Role Of Cognitive Appraisal Research Articles

Role of Cognitive Appraisal in Coping, Adapting and Psychological Well-Being of Chinese Teachers: A Concept Paper

Teachers are considered a nucleus of educational institutes, their dire efforts act as the accelerating engine of the students' minds that nurture their minds with the best, most incumbent, authentic, resilient and creative thoughts, knowledge, reasoning and information that play a back-supporting role to the future emperors of the countries in their professional life. To do such a huge and exhaustive job, teachers often encounter various challenging situations and circumstances in which stress can be placed at the top among all other issues. This delicate issue has been identified as common among Chinese university lecturers and this issue has been influencing their mental states causing a damaging effect on their job performance. To understand this deliberate scenario, this study has reviewed the previous literature to explore the level of stress and psychological well-being and some helping strategies to sustain psychological well-being and stress adaptation as it is a part of every job and propose a conceptual framework. This proposed framework will have many useful settings for the literature scholars and the targeted units which have been illustrated in the concluding remarks section.

“I must make the grade!”: the role of cognitive appraisals, irrational beliefs, exam anxiety, and affect, in the academic self-concept of undergraduate students

ABSTRACT Background and objectives Examination anxiety is a common occurrence, and is potentially detrimental to student attainment. In recent theorizing, it has been suggested that cognitive appraisals, as put forth in cognitive appraisal theory, and irrational beliefs, as put forth in rational emotive behavior therapy, may interact to predict affectivity. The current research examines the antecedents and associates of examination affect and academic self-concept in undergraduate students. Design A preliminary study applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the factor structure of an irrational beliefs inventory. Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional and correlational approach to testing core theoretical assumptions. Study 2 took a two-wave longitudinal and path analytical approach to examine temporal effects between target variables. Method All self-report data collection took place in the United Kingdom with university students. We recruited n = 1150, n = 362, n = 662 for preliminary, study 1, and study 2, respectively. Results Across studies, data indicated that a pattern of adaptive cognitive appraisal was associated with more advantageous affectivity, and better academic self-concept. Conclusions Reciprocal temporal relationships were revealed between many variables, supporting an interactive and bidirectional view of how cognition and affect are related pertaining to examination anxiety.

The Role of Cognitive Appraisal in Informed Decision-Making among Social Entrepreneurs: A Thematic Analysis

Social entrepreneurship (SE) is gaining momentum by providing innovative solutions to economic, social, and environmental problems by generating jobs and social inclusion. However, it involves different challenges that may lead to a negative appraisal. This study aimed to explore cognitive appraisal processes social entrepreneurs use to make informed decisions in their entrepreneurial journey. Interviews were conducted with 13 Indian social entrepreneurs, and the data were subjected to thematic analysis. The main themes were; appropriateness, implications, coping potential, and normative significance. The study proposes a cognitive model for the appraisal of SE. The study is important for aspiring social entrepreneurs to understand the evaluation components of appraisal to decide how appropriate SE is as a career for them.

The role of cognitive appraisals and illness-related beliefs in adaptation to life with rheumatoid arthritis: variable- and person-centered approach

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a serious chronic disease that affects daily functioning and quality of life. Two studies were conducted to analyze the role of cognitive variables (namely cognitive appraisals and illness-related beliefs) in adaptation to life with chronic disease. A total of 150 people with rheumatoid arthritis (47 men and 103 women) were assessed both stationary (N = 69) and online (N = 81). The results of study 1 indicate that cognitive appraisals explain a greater percentage of variance than coping strategies with regard to the severity of depressive symptoms and the level of acceptance of living with the disease. In turn, the second study found that social support mediates the relationship between selected cognitive appraisals (loss, challenge and value) and anxiety. The latent profile analysis showed that the subgroups distinguished according to the illness-related beliefs levels differed in cognitive appraisals, but do not in the level of anxiety. The results indicate that cognitive appraisals, in line with theoretical assumptions, seem to be the key psychological factor determining the level of adaptation to life with rheumatoid arthritis. Social resources mediate the relationship between selected cognitive appraisals and anxiety. Cognitive appraisals are modeled through illness-related beliefs, which, in turn, can be modified, e.g. as part of psychological intervention.

