Positive Emotional Reactions Research Articles

Nature-Related Cognitive Schemas and Self-Reported Psychological Flourishing

Some sustainability-related belief systems (or schemas in Cognitive Behavior Therapy) might result in shame, guilt, or denial if a person fails to meet the standards. The psychology of Harmonization relates sustainability to flourishing but not to human misery and delineates flourishing one’s own life. What nature-related cognitive schemas coexist with psychological flourishing? The purpose of this study was to identify the nature-related cognitive schemas that correlate to self-reported psychological flourishing. This paper provides some data on an overall survey (n = 722) that aimed at evaluating the cognitive schemas, strengths, and cognitive abilities of Lithuanian gymnasium students. We applied the Flourishing Scale (FS) of E. Diener alongside several measures to investigate nature-related cognitive/emotional/behavioral variables. The results revealed associations between different nature-related cognitive schemas (experiential, consumeristic, eco-protectionist, and valorist) and psychological flourishing, positive emotional reactions to nature, and spending time in nature. As this study demonstrates only positive or negative relationships among the examined variables, one of the implications for future research is identifying schemas as predictors of behavioral sustainability and creating an experimental or longitudinal design.

Exploring Residents’ Experience of Career Development Scholarship Tracks: A Qualitative Case Study Using Social Cognitive Career Theory

Problem: Trainees enter graduate medical education with professional aspirations that often extend beyond the role of clinician to roles such as educator, innovator, leader, advocate, or researcher. Many residency programs have implemented academic tracks to support career development in these areas. With the exception of research tracks, these tracks generally do not include significant longitudinal protected time and often rely upon ‘extra-curricular’ effort and possess insufficient structure, mentorship, and accountability. Most prior studies of non-research scholarship tracks have not been theory driven and do not explore in depth the experience of residents who participate. Approach: To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a qualitative case study informed by Social Cognitive Career Theory to explore the professional identity development of residents who participated in a non-research scholarship track that incorporates recommended best practices. The track, Pathways to Expertise Program, incorporates features of successful research tracks: protected time, longitudinal experience, mentorship, platforms for recognition, and accountability. Participants from the first three cohorts were interviewed at the time of their graduation (2017–2019). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and independently coded. Social Cognitive Career Theory informed the organization of codes into themes. Context: The Pathways to Expertise Program was implemented in a psychiatry residency training program in a large urban academic teaching hospital. Impact: Fifteen residents entered Pathways to Expertise Program during the study period and all 15 participated in the study. Fourteen completed the program and presented their projects at the department grand rounds. For dissemination, 12 presented their project findings at one or more national meetings in the form of a poster (20 distributed across 11 residents), workshop (six distributed across four residents), or presentation (two across two residents). Six residents accounted for a total of seven first author publications in peer reviewed journals. All participants described how their self-efficacy increased as a result of new skills (e.g., content, methodology, and scientific communication), mentorship (e.g., content and process guidance), peer and broader support (e.g., small group supervision), persuasive communications (e.g., recognition both locally and nationally), and positive emotional reactions (e.g., triumph). The residents also described expecting compelling benefits (e.g., stronger application for fellowship and expanded career opportunities). Participants indicated that the experience influenced their career goals and how they perceived their professional identities. Lessons Learned: These findings suggest that a longitudinal academic track that incorporates features of successful research tracks (protected time, mentorship, peer support, and accountability for deliverables) can be instrumental in forming and maturing professional identities for non-clinical roles. These tracks can accomplish several important goals, including enhancing resilience via identity formation around passion and purpose and meeting society’s need for physicians who are engaged in inquiry and innovation. Implications for the design of academic tracks in general are explored.

Reactions to Participating in Trauma and Addiction Research Among Women in a Sober Living Home: A Brief Report.

