Emotion

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https://ir.vanderbilt.edu/handle/1803/207

Emotion research of Undergraduate Honors Students in the Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt University.

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The Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related restriction on Emotional eating in College students
(Vanderbilt University, 2022-03-28) Hong, Yurim; Schlundt, David
Motivational and Behavioral Expressions of Schadenfreude among Undergraduates
(Vanderbilt University, 2017-04-26) Kleinman, Elana; Kirby, Leslie
Schadenfreude, the pleasure that results from another person's misfortune, is an interesting topic within emotion research. However, there has been limited research regarding whether cultural tendencies influence the motivational urges, action tendencies, and enacted behaviors of schadenfreude, the pleasure felt from another’s misfortune. In order to find out whether culture and language influence the motivational and behavioral expressions of schadenfreude, participants (N=146) completed an online questionnaire in which they read a schadenfreude eliciting vignette and responded to a series of questions to assess their appraisals, emotions, thoughts, and action tendencies. In addition, participants filled out measure to assess their levels of individualism/collectivism and empathy. The vignettes followed a 2 (competitive, slapstick) x 2 (academic, social) x 3 (friend, stranger, disliked target) design in order to determine whether certain situations and/or targets elicited greater amounts of schadenfreude. Unfortunately, the expected culture and language differences were not significant in predicting schadenfreude, but we were able to find that that schadenfreude is influenced by the target, the situation, and the individual’s level of empathy. In addition, we found that the significant appraisals associated with schadenfreude were: relevance, congruence, outside factors, other accountability, and accommodation-focused coping potential.
Social Support and Gratitude: Assessing Divergence through Writing
(Vanderbilt University, 2018) Anspach, Abigail S.; Smith, Craig A.
Although two types of emotional writing have been previously studied, there is no research that examines writing about social support. Yet the hypothesized mechanisms that drive benefits of gratitude journaling and expressive writing appear to be relevant to the process of receiving social support. Thus, the present study examined writing about social support and writing about gratitude in order to ascertain how each kind of writing was associated with differing short-term outcomes. A secondary goal was to investigate how dispositional variables might correlate with components of the written responses. In order to assess these questions, participants completed a survey in which they were randomized to either write about a time when they received social support or a time when they felt grateful to someone but did not properly thank them. A variety of measures assessing both state and trait-level variables followed this exercise, and the participants’ responses were content-coded using a 12-item scheme. Results indicated positive short-term outcomes for writing about social support including increased feelings of pride and relief, which may have been mediated by emotion sharing. Participants in the gratitude condition experienced increased feelings of gratitude, but this was accompanied by feelings of regret and guilt. Unfortunately, the correlational data between the coded constructs and the dispositional variables was likely compromised due to the placement of the measures in the survey. These findings indicate that the mechanisms which drive the benefits of writing about social support most clearly align with those hypothesized to drive expressive writing. Further research should therefore evaluate the outcomes of writing about social support long-term as well as the mechanisms of emotional writing.
Affect as a Model of Pro-Environmental Spillover
(Vanderbilt University, 2018) Vasan, Ana A.; Smith, Craig A.
In an effort to mitigate the potentially catastrophic effects of human consumption on the environment, many researchers are driven to understand the mechanisms underlying sustained engagement in pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Using the concept of behavioral spillover, a primary PEB may either lead to an increase (positive spillover) or a decrease (negative spillover) in future PEBs. Previous research into PEB spillover suggests that situational factors, such as identity and emotion, may affect whether an individual tends toward positive spillover behavior or negative spillover behavior. The present study synthesizes research on behavioral spillover with that of emotional appraisal to attempt to create a framework for the affective mechanisms underlying the spillover effect, within the domain of PEB. Specifically, this study looks at the participants’ decision to complete a second PEB after completing an initial PEB, and how that decision may be differentially affected by induced elevation, pride, guilt, and anger. Participants were led to engage in a primary PEB (recycling a plastic water bottle), subsequently underwent a targeted emotion induction, and finally were given the opportunity to engage in a second PEB (turning off a dripping water faucet), with the latter recorded on a binary scale. Results were non-significant, and indicate a potential difference between the Elevation and Guilt conditions’ and the Pride and Anger conditions’ influence on sustained engagement in PEB, especially as guilt may predict sustained PEB engagement. Results further suggest the possibility that individual identity and values may not predict direction of spillover behavior. Our research provides a preliminary framework from which future social psychologists and policy makers may create widespread and sustainable initiatives towards PEB.
