Levels Of Emotional Experience Research Articles

(063) Why Core Emotions Matter: Understanding the role of the emotional brain in the treatment of sexual and affective disorders

Abstract Introduction Evolution has hard-wired mammals with seven primary subcortical emotional operating systems with overlapping but distinct circuits buried in the deep, ancient parts of the brain. When experimentally stimulated (chemically, or by weak electrical current), these circuits evoke specific emotions (responses that move organisms into the world) in order to meet survival needs. These core emotional systems — SEEKING, FEAR, RAGE, PANIC/GRIEF, LUST, CARE, and PLAY — serve as the “primary colors” of our basic emotions, which, in concert with higher cortical brain regions drive our emotional lives. By understanding the basic wiring of these subcortical emotional systems, clinicians can more directly address how imbalances in these systems can contribute to sexual and affective disorders. New therapeutic strategies, known as affective balance therapies, which target the embodied experience of these core emotions, represent a promising new approach to effective treatment. Objectives Background: Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp, credited with coining the term “affective neuroscience” conducted extensive experimental research in which he documented cross-species commonalities for the primary emotions of fear, anger, grief, lust, and play that are anatomically, neurochemically, and functionally homologous in all mammals studied. These core emotional operating systems, although empirically validated by experimental mapping, inclusive of the identification of brain circuits and specific neuromodulators, have not yet been integrated into most clinical models of psychotherapy, likely due to resistance to what could be viewed as an anthropomorphic approach to emotion. Methods Three-Level Brain/Mind Panksepp identifies three levels of emotional experience (the “three-level brain/mind).” The first is made up of “primary process” psychological experiences that are the instinctual emotional responses generating “raw” affects or core emotions built into our brains by evolution. These “raw” emotions, wired into the subcortical brain, are experienced quickly and vividly, even in instances where there is no capacity to “reflect” upon the emotions. The next level of emotional experience, the “secondary processes,” associated with upper limbic regions, are built upon the foundation of the “raw” emotions and involve learning and memory processes. In contrast with “core emotions,” which are always experienced, secondary processes largely occur non- consciously. The “tertiary processes,” which are largely neocortical, are higher-order “affective-cognitions" that distinguishes us from nonhuman animals. These include cognitive executive functions involving thoughts and planning which permit reflection on what we have learned experientially, our ability to be aware of our experience (such that we can reflect on our emotions as opposed to simply experiencing them), and our ability to choose our paths and intentions. Results Treating Imbalances in Core Emotional Systems Psychiatric disorders have been postulated to have roots in affective imbalances within the brain. It is proposed by the author that some sexual disorders, likewise, can be conceptualized as resulting from imbalances in the core emotional systems that can block sexual desire and impair sexual responsivity and experience. Given the significant power of imbalances in the core emotional systems to create ongoing dysphoria and distress, Affective Balance Therapies which attempt to address the embodied experience of these imbalances are suggested to be key to a comprehensive Biopsychosocial approach to treatment. Conclusions Affective Balance Therapies which attempt to address the embodied experience of these imbalances are suggested to be key to a comprehensive Biopsychosocial approach to treatment. Disclosure No.

Why do we twitch? Vicarious consumption in video-game livestreaming

Purpose This study aims to examine vicarious consumption (VC) via the video-game streaming platform Twitch. The authors posit that watching someone play can offer the same enjoyment (measured through emotional experience, mood and joy) as playing. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was used. A qualitative phase involving semistructured qualitative interviews, naturalistic inquiry and netnography generated testable hypotheses, which were tested using a two-condition, between-subjects field experiment. Findings This research advances the understanding of vicarious and experiential consumption by finding evidence that VC can produce the same levels of emotional experience, mood, attitude toward the product, joy, brand community loyalty and positive word of mouth. It also demonstrates the moderating effect of familiarity on mood change. Research limitations/implications This research demonstrates evidence that VC can offer outcomes similar to active consumption (AC). The authors advance research on VC in a new context (video-game livestreaming vs esports and other contexts) and from a new perspective (viewing motivations vs consumer-oriented outcomes). This research thus presents opportunities to explore these and other affective, behavior and cognitive outcomes in other contexts. Practical implications To reach Twitch users, marketers must understand how and why media consumers watch. This research provides insight into the community necessary to create effective advertising. Originality/value Building upon Sjöblom and Hamari, focusing on motivations for VC of esports and other related works, the authors expand the context to video-game livestreaming as a whole and examine affective, behavioral and cognitive outcomes compared with AC. Though VC has been researched and conceptualized theoretically, empirical testing is rare. This research offers empirical evidence that VC can offer the same levels of enjoyment as AC.

