s physiological state (e.g., fatigue, anger, or stress) can negatively affect their driving performance. This is especially true for young drivers who have limited driving experience. This research focuses on examining the connection between emotional arousal and aggressive driving behavior in young drivers, using predictive analysis based on electrodermal activity (EDA) data through neural networks. The study involved 20 participants aged 18 to 30, who completed 84 driving sessions. During these sessions, their EDA signals and driving behaviors, including acceleration and braking, were monitored using an Empatica E4 wristband and a telematics device. This study conducted two key analyses using neural networks. The first analysis used a comprehensive set of EDA features to predict emotional arousal, achieving an accuracy of 65%. The second analysis concentrated on predicting aggressive driving behaviors by leveraging the top 10 most significant EDA features identified from the arousal prediction model. Initially, the arousal prediction was performed using the complete set of EDA features, from which feature importance was assessed. The top 10 features with the highest importance were then selected to predict aggressive driving behaviors. Another aggressive driving behavior prediction with a refined set of difference features, representing the changes from baseline EDA values, was also utilized in this analysis to enhance the prediction of aggressive driving events. Despite moderate accuracy, these findings suggest that EDA data, particularly difference features, can be valuable in predicting emotional states and aggressive driving, with future research needed to incorporate additional physiological measures for enhanced predictive performance.

Skin conductance response and habituation to emotional facial expressions and words.

Skin conductance response (SCR) serves as a dependable marker of sympathetic activation used to measure emotional arousal. This study investigates the impact of presentation modality (face or word) on the degree of emotional discrimination elicited by SCR. Facial expressions or words associated with six basic emotions-anger, happiness, disgust, fear, sadness, and surprise-were studied among 102 participants. The amplitude of SCR was accurately predicted by subjective arousal ratings of these stimuli, but not by valence ratings. The habituation process to emotional and neutral stimuli across six successive presentations was characterized by an exponential decay function, capturing the rate at which SCR response diminishes in relation to the preceding trial of the same stimulus. Through the subtraction of the response to neutral stimuli from the emotion-evoked SCR, it was demonstrated that the initial presentation of each emotion elicits a substantial response, particularly attributable to the emotional content. Notably, the initial emotional response to faces expressing happiness, disgust, and sadness surpassed that of words conveying the same emotions. The results indicate that different emotional responses can be quantified using a simple electrical instrument.

Avoiding hedonic contrast to increase acceptance of healthy sustainable school meals

Abstract To promote sustainable eating in schools, new approaches for embracing plant-based (PB) meals are needed. Hedonic contrast (HC) describes how liking for one item is influenced by the recent experience of other items of different hedonic valence. Despite its established impact on liking, HC’s effect on intake, particularly in repeated exposure experiments, is limited. Moreover, its effect on food-related emotions remains largely unexplored. Hence, this study investigated how HC influences liking, emotions and intake of an innovative co-created PB dish, served as part of a course meal, at school in a repeated exposure study. Two groups of students (N (HC) =71, mean age=14.5 and N (control) =57, mean age=15.3) were served the same neutrally liked main PB dish (pumpkin stuffed lentils balls (LPA)) after a starter dish (rice with vegetables) which was altered in taste through seasoning and cooking methods to be more (HC) or less (control) tasty. The exposure was repeated once/week for 5 consecutive weeks. Liking and emotional responses for the dishes were recorded through a questionnaire and food consumption by weighting plate waste. HC led to lower liking (p = 0.037) and lower positive emotions (cheerful, pleasure) with high arousal (surprise) for LPA, while increasing negative valence emotions (disappointed). Moreover, LPA consumption was significantly lower in the HC group vs the control (45% vs 60% respectively, p = 0.040), resulting in lower protein intake in the HC group (p = 0.029). The effects of HC remained stable with time. This study, for the first time, reveals a sustained rise in food-related positive high arousal emotions, when foods are presented following less liked food. Since new foods evoking positive valence and high arousal emotions have higher chances to be appreciated than foods evoking positive valence and low arousal emotions, this work opens new perspectives on how to propose new, healthier and more sustainable PB dishes in school canteens. Key messages • Avoiding negative contrast between school meals is a promising strategy to ensure higher liking, intake and increased positive emotions over repeated exposure for innovative plant-based dishes. • To enhance adolescent’s acceptance and uptake of new plant-based dishes in school canteens, it is better to serve them after less tasty options.

