Self-reported Affective Responses Research Articles

Examining the exercise-affect dose–response relationship: Does duration influence frontal EEG asymmetry?

The “feel better” effect of exercise has been well established, but the specific influence of exercise duration on affect has not been systematically studied from a multi-level measurement approach. Such an approach offers the opportunity to assess psychophysiological responses that relate to psychological state. One relevant response is the change in frontal brain processes indexed by anterior EEG asymmetry, which is related to approach-withdrawal orientation and affective state [Davidson, R.J., 1993. Cerebral asymmetry and emotion: conceptual and methodological conundrums. Cogn. Emot. 7, 138; Davidson, R.J., 1998. Anterior electrophysiological asymmetries, emotion, and depression: Conceptual and methodological conundrums. Psychophysiology 35(5), 607–614.]. To examine the relationship between exercise duration and affective response, as well as the role of frontal brain processes in this relationship, female undergraduate students ( N = 16, VO 2 max = 35.93 ml kg − 1 min − 1 , aged 19–23 yrs) were assessed for frontal EEG and self-reported affective responses, as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS), following rest and three different durations of exercise (15, 30 and 45 min) performed at a standardized intensity (i.e., just below the ventilatory threshold (VT)). Psychological vigor and frontal EEG asymmetry following exercise of 30 min were elevated compared to that observed following rest and other exercise durations (i.e., 15, 45 min). The results support a dose–response relationship between exercise duration and affect characterized by an inverted-U. Furthermore, the covariance analysis, conducted to assess the role of cortical activation at the homologous sites in the post-exercise affective response, suggests that the enhanced vigor observed after 30 min of exercise results from the reduction of withdrawal-oriented processes rather than the facilitation of approach-oriented processes.

Biased Assimilation of Sociopolitical Arguments: Evaluating the 1996 U.S. Presidential Debate

The tendency for people to rate attitude-confirming information more positively than attitude-disconfirming information (biased assimilation) was studied in a naturalistic context. Participants watched and evaluated the first 1996 Presidential Debate between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Regression analyses revealed that predebate attitudes but not expectations predicted postdebate argument evaluations and perceived attitude change. Participants evaluated the arguments that confirmed their predebate attitudes as being stronger than the arguments that disconfirmed their predebate attitudes, and they perceived their postdebate attitudes to have become more extreme than their predebate attitudes. Self-reported affective responses mediated the association between predebate attitudes and postdebate argument evaluations. The role of affect in information-processing theories and the significance of the findings for sociopolitical debates are discussed.

AFFECTIVE MODULATION OF HPA AXIS ACTIVATION IN RESPONSE TO EXHAUSTIVE EXERCISE

675 Psychoneuroendocrinological research has provided substantial evidence regarding the role of affective factors in hypothalamic - pituitary - adrenal(HPA) axis activation. These findings are further substantiated by recent neuroanatomical and neuropharmacological research, which strongly implicates the amygdala (a limbic structure known to play a key role in the generation of affective responses) in modulating the activation of the HPA axis during stress. However, investigations of the affect - HPA axis relationship in the context of acute exercise have been scarce. In the present study, 8 well-trained male cyclists (24.0 ± 0.1 yr; VO2peak = 61.4± 0.8 ml·kg-1·min-1) underwent dehydration(≈4% reduction of body weight) and the following day exercised on a cycle ergometer at ≈74% VO2peak to exhaustion, in an ambient temperature of 37 °C (mean duration = 19 mins). Blood samples were drawn before the exercise bout and immediately upon exhaustion, concurrently with the administration of the Circumplex Affect Inventory (CAI; Ekkekakis, 1996). Changes in plasma cortisol (CORT; r = -0.816, P<0.01, 1-tailed), plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH; r = -0.707, P<0.05, 1-tailed), and the testosterone: CORT ratio ( r= 0.793, P<0.01, 1-tailed) were associated with shifts along the deactivated pleasant - activated unpleasant affect (DPAU) dimension of the CAI(larger concentration increases and ratio decreases were associated with more activated unpleasant affect, and vice versa). The correlation between DPAU and CORT remained after variance due to changes in rectal temperature( r2 = 0.42, part r = -0.65), plasma lactate( r2 = 0.56, part r = -0.75), heart rate( r2 = 0.58, part r = -0.76), and plasma volume( r2 = 0.58, part r = -0.76) was partialled out of CORT, but not after the variance of an aggregate of these variables was partialled out ( r2 = 0.15, part r = -0.38). These findings indicate a substantial degree of covariation between self-reported affective responses and plasma indices of HPA axis activity in the context of exhaustive exercise and are suggestive of a possible functional relationship.

Pleasure and pain in doing well, together: an investigation of performance-related affect in close relationships.

In a series of four studies, the self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model is used to predict peoples' self-reported affective responses to doing better or worse than their partners. Both self-protective reactions to comparison (i.e., those predicted by the original SEM model) and empathic reactions to the partner's response (i.e., those predicted by the extended SEM model) were obtained. In addition, as predicted on the basis of both models, comparisons with romantic partners resulted in a different pattern of self-reported affect than did comparisons with strangers. Unexpectedly, it appeared that empathic effects were minimal or absent among dating partners when comparisons were in areas of high self-relevance.