How and when can job-insecure employees prevent psychological distress against the COVID-19 pandemic? The role of cognitive appraisal and reappraisal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected economies around the world, causing record unemployment rates that have exacerbated the already prevalent job insecurity, thereby leading to psychological distress among many individuals. The present study aims to reveal the underlying mechanisms of psychological distress induced by the COVID-19 pandemic among job-insecure employees and to identify one of the emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal) as a protective factor that mitigates psychological distress. Drawing upon transactional theory, we proposed and tested a moderated mediation model, wherein cognitive reappraisal serves as a moderator of the direct and indirect relationship between job insecurity and psychological distress via stress appraisals (i.e., threat appraisal and challenge appraisal) based on data from 922 employees. Results show that threat appraisal and challenge appraisal positively and negatively mediate the relationship between job insecurity and psychological distress, respectively. Furthermore, as an emotion regulation strategy, cognitive reappraisal mitigates psychological distress among job-insecure employees, weakens the positive indirect effect of threat appraisal, but intensifies the negative indirect effect of challenge appraisal. Our findings suggest that cognition plays an important role in individuals' emotional reactions to COVID-19-related stress, and cognition reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation strategy in mitigating psychological distress. Therefore, cognition reappraisal skills should be improved to reduce psychological distress induced by COVID-19 pandemic.

A serial mediation model of the relationship between suppression emotion-regulation tendency and outcomes of MOOC learning by Chinese university students: The role of cognitive appraisals, boredom, and behavioral avoidance

Suppression emotion-regulation tendency was integrated with control-value theory variables (control appraisal, value appraisal, boredom) and behavioral avoidance and MOOC learning outcomes to comprehensively explore the mechanisms by which suppression affected MOOC learning. A total of 191 Chinese university students participated in this study. They completed a pre-test prior to learning a MOOC, and a questionnaire and a post-test at the end of 15-week MOOC. Results of mediation analysis showed that suppression was indirectly rather than directly related to the outcomes of MOOC learning through different patterns of mediation. The pathways found to be significant were through control appraisal, through boredom, and through any two or all of control, boredom, and behavioral avoidance in serial combinations. Value appraisal was found to negatively moderate the relationship between perceived control and boredom. Based on these results, we adduce practical implications for how to reduce learners’ tendency to use suppression in MOOCs, increase their perceived control and value of MOOC learning, and attenuate the boredom they may experience. This study is intended to contribute to expanding our understanding of MOOC learning as an integrated construct under the interplay of emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of learners.

Inspiration and wellness tourism: the role of cognitive appraisal

ABSTRACT Integrating Cognitive Appraisal Theory with the transmission model of inspiration, this paper investigates the tourist inspiration-eliciting process in the context of wellness tourism. A questionnaire survey (N = 974) was provided to wellness tourists in Shizhu county, China, with findings revealing the motivations of wellness tourists positively influence goal relevance and goal congruence. Goal congruence led to the elicitation of inspiration, which could be separated into two stages of inspired-by and inspired-to. Tourist inspiration was found to diminish as frequency of visitation increased. This research provides conceptual clarity surrounding the intricate connection between motivations and tourist inspiration.

The role of cognitive appraisals in parental burnout: a preliminary analysis during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Counter-intuitively, sociodemographic characteristics account for a small proportion of explained variance in parental burnout. The present study conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic asks whether (i) sociodemographic characteristics are more predictive of parental burnout than usual in a situation of lockdown, (ii) situational factors, that is, the specific restrictive living conditions inherent in the context of lockdown, predict parental burnout better than sociodemographic characteristics do, and (iii) the impact of both sociodemographic and situational factors is moderated or mediated by the parents’ subjective perception of the impact that the health crisis has had on their parenting circumstances. Results show that, within the context of lockdown, both sociodemographic and situational factors explain a negligible proportion of variance in parental burnout. By contrast, parents’ cognitive appraisals of their parenthood within the context of the health crisis were found to play both a crucial mediating and moderating role in the prediction of parental burnout.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12144-021-02629-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Perceived value threats are related to fear of health impairments

