Social Positive Emotions Research Articles

The motivating effect of positive social emotions on digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises–evidence from financial news and public opinion

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the impact of digital transformation on positive social emotions within manufacturing enterprises and examines the moderating effects of management tone and marketing capabilities on this relationship. This research uses a panel fixed-effect regression model to empirically examine the impact of positive social emotions on the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises from 2016 to 2020 based on panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The results indicate that social positive emotions significantly contribute to the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises. The effect of social positive emotions on the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises is strongly heterogeneous in terms of differences in enterprise attributes and geographical differences. Further analysis reveals that marketing capability and corporate executive tone, directly or indirectly, both have a considerable positive moderating effect on the aforementioned mechanism. In contrast, innovation capability has little moderating influence. In order to better regulate external positive social emotions to promote digital transformation, manufacturing enterprises need to emphasise management tone and enhance their marketing capabilities. These might facilitate companies in utilising additional social resources, strengthen internal strategic digital transformation decisions, and advance the development of digital transformation in China's manufacturing sector.

Meta-analysis of the association between gratitude and loneliness.

Gratitude is a positive social emotion that involves recognizing that others have brought benefits into one's life. Loneliness, on the other hand, is an unpleasant emotion resulting from a perceived lack of social connectedness. Although previous studies have reported an inverse association between gratitude and loneliness, these studies have not been systematically examined in a single review. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis to examine the association between gratitude and loneliness. Analysis of 26 studies revealed a moderate sized effect (mean Fisher's z transformed correlation, zr = -.406, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -.463, -.349; mean back-transformed correlation, r = -.385, 95% CI = -.433, -.335). To complement these effect sizes, we calculated a probability-based common language effect size for correlations. Random-effects homogeneity testing suggested the presence of effect size heterogeneity. Analyses of both continuous and categorical moderators were non-significant, indicating that these variables did not influence effect size magnitude. Furthermore, publication bias tests suggested that our results were not influenced by unpublished studies. Finally, we proposed several statistical and clinical recommendations for future research. Regarding the latter, we offered suggestions for modifying gratitude enhancement programs with the aim of reducing loneliness.

Effective Connectivity of the Bilateral Amygdala, Dorsomedial Prefrontal, and Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortices: Feasibility of Positive Social Emotion Regulation Models for Real-Time Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Effective connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows assessing directions of interaction between brain regions. For real-time fMRI, we compared models of positive social emotion regulation based on a network involving the bilateral amygdala, dorsomedial prefrontal, and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. The top-down regulation model implied modulation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex exerted onto other regions, while the bottom-up model implied the inverse modulation. The validity of model calculations was tested using the data from three healthy volunteers who imagined positive interactions with people in presented photos (stimuli). We confirmed the dominance of the top-down model and evaluated the number and duration of iterations required for model estimations. The study shows the applicability of the four-node effective connectivity models for regulation of positive social emotions using real-time fMRI, e.g., for neurofeedback applications.

FMRI Brain Response in Patients with Depression at the Time of Control of the Severity of Positive Social Emotions and Analysis of Behavioral Factors.

The study presents functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data on the brain activity in depression and psycho-diagnostic indicators that characterize cognitive activity strategies of positive social emotion regulation. It was shown that fMRI activity of the brain during viewing of emotionally neutral and moderately positive images and searching for an optimal self-regulation strategy was associated with changes in activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Analysis of behavioral factors showed that strategies of searching for the optimal way of emotional self-regulation were closely related to the general style of behavior, level of uncertainty tolerance, and commitment. The integration of psycho-diagnostic and neuroimaging data allows deeper understanding of the mechanisms of emotions regulation that contributes to the optimization of protocols for the diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders.