Jazz hands and jitters: Exploring valence and arousal dimensions with multidimensional scaling techniques

Utilizing the two-dimensional plane of valence and arousal with multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), the current study sought to better understand the structure of affect and the relationship between emotion items. The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) is the most frequently applied self-report measure of affect but has been criticized for only including high arousal emotions. A between-subjects, two-part experimental study was conducted. Participants (N = 548) were recruited online and asked to rate the similarity between one of two target words (anger: n = 271; calm: n = 277) and 143 emotion words. Our results provided evidence for the two-dimensional plane of valence and arousal, indicating that all four quadrants are important when studying affect. Overall, the current study found support for the activation-arousal theory of affectivity with MDS analyses. Emotion words clustered in all four quadrants of the two-dimensional plane, demonstrating the necessity of an affect measure that encompasses all four quadrants. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that the PANAS does not include items in the positive valence/low activation quadrant, however, a newly published measure was found to have increased item dispersion, with items included in all four quadrants of affect. Limitations and proposed future directions are discussed.

Exploring the impact of artificial intelligence technologies on tourists’ smart experiences: the moderating role of emotional arousal level

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies affect tourists’ smart experiences and the role of emotional arousal level in this relationship. Drawing from the appraisal theory of emotion, a conceptual framework is proposed to test hypotheses about the connections between AI technologies, emotional arousal level, and tourists’ smart experiences. This study utilized an online survey to collect 301 questionnaires from tourists who experienced AI technologies in four Chinese smart tourism destinations. The results obtained through the structural equation modeling method suggest that four factors – interaction, personalization, co-creation, and privacy – positively impact tourists’ smart experiences. Additionally, the study finds that tourists’ emotional arousal level is a moderator between AI technologies and tourists’ smart experiences. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for smart tourism destinations and researchers to use AI technologies to enhance tourists’ smart experiences at smart tourism destinations.

Emotional valence and arousal: the impact of AI-generated image stimuli on design creativity

Emotional valence and arousal: the impact of AI-generated image stimuli on design creativity

Neurofeedback Reduces P300 Amplitudes to Intensely Emotive Pictures in Depressed Cancer Patients.

Objective. Electroencephalographic neurofeedback (EEG NF) or its effects on event-related potentials (ERPs) in quantitative EEG have not yet been systematically studied in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the emotional arousal and valence effects on the event-related P300 in a visual oddball paradigm by an individualized EEG alpha and theta/beta NF intervention in cancer patients and survivors (N = 18, age between 31 and 73 years). Methods. ERPs to low and high arousal target stimuli with either emotional positive or negative content and depressive state were obtained in cancer patients before and after a five-week NF intervention in a waitlist paradigm, following the consensus on the reporting and experimental design of clinical and cognitive-behavioral NF studies (CRED-nf checklist). Results. Overall, P300 amplitudes decreased significantly (p < .05) from pre to post therapy. Effects concerning high arousal stimuli with negative and positive valences were on the border to significance. Moreover, patients achieved significant relief of depressive symptoms (p < .05). Especially younger participants (<55 yrs.) benefited. Conclusions. P300 observations could reflect a therapeutic effect on brain activity level. EEG NF alleviates depressive symptoms in cancer patients. Significance. Based on these findings, further studies are needed to investigate the effects on event-related potentials by NF therapy.