The purpose of this study was to examine reactions to participating in trauma and addiction research among women in a sober living home. Participants were 59 women who completed a comprehensive survey battery while living in the sober living home. The survey assessed women's victimization and addiction history along with current psychological and behavioral health symptoms and resilience characteristics. At the end of the survey, women were asked about their reactions to participating in the survey. Results suggested that whereas 40.7% (n = 24) of women reported being upset immediately after completing the survey, 96.6% (n = 56) of women reported that they personally benefited from being in the research study. Women who reported being upset, compared with those who were not upset, had higher levels of depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and housing and financial instability and lower levels of empowerment, posttraumatic growth, and sense of purpose. We also asked women to tell us, in their own words, their reasons for being upset (e.g., questions about victimization experiences, loss of children), as well as their reasons for benefiting (e.g., catharsis/venting, learning something new about oneself, the chance to meet the researcher who had nice qualities). In general, the research was well tolerated by most of the participants, and almost all women, including those who were initially upset, reported personal benefits. These data shed light on the factors associated with positive and negative emotional reactions to research participation, which could be important information to include in consent forms in future research with this population.

Control and Emotional Reactivity Levels: Which One, Positive or Negative Emotional Reactivity Links with Effortful Control?

The research investigated the relationship between effortful control and emotional reactivity in students. It also analyzed the description of each variable descriptively based on the levels of effortful control and the level of emotional reactivity. The method was by self-report through questionnaires distributed to students aged 18-30 years. There were 357 participants that were consisting of 94 male students and 263 female students. The measuring instrument was the Effortful Control from the Adult Temperament Scale Questionnaire (ATQ) Scale-Short form, and the Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale-Short Form scale. The result shows that there is a positive significant relationship between effortful control and positive emotional reactivity. However, the research shows that there is a negatively significant relationship between effortful control and negative emotional reactivity. It states that students with high levels of effortful control have high positive emotional reactivity. Likewise, students who have low levels of effortful have low positive emotional reactivity. However, individuals who have a high level of effortful control have low negative emotional reactivity and vice versa.

Negative and positive emotional eating uniquely interact with ease of activation, intensity, and duration of emotional reactivity to predict increased binge eating

Binge eating is present in obesity and clinical eating disorder populations and positively associated with poor health outcomes. Emotional eating may be related to binge eating, but relationships with emotional reactivity remain unexplored. The present study examined the relationships between negative and positive emotional eating and emotional reactivity in predicting binge eating. A cross-sectional study was employed using an online community sample in the United States. Participants (N = 258) completed surveys assessing negative (Emotional Eating Scale-Revised, depression subscale) and positive emotional eating (Emotional Appetite Questionnaire), negative and positive emotional reactivity (Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale), and binge eating (Binge Eating Scale). Six moderation analyses were calculated with negative and positive emotional reactivity (ease of activation, intensity, and duration) as moderators of the relationship between negative and positive emotional eating, respectively, and binge eating. Increased negative emotional eating was associated with increased binge eating when duration of negative emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation above average (p < .001), but at 1 standard deviation below average (p < .001), increased negative emotional eating was associated with decreased binge eating. Increased positive emotional eating was associated with increased binge eating when intensity (p < .01) of positive emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation above average and when activation (p < .05) of positive emotional reactivity was slightly above 1 standard deviation above average. Increased positive emotional eating was associated with decreased BE when intensity of positive emotional reactivity was 1 standard deviation below (p < .05) average. Emotional reactivity may uniquely impact the relationship between emotional eating and binge eating. Research and clinical implications for the contribution of negative and positive emotional eating and emotional reactivity on binge eating are discussed.

An Evaluation of By My Side: Peer Support in Written Form is Acceptable and Useful for Parents Bereaved by Childhood Cancer