ABSTRACT Health impairments are problems in the body and mental functioning, which can be a result of a disease or side effects of treatment. Fear of health impairments plays an important role in decision-making and behavior. People might fear health impairments because of their beliefs about their dangerousness, but also because these impairments threaten important values. However, while the role of cognitive appraisal in the fear of health impairments is investigated, the role of motivation is less clear. To fill this gap, this study analyzed the role of values as motivational constructs in the fear of cognitive, motor, and sensory impairments, as well as impairments of reproductive functions and disfiguring impairments. Participants evaluated these health impairments as frightening or not. They also evaluated how these health impairments may threaten values and reported their value priorities. Health impairments are believed to threaten personally focused values (openness to change and self-enhancement) more than socially focused values (conservation and self-transcendence). Threats to personally focused values are related to higher fear of health impairments.

High-performance work systems and thriving at work: the role of cognitive appraisal and servant leadership

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a balanced and nuanced understanding of the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and employee thriving at work by aiming to consider the “dark-side” of HPWS and to uncover the “black box.”Design/methodology/approachThis research draws from data from 377 employees nested in 77 work teams and tests a multilevel moderated mediation model using multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate that employees appraise HPWS as both a challenge and a hindrance simultaneously. The challenge appraisal associated with HPWS positively influences employees' thriving at work whereas hindrance appraisal of HPWS negatively influences thriving experience. The results also support the hypothesized relationships in which servant leadership moderates the indirect effect of HPWS on employee thriving via challenge and hindrance appraisals accordingly.Originality/valueThis research demonstrates both positive and negative sides of HPWS as evaluated by employees in relation to an important employee outcome of thriving at work. It enriches the strategic HRM literature by identifying the “black box” of HPWS-employee outcomes and associated boundary condition from the theoretical perspective of cognitive appraisals.

Work-family conflicts, cognitive appraisal, and burnout: Testing the mediation effect with structural equationmodelling.

Work-family conflict constitutes an important source of occupational stress predicting teachers' burnout, and cognitive variables have shown to be core structures in explaining human adaptation to stress. Nevertheless, the role of cognitive appraisal needs to be fully analysed to comprehend how it can mediate the relationship between stress and burnout. In order to understand the potential mediation of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between stress and burnout, we adopted conceptual models of stress that highlighted the value of cognitive appraisal on positive and negative reactions to work demands. Also, we analysed the potential moderation of sex and age in the relationship between work-family conflict, cognitive appraisal, and burnout due to inconsistent findings on how these personal variables can interfere on these relations. In this study, we used structural equationmodelling (SEM) to test the mediating of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between work-family conflicts and burnout. A survey with measures of work-family conflicts, cognitive appraisal, and burnout was administered to the participants consisting of 438 Portuguese teachers from kindergarten through high school, aged between 28 and 67 years (M = 46.85; SD = 7.88), 304 of whom were females (69.41%). The results confirmed that cognitive appraisal partially mediated the relationship between work-family conflict and burnout. The mediation effect of cognitive appraisal on the relationship between work-family conflict and burnout was invariant regardless of teachers' sex or age. In sum, cognitive appraisal should be considered in order to understand teachers' adaptation to work.

The Role of Cognitive Appraisal in Quality of Life Over Time in Patients With Cancer.

To better understand how personal factors, contextual factors, and cognitive appraisals predict quality of life. 81 patients with a new diagnosis of cancer were recruited from two oncologists' offices in the midwestern United States. A longitudinal design was used to collect data at three time points. Individuals identified a variety of primary appraisals at the same time and more consistently identified their cancer as a challenge rather than a harm/loss or a threat. The greatest variation in appraisals and quality of life occurred about six months after diagnosis. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that age and primary and secondary appraisals explained a significant amount of variance in quality of life at all three time points. Interventions to improve quality of life for individuals newly diagnosed with cancer are needed and may be more helpful if they target cognitive appraisals. Nurses should assess what matters to the individual; it is important to evaluate how each person appraises a cancer diagnosis so providers can support coping and adjustment from diagnosis through individual treatment trajectories.