Relations Among Positive Emotions, Appraisals, the Big Five, and Appraisal Style
(Vanderbilt University, 2016-04-20) White, Madison E.; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
The associations among positive emotions and different personality factors may hold a key to understanding individual differences in emotional experience. The present research sought to examine individual differences by investigating the relationships among 12 positive emotions, 16 appraisals, the Big Five, appraisal style, and positive emotion differentiation. Furthermore, two different appraisal models were compared on their ability to predict four different positive emotions. Participants completed a survey containing the personality and trait measures; they then recalled and wrote about a past positive experience and rated the positive emotions and appraisals with respect to that experience. The Big Five were not significant predictors of appraisal or appraisal style, but significant correlations were found. Positive emotion differentiation was stable across momentary and retrospective situations. In comparing the two appraisal models, only the strongest appraisal predictors emerged as significant predictors of each emotion: happiness, gratitude, pride, and satisfaction/contentment.
What Makes a Good Leader? Evaluating the Connections between Appraisal Style and Leadership Behaviors
(Vanderbilt University, 2016-04-21) Denney, Katherine; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
The success of leaders can be highly variable and depends on a number of factors including the degree to which leaders engage with their subordinates. This continuum of passive and active behavior is represented in the distinctions between laissez-faire, transactional, and transformational leadership. Past studies have found that the individuals with a more transformational leadership style are not only better performers, but also increase the satisfaction of their subordinates. In trying to understand why some people adopt this style of leadership, the leader’s emotions and emotional tendencies could play a large role, because emotions affect both individual and social behavior. This study evaluated possible relationships by analyzing the connections between appraisal style and leadership style. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals who are more optimistic and have more hope are more likely to have a transformational leadership style, as such this study expected to find connections between a hopeful appraisal style and a transformational leadership style. This study was conducted using online surveys and data was collected from 86 undergraduate students. The results do indicate a connection between motivational relevance and leadership style, but overall the results provide inconclusive evidence for a specific connection between appraisal style and leadership style. Future directions for further research are provided.
Gender Differences in Dispositional Attributes, Psychological Adjustments, and Appraisals
(Vanderbilt University, 2016-04-12) Marton, Samantha; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander)
There is currently a significant amount of research being conducted to pinpoint differences between men and women and they way they think, emote, and experience life. While the current literature has uncovered significant differences between men in women in terms of their expectations, priorities, and characteristics, there has not been data yet that has discovered systematic differences in the underlying appraisals that comprise our emotional experiences. The purpose of this current study was to find systematic differences in emotional experience between men and women when participating in a math test. Then we examined if these differences in emotional response could be explained by appraisals, and further, see if these appraisals could be explained by differences in dispositional factors. The first substudy was an analysis of dispositional sex differences by aggregating surveys completed by university students throughout the past few decades with a variety of measures assessing personality factors and psychological outcomes. Looking at mean scores and correlations between personality factors and psychological outcomes, we discovered significant differences between the way men and women approach and react to various situations. Our second substudy consisted of a math test with manipulated levels of difficulty and assessments of appraisals and emotions whilst participating in the math study. Results from this substudy showed no significant differences in appraisal or emotional experiences. Therefore, we were able to highlight underlying dispositional factors and psychological outcomes that differed for men and women, but we did not find any differences in emotions and appraisals. A future direction is proposed to address this issue.