Moved to Norway, Then Moved by Norway: How Moments of Kama Muta Is Related With Immigrants’ Acculturation

In this paper, we investigated the relation between a positive social emotion, kama muta, and immigrants’ acculturation to Norway. Kama muta is evoked by a sudden intensification of a communal sharing relationship. Since communal sharing relationships are characterized by feeling one with others and orienting one’s actions to something they have in common, we predicted that feeling kama muta about Norway or Norwegians would enhance immigrants’ motivation to adopt Norwegian culture. We investigated this with exploratory sequential mixed methods: In Study 1, we interviewed 18 immigrants in Norway to understand in which situations the emotional experience, that can be identified as kama muta, occurs in connection to Norway and Norwegians, and how this affects acculturation to Norwegian culture. Based on the results of Study 1, we developed prompts that assessed immigrants’ kama muta experiences in connection with Norway and formulated hypotheses relating to immigrants’ bicultural identity integration, acculturation motivations, motivation to stay, and acculturative stress. In Study 2 we quantitively assessed these hypotheses in a larger sample of immigrants to Norway ( N = 142). The frequency and intensity of kama muta experiences in connection with Norway uniquely predicted immigrants’ motivation to adopt Norwegian culture, and negatively predicted acculturative stress. This suggests that kama muta can connect immigrants to their new homeland.

Young children value recipients who display gratitude.

Gratitude is a positive social emotion that one experiences when one has benefited from another person's goodwill (McCullough, 2002). Feeling gratitude urges the grateful person to reciprocate and respond prosocially, thereby solidifying cooperation. Yet little prior research has focused on the social functions of displaying gratitude, namely to convey that a grateful recipient is likely to be a reliable and trustworthy cooperative partner. The present study examined when in development children become sensitive to these important functions of gratitude displays. The sample consisted of 4-year-old (n = 20; 10 girls) and 5-year-old children (n = 20; 10 girls) from families in the United States that were predominantly White and college educated. Children watched videos of two beneficiaries receiving gifts from a benefactor. One beneficiary showed gratitude, whereas the other was positive but nongrateful. As predicted, 5-year-olds preferred the grateful recipient, thought the benefactor would also prefer her, thought she would be more likely to reciprocate, and distributed more resources to her. The 4-year-olds' responses showed some of the same patterns as those of the 5-year-olds but were less systematic. These findings provide the first evidence that as early as the preschool years, gratitude displays elicit affiliation and cooperation, even among bystanders, and thus serve vital social and cooperative functions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Biased and inflexible interpretations of ambiguous social situations: Associations with eating disorder symptoms and socioemotional functioning.

Research indicates that difficulties across multiple socioemotional functioning domains (e.g., social emotion expression/regulation, response to social elicitors of emotion) and negatively biased interpretations of ambiguous social situations may affect eating disorder symptoms. The impact of inflexible interpretations of social situations on eating disorder symptoms is less clear. The present study therefore examined relations between inflexible and biased social interpretations, socioemotional functioning, and eating disorder symptoms. A total of 310 participants from the general population, recruited from an online crowdsourcing platform, completed measures of socioemotional functioning (e.g., rejection sensitivity, negative social exchange), eating disorder symptoms, and positive and negative interpretation bias and inflexibility on a single measurement occasion. Socioemotional functioning impairments (Pillai's trace=0.11, p < .001), but not negative (β=.07, p =.162) or positive (β=-.01, p =.804) interpretation bias or inflexible interpretations (β=.04, p =.446), were associated with eating disorder symptoms in multiple regression models. In network analyses controlling statistically for multiple markers of socioemotional functioning, eating disorder symptoms were directly associated with negative (but not positive) interpretation bias. Inflexible interpretations were indirectly linked to symptoms via co-dampening of positive emotions. Exploratory causal discovery analyses suggested that several socioemotional functioning variables (social anxiety, depression, negative social exchange) may cause eating disorder symptoms. Consistent with cognitive-interpersonal models of disordered eating, our results suggest that less accurate (biased, inflexible) interpretations of social information contribute to patterns of cognition (anxious anticipation of rejection) and emotion regulation (down-regulation of positive social emotion) thought to encourage disordered eating. This study suggests that less accurate interpretations of ambiguous social information encourage anxious anticipation of rejection and downregulation of positive social emotions, both of which are thought to promote eating disorder symptoms. Knowledge provided by this study about the likely relations between interpretive processes, social/emotional functioning, and eating disorder symptoms may help inform treatments for eating disorders, particularly those that attempt to modify patterns of interpretation.