ContextCancer is the leading cause of nonaccidental death in childhood, with the death of a child representing a devastating loss for families. Peer support offers a valuable way to support parents' adjustment in bereavement. The By My Side book provides written peer support by sharing bereaved parents' stories to normalize grief experiences and reduce parents' isolation. It is available free of charge. ObjectivesThis project evaluated the acceptability, relevance, emotional impact, and usefulness of By My Side. DesignBereaved parents and health care professionals (HCPs) provided feedback via a questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of open-ended responses to analyze the data. Setting/ParticipantsWe mailed a study invitation and evaluation questionnaire to parents and HCPs who ordered a copy of By My Side. Results24 bereaved parents and seven HCPs provided feedback. Parents thought the book's length (91.7%) and amount of information (83.3%) was just right. 75% of parents reported that the book made them feel that their reactions to their child's death were normal and/or appropriate. Parents reported positive and negative emotional reactions to the book (e.g., 87.5% felt comforted, 87.5% felt sadness). All parents and HCPs reported that the book provided useful information about grief. About 83.4% of parents and 85.7% of HCPs would recommend it to others. ConclusionBy My Side was acceptable and useful to bereaved parents and HCPs. Results suggest that peer support in written form may help normalize aspects of grief and comfort parents bereaved by childhood cancer.

Enable, Reconnect and Augment: A New ERA of Virtual Nature Research and Application.

Being exposed to natural environments is associated with improved health and well-being, as these environments are believed to promote feelings of “being away” from everyday struggles, positive emotional reactions and stress reduction. Despite these positive effects, humanity is becoming increasingly more distanced from nature due to societal changes, such as increased urbanization and the reduced accessibility of natural environments. Technology is also partly to blame, as research suggests that people replace nature contact with increased screen time. In this cross-section between nature and technology, we find technological nature which is progressing towards a point where we may be capable of simulating exposure to real nature. Concerns have been raised regarding this technology, as it is feared it will replace real nature. However, research suggests that virtual nature may have a more positive impact on society than a mere replacement of real nature, and this review propose several areas where virtual nature may be a beneficial addition to actual nature (Enable), help people reconnect with the real natural world (Reconnect) and “boost” human-nature interactions (Augment). Based on the current research and theoretical framework, this review proposes guidelines for future research within these areas, with the aim of advancing the field by producing high quality research.

Attitudes of dental students towards patients with special healthcare needs: Can they be improved?

IntroductionLack of knowledge and skills as well as negative attitudes towards patients with special healthcare needs may adversely affect the services available to this group. In 2010, a line on the treatment of patients with special healthcare needs has been implemented in the dental curriculum at the Medical University of Vienna, including five seminars and a practical course. In this study, we examine to what extent the programme helps improve attitudes towards persons with special healthcare needs and positively impacts the readiness to engage in treating this clientele.Materials and MethodsIn 2017 and 2018, all students who were in their fourth study year participated in the study. Students' attitudes were assessed before the first seminar, after the last seminar and after the practical course. At all three time points, the same fully structured questionnaire was used, including established instruments for the assessment of emotional reactions and the desire for social distance plus ad hoc questions for assessing students' future intention to treat patients with special healthcare needs. The data were analysed by means of linear fixed models.ResultsAt the end of the line devoted to patients with special healthcare needs, students tended less to express negative emotions and showed more positive emotional reactions than before the start of the programme. However, students' social acceptance of such patients and their readiness to engage in treating them did not change significantly.DiscussionWhile our programme was able to improve students' emotional reactions to people with special healthcare needs, it proved unable to reduce the desire for social distance and to lower the barrier when it comes to treatment. It is planned to further develop our programme which, hopefully, will then succeed in increasing students’ readiness to treat this clientele.ConclusionImproving dental students' emotional reactions to patients with special healthcare needs does not necessarily translate into greater readiness to treat this clientele.