Interpretive Paradigm on Development of Science and Accounting Research

This study aims to understand the reality of social life in depth by understanding its essential nature through the level of emotional experience or subjective experience. With different levels of understanding and human behavior as subjects, research with this paradigm is not looking for generalizations. The interpretive paradigm is considered to have a correlation relationship with problems in the study of accounting and social science so that it can be used as a scientific approach in accounting development. This type of research uses qualitative. The research approach uses a literature review with several sources from previous research. The results of this study indicate that the interpretive paradigm in the philosophy of science can help researchers to see further and deeply related to the reality of social life, so that they can determine whether the reality is just a symbol and the ideas that arise are a truth about the reality of the problem. With the latest information generated will provide the development of science that is getting closer to the truth about the science being studied. In addition, as a perspective in interpretive sociology approach is a solution in solving an accounting problem that has a relationship with social interaction where an in-depth study is carried out and can affect the development of accounting science.

Growth curves of clients’ emotional experience and their association with emotion regulation and symptoms

Objective: Emotional experience during psychotherapy is considered a core mechanism of change. Yet the sheer experience itself may not necessarily be beneficial; instead, the trajectories of emotional experience need to be explored as possible predictors of treatment outcomes. This study investigated whether clients’ pre-treatment levels of emotion regulation and symptoms predicted patterns of session-to-session change in emotional experience. We also explored which patterns better predict clients’ improvement in emotion regulation and symptoms from pre- to post treatment. Method: One-hundred and seven clients undergoing psychodynamic psychotherapy completed questionnaires on their symptoms and emotion regulation at pre- and post- treatment. They also reported their level of emotional experience at the end of each session. Results: Pre-treatment symptoms and difficulties in emotion regulation predicted greater instability in emotional experience. Higher mean levels of emotional experience during treatment were associated with an improvement in emotion regulation, and greater stability during treatment was associated with improvement in emotion regulation and symptoms. Conclusions: These findings lend weight to the idea that experiencing emotion in the therapeutic environment has significant implications for clients’ ability to manage their emotions outside the session. However, emotions experienced in an unstable manner within therapy are associated with poorer outcomes.Clinical and methodological significance of this article: Therapists can benefit from observing the patterns and not only the level of their clients’ emotional experiences. The identification of clients’ difficulties early in treatment may help therapists guide clients through the delicate process of carefully attending to their emotions.

Emotions, self‐esteem, and paranoid episodes: An experience sampling study

OBJECTIVES. The evidence to date for a causal role of emotions in the generation of paranoid symptoms is scarce, mainly because of a lack of studies investigating the longitudinal association between emotional processes and paranoia. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether momentary emotional experiences (anxiety, depression, anger/irritability) and self-esteem predicted the onset and duration of a paranoid episode. We also studied whether levels of emotional experiences and self-esteem were respectively higher and lower during a paranoid episode. DESIGN. A 1-week, prospective momentary assessment study. METHODS. Data were collected using the experience sampling method, a structured self-assessment diary technique. The sample consisted of 158 individuals who ranged across the paranoia continuum. Participants with a psychotic disorder were recruited from in-patient and out-patient mental health services. Participants without psychotic disorder were sampled from the general population. RESULTS. Specific aspects of emotional experience were implicated in the onset and persistence of paranoid episodes. Both an increase in anxiety and a decrease in self-esteem predicted the onset of paranoid episodes. Cross-sectionally, paranoid episodes were associated with high levels of all negative emotions and low level of self-esteem. Initial intensity of paranoia and depression was associated with longer, and anger/irritability with shorter duration of paranoid episodes. CONCLUSIONS. Paranoid delusionality is driven by negative emotions and reductions in self-esteem, rather than serving an immediate defensive function against these emotions and low self-esteem. Clinicians need to be aware of the central role of emotion-related processes and especially self-esteem in paranoid thinking.

