Positive Affect Induction Research Articles

Induced negative affect hinders self-referential belief updating in response to social feedback.

When people receive feedback from others, this is an opportunity for them to update their self-views. People with mental health problems (e.g., depression), however, often have difficulty using social feedback to update negative beliefs about themselves. To better understand when and how difficulties with integrating social feedback manifest, we investigated how current affect influences social feedback processing. Our preregistered hypothesis was that negative affect hinders change in participants' self-views in response to social feedback. In a nonclinical sample of little diversity (N = 117) in 2023, participants were invited to a laboratory examination in groups of three-five people. After indicating how they thought about themselves in terms of a number of personality traits (e.g., friendly), participants played a popular parlor game together for 45 min. Subsequently, they indicated how they perceived the other players in terms of their personality. Before receiving anonymous feedback, suggesting that the others perceived them as a highly likeable person, participants underwent the induction of negative versus positive affect versus a neutral control procedure. The results show that the induction of negative affect before receiving social feedback hindered its integration into participants' self-views, relative to the induction of positive affect. Changes in participants' self-views remained relatively stable also 1 day later, except for the control group, in which it slightly declined. These findings confirm that negative affect can indeed hamper the integration of (positive) social feedback. Since negative affect is prevalent in many mental disorders, this might contribute to their problems with social feedback processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A novel paradigm examining the remote induction of nocebo effects online.

Side effect information is routinely communicated online. However, limited experimental evidence exists regarding the role of this information in generating maladaptive health outcomes (i.e., the nocebo effect). A novel paradigm was developed to remotely induce the nocebo effect via provision of online side effect information. Participants were given information regarding the positive effects of low frequency noise (LFN). A proportion were additionally warned of LFN-induced side effects. Study 1 (N = 423) investigated the source of information (listed vs. socially communicated side effects), while Study 2 (N = 560) investigated the role of positive and negative affects on attenuating and exacerbating the nocebo effect. Pooled analysis (N = 983) explored the effect of negative and positive expectations on both the nocebo effect and positive outcomes. Across studies, a significant nocebo effect in the warned side effects occurred after LFN exposure. This did not vary by source of information (Study 1) nor was it attenuated via the induction of positive affect (Study 2). Both studies demonstrated a reduction in positive outcomes among those receiving side effect information. Pooled analysis revealed that negative, but not positive, expectations mediated the nocebo effect. Positive and negative expectations interacted to predict positive outcomes. Holding negative expectations appeared to block positive health outcomes. Specifically, when negative expectations were above average, there was no effect of positive expectations on positive outcomes. Nocebo effects were remotely generated via minimal provision of side effect information. Pooled analysis revealed that future interventions should target positive and negative expectations to reduce side effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Affect-congruent attention modulates generalized reward expectations.

Positive and negative affective states are respectively associated with optimistic and pessimistic expectations regarding future reward. One mechanism that might underlie these affect-related expectation biases is attention to positive- versus negative-valence features (e.g., attending to the positive reviews of a restaurant versus its expensive price). Here we tested the effects of experimentally induced positive and negative affect on feature-based attention in 120 participants completing a compound-generalization task with eye-tracking. We found that participants' reward expectations for novel compound stimuli were modulated in an affect-congruent way: positive affect induction increased reward expectations for compounds, whereas negative affect induction decreased reward expectations. Computational modelling and eye-tracking analyses each revealed that these effects were driven by affect-congruent changes in participants' allocation of attention to high- versus low-value features of compounds. These results provide mechanistic insight into a process by which affect produces biases in generalized reward expectations.