Social Anxiety as a Moderator in the Relationship between Social Emotional Fluency and Eye Gaze
(Vanderbilt University, 2015-04) Kushner, Nicole; Bachorowski, Jo-Anne
Emotional intelligence and interpersonal sensitivity have been identified as key individual-difference abilities that are important for optimal social functioning. Social emotional fluency (SEF) is proposed as a behavioral component of these two constructs. SEF is focused on qualitative aspects and temporal dynamics of nonverbal social behavior. Social anxiety has been studied as affecting the production of many of these nonverbal behaviors, most notably eye gaze. It was predicted that social anxiety would moderate the effect of SEF on eye gaze behavior. Twenty-four dyads participated in a trip-planning paradigm designed to elicit a moderate amount of social anxiety. It was predicted that individuals with high SEF/low social anxiety would display the highest amounts of eye contact and that those with low SEF/high social anxiety would display the least. Limited support was found for social anxiety as a moderator of SEF on eye gaze behavior. Future research should investigate finding more support for social anxiety as a moderator of SEF on eye gaze behavior, as well as investigating whether the moderating effects extend to the production of other nonverbal behaviors.
Laughter and Amusement’s Buffering Effect on Stress: An Experimental Design
(Vanderbilt University, 2015-04-14) Kline, Nora; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen); Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander)
There is currently a significant amount of hype surrounding laughter and its effects, but there is a lot less excitement concerning the positive emotion that tends to compel laughter: amusement. The purpose of the current study was to make the distinction between laughter and amusement and observe the stress buffering effects of those different components. First, I examined if amusement and laughter have a buffering effect. I then examined if forced laughter, with no amusement, has a buffering effect of stress. Finally, I examined if amusement, in the absence of laughter, has a buffering effect. The study employed a 2x2 between subjects design, which crossed an amusing video and bored video with instructions to act amused and instructions to act bored. Results showed that participants who experienced amusement and laughter together had significantly less negative affect than those who did not experience amusement or laughter. This points to a buffering effect of co-occurring laughter and amusement. Results showed a main effect of expressivity (instruction type) on amusement and positive affect levels post-stressor task; those who were told to express amusement, regardless of internal emotion, experienced significant increased levels of amusement and positive affect. Therefore perhaps the method used to isolate amusement (without laughter) was only suppressing participants’ experience of amusement. A future direction is proposed to combat this issue.
Emotion regulation of fear and disgust: Implications for anxiety disorders
(Vanderbilt University, 2014-04-04) Berg, Hannah E.; Olatunji, Bunmi O.
Although the emotion of fear has been central to traditional conceptualizations of the development and treatment of anxiety disorders, recent research suggests that the emotion of disgust may also play an important role in anxiety disorders. Since fear and disgust differ with regards to cognitive appraisals, physiology, and time course, the experience of the two emotions may also differ with regards to the influence of emotion-regulation strategies. There is a growing consensus that poor emotion regulation may confer risk for the development of anxiety disorders; thus, a better understanding of how different emotion-regulation strategies influence fear and disgust may then have important treatment implications. In the present study, healthy undergraduate participants (n=95) were randomized to view either a fear-relevant or a disgust-relevant video, and they were instructed to employ either reappraisal or suppression to decrease their emotional experience while viewing the video. Participants in the Reappraise/Disgust group reported significantly lesser increases in distress during the video than all other groups. Subsequent analysis examining the significant interaction revealed that participants that viewed the disgust video experienced a greater increase in fear when they were engaging in suppression versus reappraisal. These findings suggest that reappraisal may be especially effective when in the context of disgust. The implications of these findings for the development and treatment of anxiety disorders that are characterized by excessive disgust reactions will be discussed.
The Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence in Buffering
(Vanderbilt University, 2014) Kuzmuk, Kellie M.; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
Narrowing in on coping and stress management aspects of trait emotional intelligence, this study aims to explore how emotional intelligence may be related to buffering, which is one’s ability to subjectively shield off stress. Building on a previous study, it also aims to disentangle whether trait emotional intelligence alone influences buffering or whether a state interaction, such as positive mood is also required to induce buffering. The study was divided into two parts and consisted of 45 Vanderbilt undergraduate students. The study found marginally significant results regarding emotional intelligence (specifically, clarity and attention) improving task performance and stress recovery when interacting with mood condition. Although the results fail to support the main hypothesis, they offer promising insights for future studies.