Emotion word use in the conversational speech of schizophrenia patients

Introduction. Many recent studies have found that, although schizophrenia patients tend to display diminished facial expressions of emotion, they report levels of emotional experiences that are similar to those of controls. Although these findings are very informative, it is unknown whether such dissociation exits for other modalities such as verbal expression of emotion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the use of emotion words during a free speech task and subjective experience of emotion in schizophrenia patients and controls. Methods. Speech samples of 48 schizophrenia patients and 48 nonpsychiatric control individuals were compared on the type and amount of emotional words used, as well as on the level of self-reported stress experienced while providing descriptions of themselves. Results. Groups did not differ in the amount or type of emotion words uttered during the free speech task. Patients, however, found the task more stressful than controls. Emotion word use and subjective emotional experience were not related in either group. Conclusions. Results do not fully support prior findings, but are consistent with the notion of a lack of correspondence between the expression and experience of emotion.

Interoception in emotional experience

Many theories of emotion have postulated a close relationship of the feedback of physiological changes and their perception with emotional experience. This paper reviews recent advances in theory and brain-imaging research on this topic of interoception and describes a hypothetical model of the potential mechanisms. Research from patients with spinal-cord injuries and pure autonomic failure suggests that emotion-related peripheral autonomic changes are not necessary for emotional experience. However, in support of a role for centrally integrated feedback from the whole body, imaging studies found that activations in areas commonly associated with interoception and emotion (anterior insula and anterior cingulate) were correlated with individual differences in interoception (heartbeat detection) and trait measures of emotion. Because recent theory distinguishes between two levels of emotional experience (phenomenology and awareness), this paper proposes a hypothetical model of the effects of interoception on phenomenology and awareness. This model classifies interoception into the central representation of feedback from the whole body, the perception of actual physiological changes as well as the perception of illusory changes. Consistent with recent theories of emotion, evidence from brain imaging supports the notion that centrally integrated feedback from the whole body plays a role in emotional experience. Because research on neural correlates of emotional experience is at an early stage, the hypothesized model of potential causal links between interoception and emotional experience might serve as a helpful guide to future research.

Product Inventors and Creativity: The Finer Dimensions of Enjoyment

Four product inventors and 2 control participants were interviewed intensively about their creative process and given a series of personality assessments. The inventors expressed a profound level of emotional experience as part of their creative process. Though many emotions were mentioned, the inventors spoke repeatedly and consistently about their enjoyment of innovation work. Personality assessments indicated, however, that personality alone could not explain this high level of career happiness. The inventor discussions of their emotional experience were analyzed using the Russ (1993, 1999) model of affect and creativity. Every dimension of the Russ model was found evident in the inventors' innovation experiences. The inventor discussions encouraged an elaboration and expansion of the model. One category, cognitive integration and modulation of affect, was expanded to include the role of intuition. Four new categories were added: affective pleasure in technical perspective-taking, in focus, in creating, and in self-expression. The resulting expanded model of affect and creativity offers myriad opportunities for future researchers interested in scale development and in qualitative inquiry with other creative professions. Educators, counselors, and managers seeking to understand how to best foster innovation and career happiness may also benefit.

Psychophysiological study of the information theory of emotions using the model of positive emotion

The pattern of inter-hemisphere distribution of EEG amplitude and frequency as a function of the levels of emotional experience and motivation as well as probability of the goal achievement was studied in 20 subjects. An emotional state was evoked by simulating emotionally colored events. A modified test of Prise et al. (1985) was used to evaluate the level of motivation for the simulated event as well as the probability of goal achievement from the lengths of line segments marked by the subjects. Here we studied simulated emotion of joy. The highest correlation coefficients were observed between the awareness and alpha activity in the both hemispheres. The levels of emotional experience and motivation inversely correlated with the delta and theta activity mostly in the left hemisphere. The beta activity correlated with both the emotional and motivation levels.