Effects of positive and negative affect inductions on interpretive and response bias

Affective states and interpretations of ambiguous stimuli are inherently related constructs, although effects of induced affective states on interpretive and response biases have not been comprehensively explored. The present study examined the relationship between induced affective states and interpretive and response bias in a sample of 189 undergraduates. Participants completed an online study in which they were randomized into one of two mood induction conditions and subsequently completed an interpretive bias task. Results demonstrated significant condition differences in affect after the mood induction; the positive induction condition demonstrated significantly more positive mood and the negative condition demonstrated more negative mood. A significant difference between conditions emerged with respect to positive interpretive bias for non-social scenarios, with the positive mood induction condition demonstrating more positive interpretive bias to non-social situations than the negative induction condition (p = .04). The negative induction condition demonstrated significantly greater negative response bias for social scenarios (p = .03) and, unexpectedly, a significantly higher positive response bias for non-social scenarios (p = .05). Findings offer some support for the notion that inducing positive affect may promote more positive interpretations of ambiguous scenarios.

Activación conductual para dejar de fumar en universitarios mediante videoconferencia: estudio piloto

Introduction: tobacco use is a public health problem in the world. In Mexico, prevalence rates are higher in young adults. There are different reasons for smoking or quitting in a college environment, but they all overlap since most include positive affect induction and reduction of negative affect, which accounts for positive and negative reinforcement processes in smoking behavior. Behavioral Activation (BA) was originally proposed in the treatment of depression through the reinforcement of incompatible behaviors. Promising results have been reported recently in the use of substances and modification of affective states. Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of a Behavioral Activation intervention to Smoking cessation (BA-S) in the consumption pattern. Method: BA-S was applied by videoconference to 15 college students, with a single-case design with replication; the effect size was calculated using the non-overlap of all pairs (NAP). Results: The BA-S was effective for smoking cessation and reducing consumption patterns. The effect size ranged between 91.10% and 100%; nine students quit smoking and six reduced their consumption. Discussion and conclusions: BA-S decreased the pattern of tobacco consumption and modified the affective states; these results should be taken with caution due to the limited number of participants. It is suggested to continue with the application of the intervention through videoconference since it is a viable alternative in this population.

Implications for a mindfulness-enhanced positive affect induction: A brief commentary toward acute pain management.

Over the past decade research has increased on dynamics between mindfulness, positive affect, and pain. While there have been studies examining the direct use of positive psychology for pain management, few have examined the use of a specific mindfulness-enhanced positive affect induction (i.e. a singular brief technique engendering mindfulness and strong positive affect) toward acute pain and pain flare management. This topical commentary discusses the need for such a technique toward bolstered gold-standard interventions, related studies, and possible future directions for acute and post-surgical pain management. Future research is encouraged to build from prior research on loving-kindness meditation and examine novel, brief mindfulness-enhanced positive affect inductions for acute pain management.

Effects of positive affect and humor on divergent thinking

We replicated prior findings that a positive affect induction can improve creative performance (Baas et al., 2008) relative to a neutral control condition. We also tested whether humor improved creativity relative to both positive and neutral affect conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to either a positive, humor, or neutral affect induction condition with sets of ten memes as the mood induction stimuli. They were subsequently asked to complete two randomized divergent thinking creativity tasks. Compared to participants in the neutral condition, those in the positive affect condition generated significantly more creative ideas. The number of ideas generated by those in the humor condition did not differ from the number ideas in the positive affect condition. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Increased positive affect is associated with less generalization of pain-related avoidance

Fear-avoidance models of chronic pain consider excessive spreading (or overgeneralization) of pain-related avoidance toward safe activities to play a crucial role in chronic pain disability. This study (N = 96) investigated whether avoidance generalization is mitigated by positive affect induction. Pain-free, healthy participants performed an arm-reaching task during which certain movements were followed by pain, while another was not. One group then performed an exercise to induce positive affect (positive affect group), while another group performed a neutral exercise (neutral group). A third group also performed the neutral exercise, but did not learn to avoid pain during the arm-reaching task (yoked neutral group). To test generalization, we introduced novel but similar movements that were never followed by pain in all groups. Results showed no differences in generalization between the positive affect and neutral groups; however, across groups, higher increases in positive affect were associated with less generalization of avoidance, and less generalization of pain-expectancy and pain-related fear. Compared to the yoked neutral group, the neutral group showed avoidance generalization, as well as pain-expectancy and pain-related fear generalization. These results point toward the potential of positive affect interventions in attenuating maladaptive spreading of pain-related avoidance behavior to safe activities.