Understanding the Stress and Emotional Triggers of Disordered Eating Behaviors in College Students
(Vanderbilt University, 2014-04-17) Monterubio, Grace E.; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
Research has shown a relationship between stress and emotion in those with, or who are at-risk for, eating disorders. However, more research needs to be done on how levels of stress and emotion affect eating behaviors that could potentially lead to an eating disorder. This study is an effort to understand how stress and emotion affect disordered eating behavior. The study of 24 college students had participants report their levels of anxiety, stress, emotion, and eating behaviors over a five-week period. Results from this study showed that anxiety and negative affect were correlated with disordered eating behavior, but stress relationships were not significant. To further research, more understanding of the emotions associated with disordered eating is needed. Ultimately, this information could be used in a predictive, and defensive manner to prevent the onset of disordered eating behavior into a full-blown eating disorder.
Positive Emotions’ Effect on Buffering and Creativity: An Experimental Design
(Vanderbilt University, 2013-04-07) Ong, Katrina; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander); Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
Extending beyond the Undoing Hypothesis and the Broaden-and-Build theory, this experimental design tested whether participants induced with a positive emotion would respond less, using self-report measures, to a mild achievement and social stressor compared to those in a neutral condition. Compared to a neutral condition, participants induced with a positive emotion reported enhanced positive affect. However, participants in the positive condition compared to participants in the neutral condition did not demonstrate any differences in their emotional response to a mild stressor of listing words that begin with a “J” for two minutes while being recorded. Results failed to yield conclusive evidence of buffering, but successfully induced positive affect as well as induced a mild stressor. Additional data suggests that participants induced with a positive emotion listed more J-words during the stressor task, thereby supporting the Broaden-and Build theory. Suggestions for further research include analyzing responses to different stressors that are more sensitive to creativity and cognitive flexibility as well as exploring how trait based optimism rather than emotionally induced positive emotions may act as a buffer.
Sex Differences in Positive Emotions within Appraisal Theory
(Vanderbilt University, 2013-04-29) Adler, Erica; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander); Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
The psychological study of positive emotions is a relatively new and underdeveloped area of inquiry. This study examines sex differences in the understanding, experience, and expression of positive emotions. Our participants (N=108) responded to multiple questionnaires and surveys looking at affect, emotional differentiation abilities, appraisal style, emotional elicitors, and language surrounding positive emotions. Women and men exhibited equal ability to differentiate positive emotions. Women’s positive emotion experiences were more tied into social experiences than were men’s. Men experienced pride in response to a broader array of experiences than did women. Taken together, our findings suggest that there are some significant differences in the ways that women and men understand, experience, and express positive emotions.
Flow and Life Satisfaction
(Vanderbilt University, 2012-04-18) Stimmel, Harrison; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
Through a 30 question survey, I aim to examine flow experiences as a positive emotion-inducing activity and how individuals respond to these events. The survey targets the relationship between momentary happiness and life satisfaction as well as highlights important aspects of flow that require further research. The results depict how humans respond to flow experiences and what dimensions are shared among responses to various flow experiences as well as across participants. The dimensions of flow, and its relationship to appraisal theory and the Broaden-Build Model, provides insight into human emotion through positive experiences and the adaptive qualities they possess.
Differences in the Motivational Urges and Enacted Behaviors of Guilt and Shame: A Study on Individualism and Collectivism
(Vanderbilt University, 2012-04-24) Dyer, Richard C. (Richard Chandler); Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander); Saylor, Megan
There has been limited research regarding the differences in motivational urges, action tendencies and enacted behaviors on a cross-cultural basis. To study this, we administered an online questionnaire, composed of two parts. The first part of this study aimed to validate the EMGEBS scale (Smith & Kirby 2010) for a variety of negative emotions. The second part of this study looked at the relation between emotional correlations and action tendencies for guilt and shame. Further analysis was done to understand the unique action tendencies for each emotion, and whether or not individualism or collectivism (our proxy for cross-cultural differences) was a moderating factor. The statistical validation of the negative EMGEBS scale was successful. While the second part of the study yielded a number of unique action tendencies for guilt and shame, only two moderating effects were found for individualism and collectivism’s effect on the enacted behaviors.