Сміх / laughter у сучасних англійських та українських політичних текстах

The paper deals with the semantic features of the representation of the abstract-emotional concept of «laughter» in terms of its central-peripheral structure in contemporary English and Ukrainian political texts. The concept is defined as a complex, culturally labeled, mentally affective notion that has a conceptual, figurative and value meaning and is actualized in dictionaries and political texts by various linguistic means. The research material includes articles, interviews, debates, messages, political commentaries published in the contemporary English and Ukrainian political press of the last decade and actualizes the abstract-emotional concept of «laughter». In Ukrainian and English political texts the abstract-emotional concept of «laughter» is perceived through the prism of fun and tears as expressions of happiness and unhappiness, but for the Ukrainian language, laughter is more often associated with the sound and events that cause it. Cognitive and discourse methods used in the article allow to establish the content and structure of abstract-emotional concept «laughter» not only in everyday life, but in discourse by means of nominal, descriptive and expressive embodiment. In political speeches, «laughter» is a traditional manifestation of arrogance and contempt; it helps express opposition to ideas, plans, forecasts, actions of the object of ridicule. Although, a person can laugh out loud as a result of happiness, in political texts the token «roar» and its Ukrainian equivalent «реготати» denote negative emotional states. Loud / Homeric laughter is contrasted with silence or giggles. In Ukrainian fiction «giggling» denotes fun, positive emotional reactions, but in the context of political speeches or commentary, this token represents a disparaging attitude towards a subject who laughs in this way or verbalizes manifestations of meanness, inferiority. The results of the study showed that the abstract-emotional concept of «laughter» is a coherent system, the components of which not only interact, but complement each other, forming a conceptual field. The content of the concept includes everything that a person knows about this phenomenon, emotional associations of different nature. The verbalization of the concept «laughter» in Ukrainian and English political texts is worked out taking into account its representation in synonyms as well as in free expressions and idioms. Idioms and phraseological expressions clarify the meaning of the concept on the basis of metaphorical similarity to other sentence components that is the object for studying in further works on this topic. Nominal expressions decipher and express the meaning of the concept, reveal the peculiarities of verbalization of emotions, affective states in the linguistic consciousness of the individual through the lens of political text.

How do adolescents experience sexting in dating relationships? Motivations to sext and responses to sexting requests from dating partners

Although most sexting among adolescents occurs in the context of a dating relationship, less is known about adolescents’ motivations to sext and the emotional experience of sexting within dating relationships. The current study surveyed 947 high school students about their sexting behaviors, motivations to sext, and emotional reactions to sexting requests from dating partners. Although both girls and boys reported sexting behaviors, girls were more likely to report receiving pressure to sext and negative emotional responses to sexting requests from a dating partner. Among girls, greater self-sexualization, lower religiosity, perceiving peer sexting as more common, and being older predicted more positive emotional reactions to sexting requests from a partner. Greater attachment anxiety, lower self-sexualization, greater religiosity, and being younger predicted more negative emotional reactions for girls. Among boys, lower attachment avoidance, greater self-sexualization, and lower religiosity predicted more positive emotional reactions to sexting requests. Only lower levels of self-sexualization predicted negative emotional reactions to sexting requests for boys. These findings support that sexting is a gendered experience for adolescents in dating relationships and that although most sexting between partners is wanted, certain adolescents may be more at risk for experiencing negative consequences from sexting.

Социально-психологическая интерпретация личности преподавателя как фактор оценки студентами учебной онлайн-лекции

Статья содержит результаты эмпирического исследования социально-психологической интерпретации личности преподавателя студентами во время просмотра видео-лекции. Был описан эталонный образ преподавателя, характеризующийся коммуникативным, нравственным, регуляторным и рефлексивным потенциалом. Проведено сравнение характеристик эталонного преподавателя с преподавателем, лекция которого вызвала наибольший интерес и позитивную эмоциональную реакцию. Показано, что наибольший вклад в формирование студенческих оценок интереса к онлайн-лекции и готовности к ее самостоятельному просмотру вносит атрибуция преподавателю качеств, характеризующих коммуникативную сферу его личности.

Only One Moment in Time? Investigating the Dynamic Relationship of Emotions and Attention Toward Political Information With Mobile Experience Sampling

This article attempts to (a) investigate the relationship between distinct emotional reactions toward political information and attention toward political news and (b) analyze whether this relationship is dynamic. We use an experience sampling design to assess recipients’ immediate emotional reactions and attention toward news. Participants reported their emotional reactions (anger, fear, happiness, contentment) and attentional focus directly after following a news item for eight days in a row up to five times a day via smartphone. Results indicate that anger is positively and fear negatively correlated with attention toward political news. For positive emotional reactions, happiness is not correlated with attention to news, while contentment is negatively correlated with attention and also shows a negative lagged effect on attention at a later point in time. The study shows promising ways to assess and analyze dynamic processes in everyday media consumption.