Applying Behavioral Nudges in a Dietary Comparator for Surgical Trials: Developing the MediDiet

IntroductionDietary interventions are increasingly being proposed as alternatives to surgery for common gastrointestinal conditions. Integrating aspects of cognitive psychology (e.g., behavioral nudges) into dietary interventions is becoming popular, but evidence is lacking on their effectiveness and unintended effects. We assessed the effects of including nudges in the development of a dietary intervention based on the Mediterranean diet. MethodsWe conducted two-arm randomized surveys of United States adults. After a validated dietary questionnaire, participants received feedback about dietary consistency with a Mediterranean diet with (A) no nudge versus (B) one of several nudges: peer comparison, positive affect induction + peer comparison, or defaults. Participants rated their negative and positive emotions, motivation for dietary change, and interest in recipes. Responses were analyzed using baseline covariate-adjusted regression. ResultsAmong 1709 participants, 56% were men and the median age was 36 y. Nudges as a class did not significantly affect the extent of negative or positive emotions, motivation, or interest. However, specific nudges had different effects: compared to no nudge, peer comparison blunted negative emotions and increased motivation, although decreased interest in recipes, while defaults increased interest in recipes but reduced motivation. ConclusionsIn this pilot, behavioral nudges as a class of strategies did not improve participants’ reactions to dietary feedback nor did they promote negative reactions. However, specific nudges may be better considered separately in their effects. Future testing should explore whether specific nudges including peer comparison and defaults improve dietary intervention effectiveness, especially in people with the specific gastrointestinal conditions of interest.

A Mental Imagery Micro-Intervention to Increase Positive Affect in Outpatient CBT Sessions (PACIfIC): Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Implementation Trial.

Recent findings indicated that mental disorders are associated with both an up-regulation of negative affect and a down-regulation of positive affect (PA) as distinct processes. Established treatment approaches focus on the modification of problems and negative affect only. Experimental paradigms in healthy samples and research on strengths-based approaches showed that fostering PA may improve psychotherapy process and outcome. Specific and easily implementable interventions targeting PA in treatment sessions are scarce. Mental imagery was shown to be a promising strategy for boosting positive emotional experiences. The PACIfIC-study is planned as a longitudinal randomized-controlled trial in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy, implemented at a German outpatient training and research center. In the process analysis, trajectories of PA over the first twelve treatment sessions will be examined with weekly questionnaires. In the intervention analysis, a six-minute positive mental imagery intervention to enhance PA will be developed and tested. The intervention is implemented with loudspeakers at the beginning of each session for a standardized induction of PA. The experimental group will be compared to an active control group (neutral mental imagery) and treatment as usual. Procedures in all treatment arms are parallelized. Main outcomes after twelve sessions of psychotherapy will be psychosocial resources, resilience and self-esteem (theory-driven), as well as psychopathology and working alliance (secondary outcome). Multilevel modeling will be conducted to address the nested data structure. Study results may have implications on the consideration of positive constructs in mental disorders and the implementation of strengths-based interventions in psychotherapy.

Medial Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Aimed to Improve Affective and Attentional Modulation of Pain in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is often without clear underlying pathology. Affective disturbance and dysfunctional pain mechanisms, commonly observed in populations with CLBP, have, therefore, been suggested as potential contributors to CLBP development and maintenance. However, little consensus exists on how these features interact and if they can be targeted using non-invasive brain stimulation. In this pilot trial, 12 participants completed two phases (Active or Sham) of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the medial prefrontal cortex, applied for 20 min on three consecutive days. Clinical pain ratings, questionnaires, and sensitivity to painful cuff pressure were completed at baseline, then 4 trials of conditioned pain modulation (CPM; alone, with distraction using a Flanker task, with positive affect induction, and with negative affect induction using an image slideshow) were performed prior to HD-tDCS on Day 1 and Day 4 (24 h post-HD-tDCS). At baseline, attentional and affective manipulations were effective in inducing the desired state (p < 0.001) but did not significantly change the magnitude of CPM-effect. Active HD-tDCS was unable to significantly alter the magnitude of the shift in valence and arousal due to affective manipulations, nor did it alter the magnitude of CPM under any basal, attentional, or affective manipulation trial significantly on Day 4 compared to sham. The CPM-effect was greater across all manipulations on Day 1 than Day 4 (p < 0.02) but also showed poor reliability across days. Future work is needed to expand upon these findings and better understand how and if HD-tDCS can be used to enhance attentional and affective effects on pain modulation.