Analyzing narrative contagion through digital storytelling in social media conversations: An AI-powered computational approach

Despite the growing popularity of digital narratives, research on digital storytelling and its spread through social media interactions remains limited. Inspired by the social contagion theory, we introduce the concept of narrative contagion—where a story shared by a person or organization prompts others to share their stories—and investigate its process and outcome in online cancer communities. Utilizing a large dataset of 849 Facebook posts, 47,291 comments, and 14,466 replies, our artificial intelligence (AI)-based computational analysis provides evidence for narrative contagion among individual users in organization-hosted cancer communities on Facebook. It also reveals different organizational message characteristics, such as emotional arousal, post topic, and request for storytelling, that affect user storytelling and emotional support in comments and replies. Our results contribute to a deeper understanding of digital storytelling and its collective dynamics in online communities.

Linking brain-heart interactions to emotional arousal in immersive virtual reality.

The subjective experience of emotions is linked to the contextualized perception and appraisal of changes in bodily (e.g., heart) activity. Increased emotional arousal has been related to attenuated high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), lower EEG parieto-occipital alpha power, and higher heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) amplitudes. We studied emotional arousal-related brain-heart interactions using immersive virtual reality (VR) for naturalistic yet controlled emotion induction. Twenty-nine healthy adults (13 women, age: 26 ± 3) completed a VR experience that included rollercoasters while EEG and ECG were recorded. Continuous emotional arousal ratings were collected during a video replay immediately after. We analyzed emotional arousal-related changes in HF-HRV as well as in BHIs using HEPs. Additionally, we used the oscillatory information in the ECG and the EEG to model the directional information flows between the brain and heart activity. We found that higher emotional arousal was associated with lower HEP amplitudes in a left fronto-central electrode cluster. While parasympathetic modulation of the heart (HF-HRV) and parieto-occipital EEG alpha power were reduced during higher emotional arousal, there was no evidence for the hypothesized emotional arousal-related changes in bidirectional information flow between them. Whole-brain exploratory analyses in additional EEG (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma) and HRV (low-frequency, LF, and HF) frequency bands revealed a temporo-occipital cluster, in which higher emotional arousal was linked to decreased brain-to-heart (i.e., gamma→HF-HRV) and increased heart-to-brain (i.e., LF-HRV → gamma) information flow. Our results confirm previous findings from less naturalistic experiments and suggest a link between emotional arousal and brain-heart interactions in temporo-occipital gamma power.

Color–emotion associations by speakers of Spanish and Mandarin in verbal and visual tasks: a comparison

Abstract This study aims to determine if there are differences in color–emotion association between monolingual speakers of Spanish and Mandarin, depending on how colors are presented (verbally or visually). We tested two groups of 25 speakers of these two languages in two different tasks using the Geneva Emotion Wheel, which encompasses 20 types of emotions. In Task 1, 13 colors were presented to participants as color terms in their native language, whereas in Task 2 the same colors were presented as color patches from the Munsell chart. Participants were then asked to associate color terms or color patches to the set of emotion concepts (and intensities of emotion) in the Geneva Emotion Wheel. Overall, differences between languages were not significant, regarding either the type of emotion or individual dimensions of emotion (valence, arousal or power), although significant differences were observed for specific colors. Also, Spanish speakers tended to attribute higher intensity values and higher numbers of emotion values to colors. At the same time, speakers of both languages reacted similarly to color presentation, with color terms being associated with the same emotions as color patches, but eliciting stronger reactions with respect to intensity and the number of emotion values. Finally, we found less variability in color–emotion associations within the Spanish-speaking group. Overall, our study points to a mixed pattern of universality and culture-specificity regarding how colors are used for conveying emotions by people.

Distortion of overlapping memories relates to arousal and anxiety.