Effects of Emotion on Teaching-Related Beliefs, Attitudes, and Intentions of Preservice Teachers

Affecting preservice teachers' pedagogical intentions and future behavior is a challenging goal of teacher education. It may be accomplished by purposefully changing their beliefs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lesson videos, compared to an argumentation-based video format, can evoke stronger and more positive emotional reactions and whether these reactions in turn result in higher changes in beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. We measured student-oriented teaching beliefs, attitudes, and intentions of N = 129 preservice teachers before and after the intervention. As a treatment check, we also quantified their emotional reaction (arousal and valence) to the intervention. Results of indirect effect models revealed that watching lesson videos led to higher emotional arousal and, overall, higher emotional arousal was related to more positive change in beliefs. However, change rates of teaching beliefs, attitudes, and intentions were the same for the lesson video and the expert talk video group. Emotional valence had no effect on change of beliefs, attitudes, or intentions. This study adds empirical evidence to theoretical claims concerning the effects of emotions on changing teaching-related beliefs.

Analysis of the emotional state of patients with epilepsy and depression in interactal period

The paper presents the results of the analysis of the emotional state of patients with epilepsy and depressions in the interictal period. Was analyzed the entire spectrum of aff ective manifestations (positive and negative emotional reactions), and were separately investigated the structural features of anxiety. It has been established that in the structure of the emotional state of patients with epilepsy, both with depressions and without, is noted the presence of negative aff ectivity in the form of reactions of tension, anxiety, anger, and frustration. The specifi c character of the emotional state of patients with epilepsy with depressions lies not so much in the representation of specifi c negative emotional states, but in the range of their severity. The emotional state of patients with epilepsy and depressions is represented by extremely negative emotional reactions, among which the most pronounced and characteristic of all forms of depression is the feeling of sadness. The specifics of the emotional state are determined depending on the form of depression: against the background of the state of sadness, with organic depression in the aff ective state, dominates the feeling of fatigue; with psychogenic — tension and anxiety; with endogenous — self-deprecation. Were distinguished the structural features of anxiety in patients with various forms of depression, was noted its high level in psychogenic depressions.

Effects of Audio–Visual Stimulation Automatically Controlled by the Bioelectric Potentials from Human Brain and Heart

We have compared the effects of open-loop and closed-loop audio–visual stimulation (AVS) generated on-line on the basis of subjects’ bioelectrical activity. In the first experiment, volunteers were presented with closed-loop AVS consisting of photic- and music-like stimuli generated by transformation of the current parameters of subjects’ electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rhythm. In the second experiment, prearranged composition of photic and musical stimuli was used without feedback from the current bioelectric activity of the subjects. It has been found that the most pronounced shifts in objective and subjective indicators, such as the maximum increase in the EEG α rhythm power relative to the background, positive emotional reactions, and shifts in the functional state of the body, are recorded when AVS is controlled by the current electrophysiological characteristics of the subjects. These effects result from the involvement of interoceptive mechanisms in the system of mechanisms responsible for normalization of human functional state under AVS, i.e., the mechanisms of multisensory integration and neuroplasticity and the resonance mechanisms of the brain.

Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Reactions to Snooping: The Role of Attachment Characteristics.

Although snooping is common in romantic relationships, there has been limited research on reactions to being snooped by a romantic partner. This study was designed to examine the role of attachment style in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to partner snooping. Participants (n = 491) read one of four hypothetical scenarios that involved partner snooping through electronic or nonelectronic belongings and reported their reactions in an online study. Results showed that overall, an electronic snooping offense was associated with greater negative reactions, such as greater tendencies to attribute the partner and the self to the offense, and being less forgiving of the partner. Anxious attachment predicted greater positive emotional reactions to partner snooping, whereas avoidance predicted greater negative emotional reactions and being less forgiving of the partner. Finally, relationship status was a robust predictor of reactions such that being in a committed relationship was associated with lesser negative emotional reactions and greater positive emotional reactions to snooping, lesser tendencies to attribute the partner to the offense, and being more forgiving of the partner. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed.