Positive affect and pro-environmental behavior: A preregistered experiment

Abstract In recent years, correlational evidence has accumulated in support of a positive relationship between positive affect and pro-environmental behavior. In contrast, it remains unclear whether the induction of positive affect can causally promote pro-environmental behavior. Previous attempts to examine the effects of experimental affect induction were constrained by the difficulty to study pro-environmental behavior under controlled laboratory conditions. Here, we address this limitation by examining the effect of a validated affect-induction procedure on a recently validated laboratory measure of pro-environmental behavior. Participants in our preregistered experiment (N = 178) watched and rated video clips pretested to induce either positive or neutral affect before completing 24 trials on the Pro-Environmental Behavior Task (PEBT). Results did not reveal any evidence in support of a positive effect of positive affect on PEBT behavior. This result illustrates the need for further systematic and cumulative research on the complex relationship between affect and pro-environmental behavior.

Gradual positive and negative affect induction: The effect of verbalizing affective content.

In this paper, we study the effect of verbalizing affective pictures on affective state and language production. Individuals describe (Study I: Spoken Descriptions of Pictures) or passively view (Study II: Passively Viewing Pictures) 40 pictures for the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) that gradually increase from neutral to either positive or negative content. We expected that both methods would result in successful affect induction, and that the effect would be stronger for verbally describing pictures than for passively viewing them. Results indicate that speakers indeed felt more negative after describing negative pictures, but that describing positive (compared to neutral) pictures did not result in a more positive state. Contrary to our hypothesis, no differences were found between describing and passively viewing the pictures. Furthermore, we analysed the verbal picture descriptions produced by participants on various dimensions. Results indicate that positive and negative pictures were indeed described with increasingly more affective language in the expected directions. In addition to informing our understanding of the relationship between (spoken) language production and affect, these results also potentially pave the way for a new method of affect induction that uses free expression.

The Impact of Sexual Arousal and Emotion Regulation on Men's Sexual Aggression Proclivity.

Extant literature supports a relationship between sexual arousal and increased likelihood of sexually coercive behavior in men. The present study investigated the impact of sexual arousal on sexual coercion proclivity and the degree to which emotion regulation moderated this relationship in the context of two separate affect inductions. We predicted that sexual arousal would more strongly predict sexual coercion likelihood for men scoring lower on emotion regulation ability compared with men with above average emotion regulation abilities. Male participants with (n = 38) and without (n = 40) self-reported histories of sexual coercion were recruited from urban sexually transmitted infection testing clinics. Participants completed a measure of emotion regulation, underwent a positive and negative affect induction, viewed an erotic video, and reported on their level of sexual arousal immediately prior to completing a hypothetical sexual coercion likelihood laboratory task. Relationships between emotion regulation, sexual arousal, and sexual coercion likelihood were examined using moderation analyses. Sexual arousal was associated with greater reported sexual coercion likelihood. For men with poorer emotion regulation, sexual arousal significantly and positively predicted sexual coercion likelihood in the positive affect condition. Sexual arousal did not significantly predict sexual coercion for men with above average emotion regulation. Findings may have implications for the assessment of individual risk for coercive sexual behavior as well as primary prevention efforts.

