Emotional Reactivity In Response Research Articles

The bidirectional relationship between emotion regulation and social communication in childhood: A systematic review

AbstractEmotion regulation (ER) refers to the ability to regulate emotional reactions in response to stimuli. Social communication involves the knowledge and skills to engage in social interactions. Both processes develop in the first years of life and form the foundation for later functioning. Literature suggests a bidirectional relationship between ER and social communication; however, the majority of research examines these constructs independently. This review provides an in‐depth examination of research that has measured the relations between ER and social communication in children from 2 years of age and onwards. Findings revealed an age‐related pattern, where ER was related to later social communication and vice versa. However, there was no consensus regarding direct relationship(s) between ER and social communication due to heterogeneity among studies when defining and measuring these constructs. This review illustrates the importance of understanding the pathways between ER and social communication and may inform future studies, both in typical and atypical development.

The effect of others’ attributions in feedback

Purpose Research has supported both feedback’s variable effects on performance and the effect of attributions on subsequent behavior. Managers’ attributions for subordinates’ performance affect how they react to those subordinates and the feedback they give, and subordinates’ own attributions affect their subsequent behavior. It is unclear whether (or how) a manager’s attributions for subordinate behavior affect subordinate behavior. Building on research that shows emotional reactions in response to attributions in feedback, this study aims to examine how recipients’ perceptions and subsequent effort and performance are affected when others’ attributions are shared through feedback. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on attribution theory and feedback intervention theory, this study conducts a lab experiment using manipulated performance feedback to test the effects of feedback sign and attributions in the feedback. Perceptions of the attribution are also measured to test their effects. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and regression in SPSS 27. Findings Results show that perceptions of the attribution communicated in feedback, rather than feedback sign alone, affect perceived valence of the feedback (e.g. feedback with an attribution to luck is generally perceived as negative). These perceptions also affect feedback acceptance and impact subsequent effort and performance more than the “objective” attribution, underscoring the importance of recipient reactions and perceptions in the feedback process. Originality/value This paper shows that recipients’ perceptions of others’ attributions included in feedback impact feedback reactions, effort and performance. This is valuable to scholars researching feedback and to practitioners to better understand how feedback they deliver may be interpreted.

"I was Close to Helping him but Couldn't Quite get There": Psychiatrists' Experiences of a Patient's Death by Suicide.

A patient's death by suicide is a common experience for psychiatrists, ranging from 33% to 80%, however, research about the impact of patient suicide on psychiatrists is limited to a few survey studies. This study had three main objectives: (1) understanding the emotional and behavioural impact of a patient's suicide on psychiatrists, (2) exploring if and how the experience of a patient's suicide results in changes in psychiatrist practice patterns, and (3) understanding the tangible steps that psychiatrists and institutions take to manage the emotional and behavioural impact of patient suicide on psychiatrists. Eighteen psychiatrists were recruited using snowball sampling and interviewed to collect demographic data, followed by an in-depth exploration of their experiences of patient suicide. Interviews were then transcribed verbatim and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. Study participants described strong emotional reactions in response to patient suicide. Emotional reactions were mediated by a physician, patient, relationship and institutional factors. While psychiatrists did not change the acuity or setting of their practice in response to patient suicide, they made several changes in their practice, including increased caution regarding discharges and passes from inpatient units, more thorough documentation and continuing education about suicide. Patient suicide has a profound impact on psychiatrists and based on the findings of this study, we propose steps that psychiatrists and institutions can take to manage the emotional, psychological and behavioural burden of this event.