The role of cognitive appraisal, emotion and commitment in affecting resident support toward tourism performing arts development

While residents’ perceptions of tourism development have been widely explored through a rational cost-benefit lens, little is known about residents’ emotional responses and their influences on resident support toward tourism development. By integrating cognitive appraisal theory and affect theory of social exchange, this study examines the psychological factors (cognitive appraisals, emotions, and commitment) that underlie residents’ behaviors toward Tourism Performing Arts (TPA) development. Based on a survey of 435 residents undertaken in Yangshuo, China, the results reveal that outcome desirability, fairness and coping potential are significant antecedents differentiating resident positive and negative emotional responses toward TPA developments. Commitment was found to moderate the relationship between resident negative emotions and supportive behaviors and played a significant role in shaping resident behaviors. Additionally, resident support was found to be influenced by negative emotions rather than positive emotional responses toward TPA development. The findings have implications for alleviating resident hostility, cultivating commitment toward specific types of tourism, reducing community conflicts and obtaining local support for sustainable tourism development.

Children's cognitive appraisal moderates associations between psychologically controlling parenting and children's depressive symptoms

IntroductionThis study examined three different types of Chinese children and adolescents' perceptions of psychologically controlling parenting (love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming), their cognitive appraisals of such parenting, and their depressive symptoms. Specifically, the moderating role of children's cognitive appraisal on the association between each type of psychologically controlling parenting and children's depressive symptoms was assessed. Child age and gender effects were also explored. MethodsChildren (n = 992, Mage = 10.23 years) and adolescents (n = 427, Mage = 13.56 years) in Shanghai, China, reported on their parents' engagement in love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming practices, their appraisals of how much they thought their parents engaged in each of these parenting practices for their (the children's) own good, and depressive symptoms. ResultsModerated multiple regressions revealed that parental love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming were associated with more depressive symptoms, which were buffered by children's positive interpretations. Moreover, the moderating effects of positive parenting interpretations were stronger for adolescents than for younger children, but no gender differences in the moderation effects were found. ConclusionsOverall, our findings revealed the critical role of child cognitive appraisals in the effects of parenting practices on child outcomes and highlighted the importance of examining the meaning and function of different dimensions of psychological control within a specific cultural context. Important developmental differences in the role of these cognitive appraisals and the effects of specific parenting practices were also identified.

The role of cognitive appraisals and emotion in autonomic reactivity to an acute stressor

The role of cognitive appraisals and emotion in autonomic reactivity to an acute stressor

Adolescent triangulation into interparental conflict: Role of cognitive appraisals and birth-order

ABSTRACTTriangulation of adolescents into interparental conflict has since long been recognized as a risk factor for adolescents’ psychological adjustment. However, there is a scarcity in research focusing on exploring the variables that make adolescents more vulnerable to get triangulated. This study used a cross-section research design to examine the relationship between interparental conflict and adolescent triangulation into that conflict in an under-researched population of Pakistani school going adolescents (N = 521), with an age range of 13-19 years (M = 15.25; SD = 1.46); while exploring the role of adolescent’s cognitive appraisals (threat and self-blame) and birth-order. The results indicated that interparental conflict, appraisal of threat and appraisal of self-blame are significant predictors of adolescent triangulation. Moreover, this study also revealed the moderating role of adolescent birth order in the relationship between interparental conflict and triangulation, as well as between appraisal of self-blame and triangulation; indicating that the ‘only’ child in the family was at the highest risk of being triangulated into their parents’ arguments, while the youngest child was least likely to get involved.

Gendered role of appraisals of safety in psychological outcome in relation to trauma.

This study investigated gender differences in the role of appraisals of safety in the relationship between exposure to violence and trauma-related symptoms among South African adolescents living in low socioeconomic settings. Limited research exists in developing contexts on the role of cognitive appraisals in mitigating outcome following exposure to violence. Given the prevalence of violence in South Africa and the vulnerability of youth, this type of research is valuable in identifying adolescents at risk of negative psychological outcome following exposure, and in informing intervention efforts. Adolescents (N = 498) completed an adapted version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (Mollica et al., 1992) and the Safety Index (Ward, Flisher, Zissis, Muller, & Lombard, 2001). The results indicate a significant positive relationship between all violence subscales and trauma-related symptoms, whereas a significant negative relationship was found between sense of safety and trauma-related symptoms. Important gender differences were identified in the role of appraisals of safety, with more effects noted for women than men. For men, the obtained results only demonstrated a health-sustaining role. For women, the results indicated a health-sustaining role, an indirect effect, and a stress-reducing role. These findings stress the necessity of gender-specific interventions. Assessment of psychological trauma, particularly among female adolescents, needs to include measures of cognitive appraisals related to safety. Therapeutic techniques that may be particularly beneficial to adolescent girls are those focusing on promoting sense of safety and targeting dysfunctional threat appraisals. (PsycINFO Database Record