Everyday experiences often overlap, challenging our ability to maintain distinct episodic memories. One way to resolve such interference is by exaggerating subtle differences between remembered events, a phenomenon known as memory repulsion. Here, we tested whether repulsion is influenced by emotional arousal, when resolving memory interference is perhaps most needed. We adapted an existing paradigm in which participants repeatedly studied object-face associations. Participants studied two different-colored versions of each object: a to-be-tested "target" and its not-to-be-tested "competitor" pair mate. The level of interference between target and competitor pair mates was manipulated by making the object colors either highly similar or less similar, depending on the participant group. To manipulate arousal, the competitor object-face associations were preceded by either a neutral tone or an aversive and arousing burst of white noise. Memory distortion for the color of the target objects was tested after each study round to examine whether memory distortions emerge after learning. We found that participants with greater sound-induced pupil dilations, an index of physiological arousal, showed greater memory attraction of target colors towards highly similar competitor colors. Greater memory attraction was also correlated with greater memory interference in the last round of learning. Additionally, individuals who self-reported higher trait anxiety showed greater memory attraction when one of the overlapping memories was associated with something aversive. Our findings suggest that memories of similar neutral and arousing events may blur together after repeated exposures, especially in individuals who show higher arousal responses and symptoms of anxiety.

The influence of message frame and product type on green consumer purchase decisions : an ERPs study

Green consumption is a crucial pathway towards achieving global sustainability goals. Product-oriented green advertisements can effectively stimulate consumers’ latent needs and convert them into eventual purchasing intentions and behaviors, thereby promoting green consumption. Given that neuromarketing methods facilitate the understanding of consumers’ decision-making processes, this study combines prospect theory and need fulfillment theory, employing event-related potentials (ERPs) as measures to explore changes in consumers’ cognitive resources and emotional arousal levels when confronted with green products and advertising information. This enables inference regarding consumers’ acceptance of purchasing and their psychological processes. Behavioral results indicated that message framing influences consumers’ purchases, with consumers consuming more green in response to negatively framed advertisements. EEG results indicated that matching positive framing with utilitarian green products was effective in increasing consumers’ cognitive attention in the early cognitive stage. In the late stage of cognition negative frames stimulated consumers’ mood swings more, and the influence of product type depended on the role of message frames, and the consumption motivation induced by the product, whose influence was overridden by external evaluations such as message frames. These research findings provide an explanation for the impact of frame information on consumers’ purchasing decisions at different stages, assisting marketers in devising diverse promotional strategies based on product characteristics to foster the development and practice of green consumption. This will further embed the concept of green consumption advocated by organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Greenpeace into the public consciousness.

The heterogeneity of intimate partner violence and its associations with distressed couples' emotional communication.

To understand the ways in which heterogeneous aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV) differentially influence partners' emotional expression during the conflict, the present study examined the unique and interactive effects among (a) types of IPV (psychological and/or physical), (b) directionality of IPV (unilateral or bilateral), and (c) couples' conversation topic (initiated by men or women) on the trajectories of emotional arousal in distressed, different-gender couples (N = 106). Vocally encoded emotional arousal (f₀) was measured during couples' recorded conversations. Findings from growth-curve analyses demonstrated that the level of IPV, directionality of IPV, and conversation topic were associated with different patterns of emotional arousal. First, during the discussion of the woman's topic, escalation was observed among recipients of violence in relationships with high levels of unilateral IPV, while their partners-that is, perpetrators of IPV-demonstrated stable, flat trajectories. Second, during men's conversations, stable levels of arousal were predominantly observed among both partners in relationships with men's unilateral IPV and with bilateral psychological and physical IPV. Finally, for partners who engaged in low levels of IPV, men and women both showed escalating arousal across women's conversations; however, when discussing the man's topic, they demonstrated different patterns, with men escalating linearly and women maintaining stable levels of arousal. These findings converge to suggest a picture in which distressed partners who either engage in or experience IPV use "all-or-nothing" approaches to emotional expression during conflict-not only escalating but also containing or controlling their emotional arousal across various contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Exercise intensity of virtual reality exergaming modulates the responses to executive function and affective response in sedentary young adults: A randomized, controlled crossover feasibility study