Understanding the Link Between Discrete Negative Emotions and Empathic Accuracy

Extant theories have suggested that negative emotions generally harm cognitive processes. However, adopting a discrete emotion perspective, in this study, we predicted that only anger and fear but not sadness should be negatively associated with empathic accuracy, a process that has been shown to be cognitively highly demanding. Over 100 participants (Mage = 66.66 years, SDage = 1.00) reported their emotional reactions in response to a negative film in the laboratory, documented their everyday momentary emotions six times a day over seven consecutive days, and completed a film-based empathic accuracy test. Initial findings suggest that only fear but not anger or sadness was related to empathic accuracy. More specifically, high levels of fear both in the laboratory and in everyday life predicted low empathic accuracy. This pattern of findings will be discussed in the context of discrete emotions theories.

A Psychological Perspective on Vicarious Embarrassment and Shame in the Context of Cringe Humor

Cringe humor combines the seemingly opposite emotional experiences of amusement and embarrassment due to others’ transgressions of norms. Psychological theories and empirical studies on these emotional reactions in response to others’ transgressions of social norms have mostly focused on embarrassment and shame. Here, we build on this literature, aiming to present a novel perspective on cringe humor. To do so, we introduce the psychological literature on embarrassment and shame, as well as the processes involved that allow humans to also experience these emotions on behalf of others, and draw theoretical links to cringe comedy. We then systematically disentangle contexts in which audiences experience vicarious embarrassment, and structure our argument based on the ongoing processes and consequences of the observed transgressions of norms based on the constituting dimensions of awareness and intentionality of the normative transgression by the social target. We describe how the behavioral expressions of the target along with the social distance and the current motivations of the audience shape the emotional experience and negotiation of social norms, specifically in response to intentional normative transgressions. While this perspective makes it evident that cringe humor is closely linked to the debate around social normative standards between the actor/actress and the audience, we conclude that the different manifestations and specific situational characteristics have fundamentally different consequences for the affirmation or renegotiation of social normative standards.

How should I respond to a complaining customer? A model of Cognitive-Emotive-Behavioral from the perspective of restaurant service employees

Abstract Many studies on coping have been conducted in diverse industries but within the hospitality industry, studies on how employees cope with customer complaints have only just begun, despite the task being one of the most significant stressors amongst service employees. The aim of this paper was to explore the cognitive appraisals, emotional elicitations, emotional coping behavior and complaint handling behavior of service employees. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 26 frontline restaurant employees. The results show that service employees engaged in different cognitive appraisals and emotional reactions in response to different customer complaints. Subsequently, they engaged in different emotional coping behaviors including both positive and negative of avoidance and approach. Theoretically, a model was developed to depict a holistic picture of Cognitive-Emotive-Behavioral in a complaint-handling context. The findings might assist industry practitioners to devise better complaint handling and coping strategies to enhance both customer and employee satisfaction.

The Relationship between Trait Mindfulness and Emotional Reactivity Following Mood Manipulation

Trait mindfulness can be used to refer to one’s predisposition toward present-moment attention and awareness in everyday life. Increases in trait mindfulness are thought to result from states of heightened mindfulness achieved during practice over time. A significant amount of research has examined the effects of mindfulness practice on psychological well-being, including improved emotion regulation. However, it is not well understood whether this improved emotion regulation is associated with an increase or decrease in emotional reactivity when facing a negatively valenced stressor. We conducted two studies (N = 88; N = 95, and N = 65) to assess the relationship between trait mindfulness (assessed using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and emotional reactivity to an induced stressor in the laboratory. In study 1, individuals with higher levels of Acting with Awareness exhibited less negatively valenced emotional reactivity in response to the induced stressor. In study 2, individuals with higher levels of overall trait mindfulness represented by acting with awareness, non-reactivity, and non-judgment exhibited less negatively valenced emotional reactivity in response to the induced stressor. Results from both studies suggest that certain qualities of mindfulness may provide individuals with the ability to notice and engage with stress-induced emotions in an adaptive way, resulting in reduced negatively valenced emotions.

Public awareness, emotional reactions and human mobility in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China - a population-based ecological study.