Measurement of the Role of Cognitive Appraisals in Youth Exposure to Community Violence and Psychological Adjustment

Community violence (CV) is a significant risk factor for urban youth and is predictive of mental health difficulties. Not all youth are affected and extant research indicates that youth’s appraisals of stress are a key mechanism in the stress-adjustment process. The current study presented data for a new measure of appraisals of CV and their relation to adjustment. Youth participants’ mean age was 12.23 (SD = 0.81) years and caregivers mean age was 38.37 (SD = 7.05). Structural equation modeling revealed that a four-factor model of witnessing and victimization and two appraisal types (i.e., threat/relevant and challenge) best fit the data. Victimization predicted youth’s report of maladjustment and adaptive behaviors. Challenge appraisals indirectly affected the relation between witnessing violence and caregiver’s report of adaptive behaviors. Results support previous meta-analytic findings that exposure to community violence includes two sub-types of witnessing and victimization and these constructs have different relations with adjustment.

The role of cognitive appraisal in media-induced presence and emotions

In the present study, we applied Valins’ (1966) bogus bodily feedback paradigm to investigate the roles of cognitive appraisal (tele)presence, and emotion in the context of media usage. Participants (N=30) viewed short sequences of a TV show, whereby false heart rate feedback was provided. In line with Valins’ paradigm, the manipulation we used in this study included two levels: high vs. low false heart rate feedback. We assessed presence, enjoyment, and the real heart rate. Participants reported stronger experiences of presence and enjoyed the clips more when they wrongly believed that they had been aroused. Since bogus feedback increases the sensation of presence, the results indicate that presence—like emotions—can be influenced by cognitive appraisals. It is likely that the false heart rate feedback was attributed to the stimulus, which in turn enhanced the sensation of presence.

Affective prosody: What do comprehension errors tell us about hemispheric lateralization of emotions, sex and aging effects, and the role of cognitive appraisal

The Aprosodia Battery was developed to distinguish different patterns of affective-prosodic deficits in patients with left versus right brain damage by using affective utterances with incrementally reduced verbal-articulatory demands. It has also been used to assess affective-prosodic performance in various clinical groups, including patients with schizophrenia, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, alcohol abuse and Alzheimer disease and in healthy adults, as means to explore maturational-aging effects. To date, all studies using the Aprosodia Battery have yielded statistically robust results. This paper describes an extensive, quantitative error analysis using previous results from the Aprosodia Battery in patients with left and right brain damage, age-equivalent controls (old adults), and a group of young adults. This inductive analysis was performed to address three major issues in the literature: (1) sex and (2) maturational-aging effects in comprehending affective prosody and (3) differential hemispheric lateralization of emotions. We found no overall sex effects for comprehension of affective prosody. There were, however, scattered sex effects related to a particular affect, suggesting that these differences were related to cognitive appraisal rather than primary perception. Results in the brain damaged groups did not support the Valence Hypothesis of emotional lateralization but did support the Right Hemisphere Hypothesis of emotional lateralization. When comparing young versus old adults, a robust maturational-aging effect was observed in overall error rates and in the distribution of errors across affects. This effect appears to be mediated, in part, by cognitive appraisal, causing an alteration in the salience of different affective-prosodic stimuli with increasing age. In addition, the maturational-aging effects lend support for the Emotion-Type hypothesis of emotional lateralization and the “classic aging effect” that is due primarily to decline of right hemisphere cognitive functions in senescence. The results of our inductive analysis may help direct future deductive research efforts, exploring the neuropsychology of emotional communication, by taking into account the potentially confounding influence of (1) methodological differences involving construction of test stimuli and assessment procedures, (2) developmental, maturational and aging effects related to cognitive appraisal and (3) whether a stimulus has a primary or social–emotional bias.