Blurring the Dichotomy of Good and Evil: The Idiosyncratic Helping Strategies Associated with Unmitigated–Agentic and Unmitigated–Communal Personalities

We theorized that unmitigated–agentic personality constructs (UAPs)—prioritizing ‘getting ahead’ over ‘getting along’—and unmitigated–communal personality constructs (UCPs)—prioritizing getting along over getting ahead—are associated with distinct affect–regulatory helping strategies. In Study 1 ( N = 179), UAPs, on average, related to greater negative–affect versus positive–affect induction helping tactics. In two experiments, UAPs, on average, related to a greater likelihood of selecting anger–inducing versus love–inducing or sadness–inducing songs to help a target overcome a breakup (Study 2; N = 313) and greater selection of anger–inducing and hubris–inducing messages versus authentic–pride–inducing and love–inducing messages to help a teammate struggling in a game (Study 3; N = 246). UCPs manifested the opposite patterns. Generally, these associations corresponded with helping–strategy utility beliefs and were robust to moderators of helping target (self or other; Study 2) or altruistic versus selfish motives (Study 3). Study 4 ( N = 205) provided some evidence of ecological validity in contexts of recalled everyday helping. Associations between personality constructs and relative helping strategies were about moderate in size ( rs ∼ .20) across these four studies. Findings suggest that UAPs are associated with helping strategies believed to promote ‘contemptuous’ self–enhancement relative to ‘innocuous’ self–enhancement and self–transcendence, and vice versa for UCPs. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology

Borderline personality disorder traits and affect reactivity to positive affect induction followed by a stressor

Background and objectivesAffective hyperreactivity is a core feature of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), yet little is known about reactivity of positive affect (PA). Objectives were to explore the relationship between BPD traits and affect reactivity in response to a personalized PA-induction and a subsequent stressor. Patient status (seeking outpatient treatment for personality-related problems; yes/no), depressive symptoms, and age were examined as alternative predictors of affect reactivity. MethodsOne hundred and eight females (35 patients) reported on their BPD and depressive symptoms. They completed the Best Possible Self-exercise and a modified Trier Social Stress Task. Trajectories of high and low arousal PA (HAP and LAP) and negative affect (NA) were analyzed with mixed regression modelling. ResultsPatient status (for HAP) and depressive symptoms (for LAP and NA) predicted affect reactivity better than BPD traits. Patients showed a weaker HAP increase after PA-induction, and a similar HAP decrease after the stressor, compared to non-patients. Higher depressive symptoms predicted stronger improvement of LAP and NA after PA-induction, and less pronounced deterioration of LAP and NA after the stressor, relative to baseline. LimitationsThe sample was a convenience sample amplified with outpatients. Future research should (1) use clinical groups, (2) randomize to neutral vs. PA-induction, and (3) continue to differentiate between HAP and LAP. ConclusionsOur results do not support models postulating BPD-specific affective hyperreactivity. HAP and LAP have different trajectories, depending on the degree of psychopathology. The resilience-enhancing potential of a PA-focus in psychotherapy needs further research.

Testing a positive-affect induction to reduce verbally induced nocebo hyperalgesia in an experimental pain paradigm.

There is an ethical obligation to notify individuals about potential pain associated with diagnoses, treatments, and procedures; however, supplying this information risks inducing nocebo hyperalgesia. Currently, there are few empirically derived strategies for reducing nocebo hyperalgesia. Because nocebo effects are linked to negative affectivity, we tested the hypothesis that a positive-affect induction can disrupt nocebo hyperalgesia from verbal suggestion. Healthy volunteers (N = 147) were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (affect induction: positive vs neutral) by 2 (verbal suggestion: no suggestion vs suggestion of pain increase) between-subjects design. Participants were induced to experience positive or neutral affect by watching movie clips for 15 minutes. Next, participants had an inert cream applied to their nondominant hand, and suggestion was manipulated by telling only half the participants the cream could increase the pain of the upcoming cold pressor test. Subsequently, all participants underwent the cold pressor test (8 ± 0.04°C), wherein they submerged the nondominant hand and rated pain intensity on numerical rating scales every 20 seconds up to 2 minutes. In the neutral-affect conditions, there was evidence for the nocebo hyperalgesia effect: participants given the suggestion of pain displayed greater pain than participants not receiving this suggestion, P's < 0.05. Demonstrating a blockage effect, nocebo hyperalgesia did not occur in the positive-affect conditions, P's > 0.5. This is the first study to show that positive affect may disrupt nocebo hyperalgesia thereby pointing to a novel strategy for decreasing nocebo effects without compromising the communication of medical information to patients in clinical settings.