Progressive modulation of resting-state brain activity during neurofeedback of positive-social emotion regulation networks

Neurofeedback allows for the self-regulation of brain circuits implicated in specific maladaptive behaviors, leading to persistent changes in brain activity and connectivity. Positive-social emotion regulation neurofeedback enhances emotion regulation capabilities, which is critical for reducing the severity of various psychiatric disorders. Training dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) to exert a top-down influence on bilateral amygdala during positive-social emotion regulation progressively (linearly) modulates connectivity within the trained network and induces positive mood. However, the processes during rest that interleave the neurofeedback training remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that short resting periods at the end of training sessions of positive-social emotion regulation neurofeedback would show alterations within emotion regulation and neurofeedback learning networks. We used complementary model-based and data-driven approaches to assess how resting-state connectivity relates to neurofeedback changes at the end of training sessions. In the experimental group, we found lower progressive dmPFC self-inhibition and an increase of connectivity in networks engaged in emotion regulation, neurofeedback learning, visuospatial processing, and memory. Our findings highlight a large-scale synergy between neurofeedback and resting-state brain activity and connectivity changes within the target network and beyond. This work contributes to our understanding of concomitant learning mechanisms post training and facilitates development of efficient neurofeedback training.

Predicting the effect of street environment on residents' mood states in large urban areas using machine learning and street view images

BackgroundResearchers have demonstrated that the built environment is associated with mental health outcomes. However, evidence concerning the effects of street environments on mood in fast-growing Asian cities is scarce. Traditional questionnaires and interview methods are labor intensive and time consuming and pose challenges for accurately and efficiently evaluating the impact of urban-scale street environments on mood. ObjectiveThis study aims to use street view images and machine learning methods to model the impact of street environments on mood states in a large urban area in Guangzhou, China, and to assess the effect of different street view elements on mood. MethodsA total of 199,754 street view images of Guangzhou were captured from Tencent Street View, and street elements were extracted by pyramid scene parsing network. Data on six mood state indicators (motivated, happy, positive-social emotion, focused, relaxed, and depressed) were collected from 1590 participants via an online platform called Assessing the Effects of Street Views on Mood. A machine learning approach was proposed to predict the effects of street environment on mood in large urban areas in Guangzhou. A series of statistical analyses including stepwise regression, ridge regression, and lasso regression were conducted to assess the effects of street view elements on mood. ResultsStreets in urban fringe areas were more likely to produce motivated, happy, relaxed, and focused feelings in residents than those in city center areas. Conversely, areas in the city center, a high-density built environment, were more likely to produce depressive feelings. Street view elements have different effects on the six mood states. “Road” is a robust indicator positively correlated with the “motivated” indicator and negatively correlated with the “depressed” indicator. “Sky” is negatively associated with “positive-social emotion” and “depressed” but positively associated with “motivated”. “Building” is a negative predictor for the “focused” and “happy” indicator but is positively related to the “depressed” indicator, while “vegetation” and “terrain” are the variables most robustly and positively correlated with all positive moods. ConclusionOur findings can help urban designers identify crucial areas of the city for optimization, and they have practical implications for urban planners seeking to build urban environments that foster better mental health.