Eliciting Seven Discrete Positive Emotions Using Film Stimuli
(Vanderbilt University, 2012-03-29) Bednarski, Juliana Doria; Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
Successful, efficacious, and reliable mood induction procedures are an important part of emotion research. Film clips have already been shown to reliably induce discrete negative emotional states, as well as general positive affect, in laboratory settings. However, there is an absence of research in eliciting discrete positive emotional states in these settings. This study attempted to elicit seven discrete positive emotional states using preselected film stimuli: joy, gratitude, awe, determination, interest, serenity, and hope. Elicitations for joy, awe, serenity, and interest were successful.
Perception of Affective Musical Elements and the Relation to Delusions in Schizophrenia
(Vanderbilt University, 2011-04-22) Nolan, Rachel; Park, Sohee; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander)
Using prosodic, facial, and musical stimuli, this study probed the extent of emotion recognition deficits in schizophrenic patients. Difficulties in the perception of emotional material have been well documented in the literature. Here, we examined the perception of emotion in music and whether or not schizophrenic patients show the same dysfunction in this domain as they do in the domains of facial and speech emotion. 15 patients, and 15 healthy controls listened to and rated 40 instrumental music clips expressing either a happy, sad, calm, or scary emotion. Participants were also asked to choose which emotion they thought best characterized the song as a whole. We then compared the ratings of each song across groups, as well as overall accuracy on the task. Psychophysiological skin conductance data was collected, but the results were shown to be inconclusive. Patients were significantly impaired in determining the correct emotion of each song, showing specific deficits in recognizing scary songs. In addition, patients significantly overrated the perceived happiness of each song type as compared to controls. Overrating of the happiness of scary songs was highly correlated with each subscale of the PDI in both patients and controls. Performance on the task was also shown to be related to delusion scores in patients, and to schizotypal personality scores in controls. These results suggest that the inability to extract affective information from sounds may result from subjective misinterpretation of auditory cues, and may play a role in increasing delusions.
Facial Emotion Recognition and Processing in Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality
(Vanderbilt University, 2011) Wilson, George H., III; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander); Benning, Stephen D.
Psychopathy has been shown to be associated with deficits in recognizing and processing emotion. We used a face recognition task in which 86 participants screened in the Vanderbilt emergency room viewed faces of men and women expressing one of seven possible emotions and identified which emotion each face displayed. During this task, we recorded the participants’ accuracy in identifying the emotion portrayed by each face and their brains’ responses to the faces through EEG. These responses were correlated with scores on fearless dominance (FD) and impulsive antisociality (IA) in psychopathy. We found that whereas FD was unrelated to facial recognition accuracy, IA was negatively correlated with recognition of disgust, and that those high in IA mistook pictures of disgusted faces as angry. Mirroring these behavioral findings, the amplitudes of the early P1 component for disgust faces were inversely related to IA, particularly for components measured in the right hemisphere. In contrast, the right frontal vertex positive potential was negatively correlated with FD for all faces. P3 magnitude was negatively correlated with all faces, and significantly more negatively correlated with FD for angry faces than for fearful faces; again, these relationships were observed in the right hemisphere. Taken together, these results indicate that both FD and IA are associated with deviant right hemispheric face processing, but these deficits are reflected in behavioral emotion recognition only in IA.
Appraisal in Positive Emotion: Differentiation Between Hope and Challenge/Determination
(Vanderbilt University, 2011-04-08) Garden, Rebecca; Smith, Craig (Craig Alexander); Kirby, Leslie D. (Leslie Deneen)
The object of this study was to test individual differentiation between the emotions Hope and Challenge/Determination in terms of motivational, cognitive, and behavioral components. The former emotion requires a more globalized and potentially optimistic appraisal process while the latter is reliant on self-motivation to a greater extent in a short-term context. If individuals are asked to recall hopeful or challenging memories in open-ended and other appraisal-focused self-report measures are they more likely to be able to generally differentiate between the emotions? We found that psychological ownership and internal motivation in a task plays a pivotal role Determination while Hope relies on a relationship to external factors; both emotions utilize problem-focused coping to a greater extent than emotion-focused coping potential.

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