Effects of Sleep Fragmentation and Induced Mood on Pain Tolerance and Pain Sensitivity in Young Healthy Adults.

Background: Experimental research exploring the sleep/pain-relationship has typically focused on total or partial sleep deprivation, hereby failing to reproduce the mere fragmented sleep pattern typically observed in patients with chronic pain. Further, little research is done on how affect moderates the sleep–pain relationship after sleep fragmentation. The present study sought to clarify the relationship between pain, sleep and positive and negative affect.Methods: In an experimental counterbalanced crossover design, 35 healthy young adults were subjected to several pain measures after one night of fragmented sleep, compared to one control night of normal sleep, both conducted in their own homes, and respectively, positive and negative affect induction using validated film clips and facial feedback procedures. Sleep was monitored using sleep diaries.Results: Increased pain sensitivity after one night of experimentally induced sleep fragmentation was found, compared to after one control night of undisturbed sleep. No main effects of induced affect on pain were found, and sleep x induced affect interaction was not significant.Conclusion: The present study supports the adverse effect of sleep fragmentation on pain sensitivity, however, affect was not found to be a moderator in the sleep–pain relationship. The results underline the need for further research within this field.

Broadening and building solution-focused coaching: feeling good is not enough

ABSTRACTPast research has found that solution-focused (SF) coaching questions led to more positive outcomes than problem-focused (PF) coaching questions. Another body of research (Broaden and Build Theory; Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 300–319) posits that positive emotions promote AQ2the discovery of novel ideas and actions including goal attainment and positive change. These theoretical frameworks have influenced coaching practitioner literature, but no research has explored their conjoint effects. We explore these by randomly allocating 512 participants in comparing (1) PF coaching questions with (2) SF coaching questions with (3) positive affect (PA) induction with (4) a SF plus PA condition (SF + PA). The broad findings of this study were that PF questions performed the worst on all measures, and that PA induction and SF coaching questions were equally effective at enhancing positive affect, increasing self-efficacy, enhancing goal approach and developing action steps. These results show, that while positive affect makes a valuable contribution to coaching outcomes, combining PA induction with SF questions produces superior outcomes than PA or SF questions alone in terms of self-efficacy, goal approach and action steps. While this research supports the central tenets of Broaden and Build Theory in terms of coaching outcomes, just making people feel good is not enough for truly effective coaching practice.

Embracing your emotions: affective state impacts lateralisation of human embraces.

Humans are highly social animals that show a wide variety of verbal and non-verbal behaviours to communicate social intent. One of the most frequently used non-verbal social behaviours is embracing, commonly used as an expression of love and affection. However, it can also occur in a large variety of social situations entailing negative (fear or sadness) or neutral emotionality (formal greetings). Embracing is also experienced from birth onwards in mother-infant interactions and is thus accompanying human social interaction across the whole lifespan. Despite the importance of embraces for human social interactions, their underlying neurophysiology is unknown. Here, we demonstrated in a well-powered sample of more than 2500 adults that humans show a significant rightward bias during embracing. Additionally, we showed that this general motor preference is strongly modulated by emotional contexts: the induction of positive or negative affect shifted the rightward bias significantly to the left, indicating a stronger involvement of right-hemispheric neural networks during emotional embraces. In a second laboratory study, we were able to replicate both of these findings and furthermore demonstrated that the motor preferences during embracing correlate with handedness. Our studies therefore not only show that embracing is controlled by an interaction of motor and affective networks, they also demonstrate that emotional factors seem to activate right-hemispheric systems in valence-invariant ways.