Modelling of Social Policy and Initiatives under COVID-19: Rural NEET Youth Case Study

NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) youth rates in Europe are generally higher in rural regions than in urban areas and the share in rural regions is constantly increasing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people became even more vulnerable as they experienced social exclusion and mental health problems. The objective of this paper is to analyse NEET youth-related statistics in Europe and distinguish positive initiatives for young people in rural areas of the Baltic countries to encourage positive emotions and willingness to learn. Statistical analysis and case study methods were employed. Data on youth unemployment, NEET youth by age and gender, and poverty and social exclusion of young people, is analysed. Social policy initiatives in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, mainly from rural municipalities, are presented and discussed. This research determines the key issues related to NEET youth and proposes initiatives to overcome existing problems among young people. Such social initiatives aim to promote positive social emotions of youth, promote their inclusion in society, and foster regional sustainability.

Social Achievement Goals and Academic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Academic and Social Positive Emotions

Background: Social-cognitive theorists suggest that cognitive-emotional factors play essential roles in academic outputs like academic engagement. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between social achievement goals and academic engagement by mediating role of academic and social positive emotions. Methods: The method of present study was descriptive cross-sectional study based on correlational research. Using cluster multi-stage sampling method, this study included 566 undergraduate students (278 male and 288 female) in the first semester of 2018. The research instruments were Social Achievement Goals scale, Academic Hope scale, Admiration scale, and Academic Engagement inventory. Data were analyzed using correlation matrix and structural equation modeling. Results: Results of analyzing data showed that social development goal had a positive indirect effect (β = 0.41, P = 0.01) on academic engagement through academic hope and admiration. Also, social demonstration-approach goal had an indirect and negative effect (β = -0.08, P = 0.01) on academic engagement by the mediating role of admiration. Finally, the research model was able to explain 31% of the variance of academic engagement with two latent variables of social achievement goals and academic and social positive emotions. Conclusions: In general, social achievement goals and positive emotions significantly explained the variance of academic engagement. The findings provide supportive evidence for how motivations and emotions can affect academic engagement.

Building viewer engagement through interaction rituals on Twitch.tv

ABSTRACT The expanding gaming industry now includes a large group of consumers who watch others play games. On Twitch.tv – the leading platform for gameplay streaming – influencers livestream themselves playing games while viewers watch and interact with them. Previous research suggests that social interaction may be critical for a successful stream but has not studied gameplay streams as Interaction Rituals, a model describing how interaction lead to social motivation. Analysis of four gameplay streams shows how the streamer, through inclusion strategies and active viewer participation, promote viewer engagement in a way that resembles the mechanisms of offline Interaction Rituals. The model, therefore, appears to be useful for understanding how successful gameplay streams draw a returning audience through producing positive social emotions and parasocial attachment to the group.

Can compassion-focused imagery be used as an attention bias modification treatment?

Compassion focused-imagery (CFI), one of the psychological interventions of compassion-focused therapy, is receiving increasing attention. It is a therapeutic tool that targets the process of self-criticism by prompting individuals to imagine themselves as compassionate or to imagine receiving compassion from an ideal compassionate other. This research examines the role of self-criticism in the attentional processing of emotional stimuli, namely, critical and compassionate facial expressions. It is hypothesized that the activation of positive social emotions through CFI plays a role in broadening attention in the processing of emotional stimuli. The McEwan Faces stimulus set, which includes critical, neutral and compassionate faces, was used to create an attentional bias task called the dot probe task. The processing of emotional faces was assessed before and after exposure to either CFI or neutral imagery, controlling for the process of sensory integration (n = 80). A between-subject analysis was used to test the hypothesis. Before the imagery task, participants tended to look away from critical faces, and their level of self-criticism played a role. Both types of imagery significantly reduced the bias away from critical faces when the stimuli were presented for 1200 ms. This effect was reversed in the neutral condition for participants with high levels of self-criticism but not in the CFI condition. Interestingly, self-criticism impacts the attentional treatment of critical faces and the effect of imagery entailing sensory integration on this treatment. CFI seems to preserve this effect for participants with high levels of self-criticism, possibly due to the activation of positive social emotions.

Moved by Observing the Love of Others: Kama Muta Evoked Through Media Fosters Humanization of Out-Groups.