Virtual reality (VR) exergaming is a novel strategy to encourage physical activity and boost emotional well-being. However, its effects on executive function (EF) are not fully understood. This study assessed the immediate and retention effects of immersive VR exergaming, at varying exercise intensities, on EF and affect among sedentary college students. Thirty participants (mean age = 22.2±2.5 years; 18 females) underwent 15-minute sessions of moderate-intensity (MI), high-intensity (HI), and active-control intensity (AC) VR exergaming in a counterbalanced order. EF was evaluated using the Flanker, Task-switching, and N-back tasks before, immediately after, and 30 minutes post-intervention. Emotional valence and arousal were measured by the Feeling Scale and Felt Arousal Scale, respectively. Inverse efficiency score (IES) results indicated that inhibitory control was higher following both MI and HI exergaming compared to AC (p < 0.05), with improvements sustained for 30 minutes. HI VR exergaming showed the greatest improvement (p = 0.048). Both HI and MI also exhibited higher working memory capacity than AC (p < 0.05), with HI performing better (p = 0.039). No significant differences in task-switching performance were observed among the groups (p > 0.05). Emotional valence and arousal were significantly elevated immediately after and sustained for 30 minutes following MI and HI exergaming (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates the cognitive and affective benefits of MI and HI VR exergaming in young adults, with HI VR exergaming showing longer-lasting improvements. These findings suggest that immersive VR exergaming can enhance both physical and cognitive health, potentially improving academic performance and daily functionality in collegiate populations.

Interpersonal distance affects advisors’ responses to feedback on their advice: Evidence from event-related potentials

Advisors typically receive two types of feedback: whether their advice is accepted and benefits the advisee. However, the effect of interpersonal distance on advisors' feedback responses remains unexplored. Therefore, to examine this association, we used an advice-giving task in which participants acted as advisors to either friends or strangers through event-related potentials (ERP). Participants received feedback reflecting whether their advice was accepted or rejected and the advisee’s outcome (gains or losses). Participants’ electroencephalograms were recorded when receiving feedback. Results revealed that rejections from friends elicited stronger feedback-related negativity (FRN) than acceptances from friends. Furthermore, acceptances from friends triggered larger late positive components (LPCs) than rejections from friends. No such effects were observed when the advisee was a stranger. Moreover, a stronger FRN was observed for losses than gains when strangers accepted the advice; however, this difference was not observed when strangers rejected the advice. In addition, friends’ gains elicited a larger P300 than losses, regardless of whether friends accepted the advice; however, for strangers, this P300 difference was observed only when the advice was accepted. When strangers accepted the advice, gains elicited larger LPCs than losses; however, this difference was not observed when strangers rejected the advice. These results revealed that the interpersonal distance between people affected how they responded to feedback on advice. This was demonstrated by the neural responses related to expectations, motivational significance, and emotional arousal. It also suggests that the psychological processes by which interpersonal distance influences feedback processing change over the stages.

Changing attachment orientation: Uncovering the role of shifting the emotion regulation tendency.

Changes in the individual's attachment orientation toward greater security are considered an important clinical goal. One promising underlying process of change in attachment orientation is shifting the emotion regulation tendency, in which the individual progresses from overreliance on the self or on the other to regulate emotional arousal. The present study utilized a computational approach to study shifts in the emotion regulation tendency as these manifest in the patient's and therapist's vocally encoded emotional arousal. The study examined whether shifts in the regulation tendency are associated with decreases in the level of insecure attachment and in strengthening of the therapeutic alliance. Shifts in the regulation tendency were examined throughout the early stages of treatment (Sessions 1-4) using 11,710 talk turns within 52 patient-therapist dyads. Findings suggest that shifts in the emotion regulation tendency are associated with greater strengthening of the therapeutic alliance and a decrease in the level of attachment avoidance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).