The outbreak of COVID-19 generated severe emotional reactions, and restricted mobility was a crucial measure to reduce the spread of the virus. This study describes the changes in public emotional reactions and mobility patterns in the Chinese population during the COVID-19 outbreak. We collected data on public emotional reactions in response to the outbreak through Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, between 1st January and 31st March 2020. Using anonymized location-tracking information, we analyzed the daily mobility patterns of approximately 90% of Sichuan residents. There were three distinct phases of the emotional and behavioral reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak. The alarm phase (19th-26th January) was a restriction-free period, characterized by few new daily cases, but a large amount public negative emotions [the number of negative comments per Weibo post increased by 246.9 per day, 95% confidence interval (CI) 122.5-371.3], and a substantial increase in self-limiting mobility (from 45.6% to 54.5%, changing by 1.5% per day, 95% CI 0.7%-2.3%). The epidemic phase (27th January-15th February) exhibited rapidly increasing numbers of new daily cases, decreasing expression of negative emotions (a decrease of 27.3 negative comments per post per day, 95% CI -40.4 to -14.2), and a stabilized level of self-limiting mobility. The relief phase (16th February-31st March) had a steady decline in new daily cases and decreasing levels of negative emotion and self-limiting mobility. During the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the public's emotional reaction was strongest before the actual peak of the outbreak and declined thereafter. The change in human mobility patterns occurred before the implementation of restriction orders, suggesting a possible link between emotion and behavior.

Perceptions of who is in the healthcare team? A content analysis of social media posts during COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Social media posts can be used to explore public perceptions of interprofessional teams and healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to use social listening technique to explore unfiltered public perceptions of the professionals involved in healthcare teams during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a naturalistic online setting, and to elaborate on the emotional reactions in response to an online social media post. A cross-sectional retrospective review of comments on a specific social media post was conducted between 15 March and 28 April 2020 using summative content analysis. One image that was widely circulated on social media platforms with two questions: ‘Who society thinks works at hospital? versus who really works at hospitals?’ was selected. Three platforms were searched, Facebook®, Twitter®, and LinkedIn®. Only publicly available posts were included. Out of the initial 40 posts identified, 21 posts which had 1759 comments were analysed and 1576 were included for coding. Of the emerging nine themes, perceptions of who is in the team was the largest (40.5%, n = 639), followed by agreement (23.1%, n = 364) and feeling excluded (16.2%, n = 255). Of emotional expressions, 42.1% were positive and 57.9% negative. The most frequent emotions were frustration (54.4%, n = 857) followed by gratitude (16.3%, n = 257) and relief (15.9%, n = 250). The post brought considerable attention to the role of the interprofessional team and generated many feelings of frustration and exclusion. For this reason, the response to this social media post is very important and not to be overlooked. Healthcare professionals need to work together to strengthen their presence as an interprofessional team, united to deliver safe effective quality care for patients. The current COVID-19 pandemic and the media attention should be taken as an opportunity by the interprofessional community to work together to combat negative media stereotypes. Further research is warranted on public perceptions of the healthcare team.

The Influence of Leisure Engagement on Daily Emotional Well-Being

Leisure engagement is believed to offer emotional benefits. However, relatively few studies have examined how leisure engagement influences emotional well-being in the context of individuals’ everyday lives. The current study examined the associations between leisure engagement and daily emotional well-being, as measured by participants’ mean levels of positive affect (PA), PA variability, and PA reactivity to stressors. Using smartphones, participants (n = 176) completed ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) 5 times per day for 14 consecutive days. The Pearson correlations indicated that the participants who engaged in leisure more frequently experienced higher mean levels of PA and lower PA variability in daily life compared to those with less frequent leisure engagement. However, multilevel models indicated that individuals’ differences in frequency of leisure engagement did not influence their emotional reactivity in response to daily stressors. The findings extend the importance of leisure engagement to consider the dynamics of daily emotional well-being.

Observed emotional reactivity in response to frustration tasks in psychiatrically hospitalized youth with autism spectrum disorder.