People often view out-groups as less human than their in-group. Some media video content is heart-warming and leaves one feeling touched or moved. Recent research indicates that this reflects a positive social emotion, kama muta, which is evoked by a sudden increase in interpersonal closeness, specifically by the relational model of communal sharing. Because forming strong, close, and communal bonds exemplifies valued human qualities, and because other humans are our primary target partners of communal sharing, we predicted that feeling kama muta in response to observing communal sharing among out-group strangers would make people view out-groups as more human. In Study 1, we replicated a model obtained through a large exploratory preliminary study which indicated that videos depicting out-group members enacting communal sharing evoked kama muta and increased protagonist humanization. This, in turn, led to decreased blatant dehumanization of the entire out-group via perceived out-group warmth and motivation to develop a communal sharing relationship with the protagonist. The preregistered Study 2 further tested our model, demonstrating (1) that the relationship between protagonist humanization and kama muta is bidirectional such that baseline humanization of the protagonist also increases feelings of kama muta in response to acts of communal sharing; (2) that watching videos of communal sharing, as compared to funny videos, increased protagonist humanization; and (3) that kama muta videos, compared to funny videos, had an indirect effect on the reduction of out-group blatant dehumanization, which was mediated by protagonist humanization and out-group warmth.

Moral elevation: Indications of functional integration with welfare trade-off calibration and estimation mechanisms

Moral elevation is a positive social emotion, which is triggered by observing third parties behaving benevolently, and which in turn triggers a motivation to behave benevolently towards others in general. It has been suggested that this relatively obscure emotion may be the output of a naturally selected cognitive adaptation which functions to help us retain our position in the competition for access to beneficial social relationships. This suggestion is here interpreted within the framework of ‘recalibrational emotions’. This framework offers the computational vocabulary necessary to understand how mental adaptations governing affect and motivation perform their functions at the cognitive level. Parallels are drawn between the suggested function and known phenomenological attributes of moral elevation, and the recently explicated functional operation of other social emotions (such as anger, guilt, and gratitude). Specifically, these other social emotions are thought to share a common computational pathway; recalibration of our welfare trade-off ratios (WTRs). WTRs are the computational element which dictate our willingness to benefit others at some cost to ourselves. A series of studies was conducted to explore whether a reliable relationship exists between moral elevation and WTRs. The results suggest that elevation does have a positive recalibrational effect on our WTRs, and that it may also be functionally integrated with a mental mechanism designed by natural selection to estimate the WTRs of other social actors.

Residents’ social dilemma in sustainable heritage tourism: the role of social emotion, efficacy beliefs and temporal concerns

Increasingly, residents in world heritage sites (WHS) are facing dilemmas by choosing between the short-term self-interests and long-term collective benefits associated with heritage tourism development. Through the lens of social dilemma theory, this study investigated the role of social emotions in affecting resident dilemma considerations related to supporting sustainable heritage tourism development. Employing a mixed-methods approach, 402 resident samples (Study 1) and 21 semi-structured interviews (Study 2) were conducted with five rounds of investigations in a cultural WHS, Kaiping Diaolou, China. Results found that residents’ support for sustainable heritage tourism were significantly influenced by their perceived collective efficacy and immediate outcomes. Residents’ positive social emotions evoked by WHS designation promote their cooperation by enhancing efficacy beliefs and emphasising current impacts. These findings extend the literature by recognizing emotional and dilemma factors in residents’ sustainable behaviours, which provides managerial implications to encourage public engagement in heritage protection.

The role of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in dorsomedial prefrontal-amygdala neural circuitry during positive-social emotion regulation.