Pleasure and pain in doing well, together: An investigation of performance-related affect in close relationships.

In a series of four studies, the self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model is used to predict peoples' self-reported affective responses to doing better or worse than their partners. Both self-protective reactions to comparison (i.e., those predicted by the original SEM model) and empathic reactions to the partner's response (i.e., those predicted by the extended SEM model) were obtained. In addition, as predicted on the basis of both models, comparisons with romantic partners resulted in a different pattern of self-reported affect than did comparisons with strangers. Unexpectedly, it appeared that empathic effects were minimal or absent among dating partners when comparisons were in areas of high self-relevance.

BRAIN ACTIVATION AND AFFECT AS A RESULT OF EXERCISE 175

Little work has examined the exercise-mental health linkage from the perspective of the central nervous system. Much of the research has relied only self-reported affective responses to exercise stimuli. The present study examined the effects of varied doses of aerobic exercise on EEG and amplified such effects with self-reported affect. 7 adults (5♂, 2♀, 23.2±2.7 yrs; cycle VO2max=46.3±7.6 ml·kg-1·min-1) participated in 3 randomly assigned, 30 min conditions: (a) Control; (b) cycling @ 55% VO2max; (c) cycling @ 70% VO2max. Brain activation (EEG; F3, F4, P3, P4, referenced to linked ears), state anxiety (SA), and positive affect (PA) were assessed at Pre, 15-min during, and immediately post-condition. Alpha activity increased over time in all 3 conditions. A significant Condition × Time interaction (P=0.049) occurred within F4. Post hoc analyses revealed that from pre to during, alpha activity was greater in the 70% condition than in either the 55% or Control conditions (P=0.002), with no differences between the Control or 55% conditions. Left frontal alpha activity was negatively related to PA (r= -.63) while the frontal R - L asymmetry metric was positively related to PA (r=.75), but only in the 70% condition. Both correlations indicate greater left frontal activity associated with greater PA during exercise. At the end of exercise in the 70% condition, left frontal alpha activity (r= -.51) and the frontal asymmetry metric (r=.59) indicated greater left frontal activation related to greater PA following exercise. No significant relationships were seen for SA. This is one of the only studies which has assessed both brain activation and affect during exercise and supported hypothesized linkages between the two. Support is also provided for a dose-response effect of exercise on PA.

Research Note: Affective Responses to Everyday Life Events and Music Listening

This study investigated the relation between self-reported affective response to everyday life events and affective responses to music listening. The influence of formal music training on affective responses to music was also assessed. Undergraduate music and non-music majors (N = 107) first completed the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM), then a music-related survey assessing the subjects' affective attitudes to their preferred music (habitual responsiveness) and three similar surveys with corresponding listening examples (situational responsiveness). Two of the four AIM sub-scales showed small significant correlations with habitual responsiveness. AIM sub-scales did not reliably predict situational responsiveness, whereas preference ratings for the examples and habitual responsiveness did. Music majors reported significantly higher responsiveness than non-musicians; however, both groups did not differ reliably on AIM sub-scales. It is argued that reported affective response in music is partially mediated by expertise-related mechanisms.

Empathy, Sadness, and Distress: Three Related but Distinct Vicarious Affective Responses to Another's Suffering.

A negative state relief explanation for the empathy-helping relationship (e.g., Cialdini et al., 1987) rests on the two-part assumption that empathy, sadness, and distress are (a) related but (b) distinct vicarious affective responses to another's suffering. This assumption received support in two studies from principal components analyses of subjects' self-reported affective responses to situations in which another college student was in need. In Study I subjects reported their response to three different need situations described as having occurred in recent psychology experiments, and in Study 2 subjects reported their response to a current need situation. Oblique rotations of three components extracted from affective responses to each need situation revealed that all components were intercorrelated. Orthogonal rotations, however, yielded component structures suggesting that empathy, sadness, and distress are quantitatively distinct. Correlations between indices of empathy, sadness, and distress further elucidated the relationships between the three affective responses. It is concluded that motivational models of helping and models of vicarious affect should include sadness as a response that is distinct from but related to both empathy and distress.

Empathy, Sadness, and Distress Three Related but Distinct Vicarious Affective Responses to Another's Suffering.

A negative state relief explanation for the empathy-helping relationship (e.g., Cialdini et al., 1987) rests on the two-part assumption that empathy, sadness, and distress are (a) related but (b) distinct vicarious affective responses to another's suffering. This assumption received support in two studies from principal components analyses of subjects' self-reported affective responses to situations in which another college student was in need. In Study 1 subjects reported their response to three different need situations described as having occurred in recent psychology experiments, and in Study 2 subjects reported their response to a current need situation. Oblique rotations of three components extracted from affective responses to each need situation revealed that all components were intercorrelated. Orthogonal rotations, however, yielded component structures suggesting that empathy, sadness, and distress are quantitatively distinct. Correlations between indices of empathy, sadness, and distress further elucidated the relationships between the three affective responses. It is concluded that motivational models of helping and models of vicarious affect should include sadness as a response that is distinct from but related to both empathy and distress.