Large emotional reactions (e.g. outbursts, tantrums) can be common and distressing in the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Most previous research that has examined these types of emotional responses have used questionnaire data or focused only on young children. In addition, very little research has included individuals across a large range of intellectual and functional abilities or individuals with more severe emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. This study examined emotional reactions to frustrating tasks in 6-21-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder who were psychiatrically hospitalized due to emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. We describe change in the amount, intensity, duration, and range of emotional reactions that the participants displayed from a neutral activity to the frustrating tasks and then to a neutral recovery period. We also examined associations between characteristics of the participants and these emotional reactions. We found that younger children displayed more negative emotions across the neutral and frustrating tasks; however, age did not relate to how big their reactions to frustration were. Furthermore, we found that individuals with fewer adaptive skills (i.e. age-appropriate life skills) and minimally verbal individuals had bigger reactions and recovered less following the frustration tasks. The results highlight the importance of examining emotional reactions in individuals with lower verbal and adaptive abilities and for interventions to consider the connection between verbal and adaptive skills and emotional reactions.

The social pedagogic adaption of individuals with mental health disorders

The article presents the results of research and practical social pedagogical activities carried out jointly by Laboratory of Social Projects of Belgorod State University, Borisovka Psycho-Neurological Boarding School and the non-governmental public organization of social initiatives "Faith". The project was implemented during March - November 2018 in the Belgorod Oblast of the Russian Federation. The study implemented such methods of collecting primary sociological data as monitoring of educational and social activities of individuals with mental health problems residing in psycho-neurological boarding school; half-structured interview of experts - employees of psycho-neurological boarding school and teachers. Actually, social adaptation of individuals with mental health problems is an acute social problem. They belong to the most vulnerable population group wrapped with complex of social stereotypes and various signs of social deadaptation. The social adaptation of such personalities is achieved by involvement into social educational activities. The study results demonstrated that there are a number of psychological and pedagogical difficulties in face-to-face training for individuals with mental health problems. Among them are serious emotional reactions in response to actions of teacher or other students; behavior disorders, decreasing of education motivation, inadequate self-assessment. The remote education permits to avoid these and other difficulties. The individual with mental health problems while in appropriate comfortable conditions can receive effective education, support themselves materially and be useful member of society. The study established such most effective methods of remote education for individuals with mental health problems as information-receptive method; reproductive method; method of cognitive visualization of case studies from practice and research method.

Placebo-controlled study of xenon effect on the emotions and frequency of the EEG alpha-oscillations