Animating the Capacity for Concern: The Imago Couple Therapist Embraces Winnicott

This article examines the Imago couple therapist’s work through Winnicott’s concepts, such as holding, mirroring, and, especially, the capacity for concern. Drawing on vignettes from couples in treatment, I demonstrate methods employed by Imago therapists to encourage the expression of each spouse’s “true self” and enable the emergence of Hendrix’s “hidden,” “denied,” or “lost” self. The “manic defense” concept will elucidate the couple’s “exits” that serve to avoid intimacy, and destruction of the object. Negative and positive emotional reactions of the therapist are discussed. The opportunity for a corrective experience is also examined in light of neuropsychological research.

The pupil response as an indicator of user experience in a digital exercise game.

To study whether psychophysiological indicators are suitable measures of user experience in a digital exercise game (exergame), a laboratory study employing both psychophysiological and self-report measures was conducted. Sixty-six participants cycled for 10min on an ergometer while pupil diameter, skin conductance, and heart rate were measured; afterward, they completed a user experience questionnaire. The participants performed under three experimental conditions varying between subjects: active gaming (participants controlled the altitude of a digital bird by varying their pedal rate in order to catch letters flying across the screen), observing a game (they observed a replay of another participant's game), and no-game (blank screen). Only the gaming condition showed evidence for statistically significant pupil dilations-indicating emotional arousal-in response to game events (catching a letter) or corresponding points in time. The observational condition did not differ statistically from the no-game control condition. Self-reports also indicated that the gaming condition was rated most fun and least demanding. Other psychophysiological indicators (heart rate, skin conductance) showed no systematic effects in response to game events, rather they steadily increased during training. Thus, pupil responses were shown to be suitable indicators of positive emotional reactions to game events and user experience in a (training) game.

The Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire (MEQ): Rationale and Initial Psychometric Properties

Emotion research would benefit from a self-report measure that assesses both discrete emotions and broad dimensions, takes into account the time-course of emotional experience, and distinguishes emotional reactivity and regulation. The present study describes the development and psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire (MEQ), which was designed to address these needs. The MEQ assesses: (a) two superordinate dimensions of emotional reactivity (positive and negative), (b) three components of positive and negative emotional reactivity (frequency, intensity, and persistence), and (c) 10 discrete emotions (5 positive: happy, excited, enthusiastic, proud, inspired; 5 negative: sad, afraid, angry, ashamed, anxious). In addition, the MEQ assesses the ability to regulate these emotions. To investigate its psychometric properties, the MEQ was administered to a diverse sample of 309 United States adults (Study 1) along with established measures of emotional experience and regulation. The MEQ was also administered to a sample of 168 undergraduates (Study 2) to examine 3-week test-retest reliability. Results generally support the reliability and validity of the MEQ. Specifically, internal consistencies for all scales range from acceptable to excellent, confirmatory factor analyses support the hypothesized structure, and, with few exceptions, items exhibit hypothesized loadings, and scales exhibit hypothesized associations with each other and with other measures of emotional experience and regulation. In addition, the MEQ demonstrates strong test-retest reliability. The MEQ is likely to be of use to researchers interested in a detailed, reliable, and valid assessment of emotional experience.

Age-related decline in positive emotional reactivity and emotion regulation in a population-derived cohort.

Human older age ushers in functional decline across the majority of cognitive domains. A notable exception seems to be affective processing, with older people reporting higher levels of emotional well-being. Here we evaluated age-related changes in emotional reactivity and regulation in a representative subsample (N = 104; age range: 23–88 years) of the population-derived Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience cohort. Performance on a film-based emotion reactivity and regulation task in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner showed an age-related decline in positive reactivity, alongside a similar decline in the capacity to down-regulate negative affect. Decreased positivity with age was associated with reduced activation in the middle frontal gyrus. These findings, from the largest neuroimaging investigation to-date, provide no support for age-related increases in positive emotional reactivity.