Positive‐social emotions mediate one's cognitive performance, mood, well‐being, and social bonds, and represent a critical variable within therapeutic settings. It has been shown that the upregulation of positive emotions in social situations is associated with increased top‐down signals that stem from the prefrontal cortices (PFC) which modulate bottom‐up emotional responses in the amygdala. However, it remains unclear if positive‐social emotion upregulation of the amygdala occurs directly through the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) or indirectly linking the bilateral amygdala with the dmPFC via the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), an area which typically serves as a gatekeeper between cognitive and emotion networks. We performed functional MRI (fMRI) experiments with and without effortful positive‐social emotion upregulation to demonstrate the functional architecture of a network involving the amygdala, the dmPFC, and the sgACC. We found that effortful positive‐social emotion upregulation was associated with an increase in top‐down connectivity from the dmPFC on the amygdala via both direct and indirect connections with the sgACC. Conversely, we found that emotion processes without effortful regulation increased network modulation by the sgACC and amygdala. We also found that more anxious individuals with a greater tendency to suppress emotions and intrusive thoughts, were likely to display decreased amygdala, dmPFC, and sgACC activity and stronger connectivity strength from the sgACC onto the left amygdala during effortful emotion upregulation. Analyzed brain network suggests a more general role of the sgACC in cognitive control and sheds light on neurobiological informed treatment interventions.

IDC theory: creation and the creation loop

The interest-driven creator (IDC) theory is being developed as a group endeavor by Asian researchers to articulate a holistic learning design theory for future education in Asia. The theory hypothesizes that students, driven by interest, can be engaged in the creation of knowledge (generating ideas and artifacts). By repeating this creation process in their daily learning routines, they will excel in learning performance, develop twenty-first-century competencies, and form creation habits. We hope that with such practices in education, our future generations will ultimately become lifelong interest-driven creators. In IDC Theory, there are three anchored concepts, namely, interest, creation, and habit. Each anchored concept comprises three component concepts which form a concept loop. For example, the creation loop consists of three component concepts—imitating, combining, and staging. Imitating is concerned with taking in (or inputting) an abundant amount of existing knowledge from the outside world to form one’s background knowledge. Combining refers to delivering (or outputting) new ideas or artifacts prolifically by synthesizing existing information encountered in the world and thoughts arising from the students’ background knowledge. Staging relates to frequently demonstrating the generated ideas or artifacts to the relevant communities and receiving feedback from these communities to improve the novelty and value of the demonstrated outcomes while gaining social recognition and nurturing positive social emotions. This paper focuses on describing the three components of the creation loop. We provide three case studies to illustrate the creation loop at work, as well as how it intertwines with both the interest and habit loops in supporting students to develop their creation capabilities. In presenting this iteration of the creation concept, an anchored concept in IDC theory, we acknowledge the roles played of imitation, combination, and staging in different learning and education contexts—indeed, there are multiple theories that inform and intersect with it.

Associations of Suicide and Subjective Well-Being.

The aim of this study is to examine relationships between suicide and subjective well-being. Correlation and regression analysis are conducted on 81 countries' aggregate data from United Nation agencies. Generally, suicide is not significantly related to life satisfaction; or negative affect, or positive social emotion, but significantly negatively related to positive self-emotion, or positive interpersonal emotion. In preventing suicide, subjective well-being's affective aspect might play a more important role than its cognitive aspect, positive affect might play a more important role than negative affect, and the personal aspect of positive affect might play a more important role than the social aspect.

Subcultural Differences in Processing Social and Non-social Positive Emotions Between Han and Uygur Chinese: An ERP Study.

While previous studies have shown that East-West cultural differences exist in processing different emotional stimuli, potential subcultural differences within a large cultural group are not well understood. In this study, we examined subcultural differences in the event-related potential (ERP) modulations in the brain, during processing social positive and non-social positive stimuli among 21 Han Chinese and 21 Uygur Chinese. Results showed that the magnitudes of P2, N2, and late positive potential (LPP) were larger in Uygur Chinese than in Han Chinese. For social positive stimuli, the P2 and LPP 300–600 were larger in Uygur Chinese than in Han Chinese. However, there was no significant difference in non-social positive stimuli. These results indicated that social positive emotions were more prioritized in emotional processing among Uygur Chinese than Han Chinese. These findings contribute to the growing literature on subcultural differences in processing different types of positive stimuli.