Background: A partial blocker of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, the noble gas Xe in sub-anesthetic (2550%) doses performs its neuroprotective effects on the brain structures functions through binding to glycine site. According to the single studies, Xe reveals the thymoleptic properties, which are reflected in the strengthening of positive emotional activation and a decreasing ― negative. The purpose of this placebo-controlled pilot study in healthy volunteers was to evaluate the translational potential of Xe as a possible antidepressant.
 Methods: In placebo-controlled, double-blind study 14 right-handed healthy volunteers (males, right handed) were randomly assigned to 15 min inhalation session either of an admixture of up to a maximum of 25% Xe (25% Хе/30% О2/45% N2) or placebo (70% N2/30% О2) for 15 min. The inspiratory Xe concentration was titrated during the first 5 min until 25% was achieved and maintained for 5 min. Across the study, we had recorded, ECG, SGR, and 64-channel EEG. As a neurophysiological index of the experienced emotion intensity changes individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF) shift was studied. Changes in intensity of experiencing ten discrete emotions (surprise, joy, happiness, bliss, awe, fear, sadness, anxiety, anger, disgust) as indexed by visual analog scales (VAS) were recorded in pre- and post Xe and placebo inhalation conditions. The research received approval of the institutional ethics committee.
 Results: Repeated measures ANOVAs of the emotional reactivity [(GAZ 2: Xe, placebo) CONDITION (2: pre, post) EMOTION (10)] and of the iAPF [(GAZ 2: Xe, placebo) CONDITION: 2 (pre, post) established high significant specific effects of the Xe compared with placebo. The impact of Xe in a sample of examined subjects revealed two types of responses: in one part, an increase in the experiencing positive emotions intensity, accompanied by the rise in iAPF, in the other, insignificant changes in the initial emotional profile with a tendency to decrease in combination with a decrease in iAPF. Thus, in agreement with ad hoc hypothesis, Xe in sub-anesthetic doses induced the enhancement of the positive emotion intensity experience only in those participants who demonstrated the increasing of the iAPF. Correlation and regression analyses revealed a positive correlation of iAPF changes with an intensity of positive emotional activation (increased power of experiencing emotions of joy, happiness, and bliss), as well as the iAPF shift ability to predict the thymoleptic effect of Xe with 74% probability. Additionally, we were able to deduce that individual nature of changes in iAPF and the nature of emotional-reactivity in response to Xe depend on the absolute value of the baseline iAPF.
 Conclusions: We had first established that Xe as a blocker of NMDA receptors in sub-anesthetic doses enhances positive emotional activation (increased intensity of experiencing discrete emotions of joy, happiness, and bliss) in healthy volunteers. The presence or absence of the thymoleptic response to Xe varies due to the individual characteristics of the neurophysiological endophenotype of the EEG alpha activity ― iAPF. The obtained data allow us to consider iAPF as a potential neurophysiological endophenotypic predictor of an individual thymoleptic response to Xe in sub-anesthetic doses in the clinic of the affective disorders. To assess the real Xe translational potential, as a clinical thymoleptic and antidepressant agent, it is necessary to perform large-scale placebo-controlled clinical studies in patients with various clinical forms of negative affect pathology.

Features of emotional burnout of students in the conditions of pre-examination and examination academic stress

An important place in the structure of personality traits of student youth, who possesses a certain specialty and is in the conditions of pre-examination and examination academic stress, belongs to the leading characteristics of the level of expression of emotional burnout, which is an indisputable factor of formation of high level of emotional instability of young women and young men to the effects of environmental factors and social and professional living conditions. The aim of the study is to study the peculiarities of emotional burnout of students of higher medical education institutions, who are in the conditions of pre-examination and examination academic stress. The studies were conducted at the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University among 67 students of the 3rd year of the Faculty of Medicine, respectively, 1 month before the preparation and immediately before the period of differentiated tests and the examination session with the use of a personal Boyko questionnaire. The statistical analysis of the data obtained, which involved the use of descriptive statistics procedures, was carried out on the basis of using the standard statistical analysis application package “Statistica 6.1” (license number AXX910A374605FA). The results show a significant increase in the level of expression of all the leading phases of emotional burnout of students during the pre-examination and examination periods, and most of all this phenomenon relates to the most unfavorable in its content of phases of resistance and exhaustion. It is established that the level of expression of the leading characteristics of emotional burnout in the highest proportion of young women and young men is characterized by being in the phase of resistance. The highest level of expression of emotional burnout phase indicators in both young women and young men is characteristic for the period of 1 month before the examination session, however, the highest level of expression of phase indicators depletion in both young women and young men is observed immediately before the examination session. Young women have a more significant degree of expression of values that mark the leading components of the resistance phase, among young men – values that mark the leading indicators of the phases of stress and exhaustion. The determined data are of significant importance both from the standpoint of determining the features of the formation of adaptation resources of the organism, and from the standpoint of establishing practically significant approaches to the formation of students' personality, which provide the necessary for successful mastering of the future profession of the working dynamic stereotype of the teaching and professional activity prevention of unwanted emotional reactions in response to the factors of educational or work process.

Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study

BackgroundEmotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in response to emotional triggers in daily life, so-called emotional reactivity. The goal of this study was to examine emotional reactivity in response to general emotional appraisals (i.e. goal congruence or valence, goal relevance or importance, and emotion-focused coping potential) and BPD-specific evaluations (trust and disappointment in self and others) in daily life of inpatients with BPD.MethodsThirty inpatients with BPD and 28 healthy controls participated in an experience sampling study and repeatedly rated the intensity of their current emotions, emotional appraisals, and evaluations of trust and disappointment in self and others.ResultsResults showed that the BPD group exhibited stronger emotional reactivity in terms of negative affect than healthy controls, however only in response to disappointment in someone else. BPD patients also showed weaker reactivity in positive affect in response to the appraised importance of a situation; the more a situation was appraised as important, the higher the subsequent positive affect for healthy controls only, not the patient group.ConclusionsThese findings show that appraisals can trigger strong emotional reactions in BPD patients, and suggest that altered emotional reactivity might be a potential underlying process of emotional instability in the daily life.

Effects of Age on Emotion Regulation, Emotional Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior.

The degree to which older adults experience emotional empathy and show subsequent prosocial behavior versus experience personal distress in response to another's distress remains unclear. Young (n = 40; 17-29 years) and older (n = 39; 61-82 years) adults watched videos of individuals expressing pain or no pain. Pain mimicry was recorded using facial electromyography. Participants were then asked if they would spend the remaining time helping the experimenter. Self-reported tendency to suppress or reappraise emotion was assessed, as well as trait and state emotional empathy and personal distress. Pain mimicry was associated with reduced trait suppression in older adults. In both age groups, greater emotional empathy, averaged across video condition, was associated with increased helping. In addition, relative to young adults, older adults reported more personal distress and emotional reactivity in response to the videos but were just as willing to help. They also put more effort into helping. These findings contribute to clarification of mixed previous evidence regarding the experience of emotional empathy in young versus older adulthood. We discuss the importance of considering additional subcomponents of empathy such as emotion regulation, while also accounting for the relevance of the empathy induction to each age group.

Convergence and divergence in gesture repertoires as an adaptive mechanism for social bonding in primates.

A key challenge for primates living in large, stable social groups is managing social relationships. Chimpanzee gestures may act as a time-efficient social bonding mechanism, and the presence (homogeneity) and absence (heterogeneity) of overlap in repertoires in particular may play an important role in social bonding. However, how homogeneity and heterogeneity in the gestural repertoire of primates relate to social interaction is poorly understood. We used social network analysis and generalized linear mixed modelling to examine this question in wild chimpanzees. The repertoire size of both homogeneous and heterogeneous visual, tactile and auditory gestures was associated with the duration of time spent in social bonding behaviour, centrality in the social bonding network and demography. The audience size of partners who displayed similar or different characteristics to the signaller (e.g. same or opposite age or sex category) also influenced the use of homogeneous and heterogeneous gestures. Homogeneous and heterogeneous gestures were differentially associated with the presence of emotional reactions in response to the gesture and the presence of a change in the recipient's behaviour. Homogeneity and heterogeneity of gestural communication play a key role in maintaining a differentiated set of strong and weak social relationships in complex, multilevel societies.

Avoidance in posttraumatic stress among refugee survivors of violent conflict and atrocities: Testing trans-cultural risk processes and candidate intervention targets

BackgroundA fast-growing population of refugees and survivors of violent conflict and atrocities are at risk for trauma-related mental health problems. Experimental clinical research key to the development of interventions tailored to this population is limited. AimsIn an experimental psychopathology laboratory paradigm, we tested the expression and function of avoidance in posttraumatic stress (PTS) among a highly traumatized community sample of forcibly displaced refugees seeking asylum. MethodWe measured behavioral avoidance and emotional reactivity to repeated exposure to threatening stimuli (trauma-, war-, and geographically-relevant natural threat) in 110 Sudanese male asylum seekers (M(SD)age = 32.7(6.5)) recruited from the community in Israel. ResultsFirst, we found evidence of sensitization – traumatized refugees expressed increasing levels of behavioral avoidance and emotional reactivity in response to repeated exposure to threatening stimuli. Second, as predicted, refugees suffering from more severe PTS were more likely to exhibit greater behavioral avoidance and emotional reactivity reflexively or immediately upon exposure to threat stimuli. Finally, as predicted, behavioral avoidance mediated the effect of PTS severity on emotional reactivity to threat exposure. ConclusionsFindings are consistent with theorizing that avoidance may function as a trans-cultural malleable risk process sub-serving PTS and thereby a promising intervention target among highly traumatized refugees from E. Africa.

Factors Associated With Engagement With a Web-Based Lifestyle Intervention Following Provision of Coronary Heart Disease Risk: Mixed Methods Study.

BackgroundWeb-based interventions provide the opportunity to combine the tailored approach of face-to-face interventions with the scalability and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions. This potential is often limited by low engagement. A number of studies have described the characteristics of individuals who engage more in Web-based interventions but few have explored the reasons for these variations.ObjectiveWe aimed to explore individual-level factors associated with different degrees of engagement with a Web-based behavior change intervention following provision of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk information, and the barriers and facilitators to engagement.MethodsThis study involved the secondary analysis of data from the Information and Risk Modification Trial, a randomized controlled trial of a Web-based lifestyle intervention alone, or alongside information on estimated CHD risk. The intervention consisted of three interactive sessions, each lasting up to 60 minutes, delivered at monthly intervals. Participants were characterized as high engagers if they completed all three sessions. Thematic analysis of qualitative data from interviews with 37 participants was combined with quantitative data on usage of the Web-based intervention using a mixed-methods matrix, and data on the views of the intervention itself were analyzed across all participants.ResultsThirteen participants were characterized as low engagers and 24 as high engagers. There was no difference in age (P=.75), gender (P=.95), or level of risk (P=.65) between the groups. Low engagement was more often associated with: (1) reporting a negative emotional reaction in response to the risk score (P=.029), (2) perceiving that the intervention did not provide any new lifestyle information (P=.011), and (3) being less likely to have reported feeling an obligation to complete the intervention as part of the study (P=.019). The mixed-methods matrix suggested that there was also an association between low engagement and less success with previous behavior change attempts, but the statistical evidence for this association was weak (P=.16). No associations were seen between engagement and barriers or facilitators to health behavior change, or comments about the design of the intervention itself. The most commonly cited barriers related to issues with access to the intervention itself: either difficulties remembering the link to the site or passwords, a perceived lack of flexibility within the website, or lack of time. Facilitators included the nonjudgmental presentation of lifestyle information, the use of simple language, and the personalized nature of the intervention.ConclusionsThis study shows that the level of engagement with a Web-based intervention following provision of CHD risk information is not influenced by the level of risk but by the individual’s response to the risk information, their past experiences of behavior change, the extent to which they consider the lifestyle information helpful, and whether they felt obliged to complete the intervention as part of a research study. A number of facilitators and barriers to Web-based interventions were also identified, which should inform future interventions.

The Epistemic Value of Emotions in Politics

In this paper, I consider emotional reactions in response to political facts, and I investigate how they may provide relevant knowledge about those facts. I assess the value of such knowledge, both from an epistemic and a political perspective. Concerning the epistemic part, I argue that, although emotions are not in themselves sufficient to ground evaluative knowledge about political facts, they can do so within a network of further coherent epistemic attitudes about those facts. With regards to the political part, I argue that the contribution of emotions to evaluative knowledge about political facts, is indeed politically valuable. To develop my argument, I show first that an evaluative kind of knowledge is relevant for reaching a sophisticated level of political cognition, and second that emotions contribute distinctively to this kind of knowledge. I conclude that, when emotional experiences towards political events are coupled with an adequate factual knowledge about those events, they can ground a distinctive evaluative knowledge about those events, and such knowledge is relevant both from an epistemic and a political perspective.