scholarly journals Reappraising fear: is up-regulation more efficient than down-regulation?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Wiemer ◽  
Milena M. Rauner ◽  
Yannik Stegmann ◽  
Paul Pauli
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Response ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Down Regulation ◽  
Physiological Level ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
State And Trait Anxiety ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Development Of Anxiety

AbstractCatastrophizing thoughts may contribute to the development of anxiety, but functional emotion regulation may help to improve treatment. No study so far directly compared up- and down-regulation of fear by cognitive reappraisal. Here, healthy individuals took part in a cued fear experiment, in which multiple pictures of faces were paired twice with an unpleasant scream or presented as safety stimuli. Participants (N = 47) were asked (within-subjects) to down-regulate, to up-regulate and to maintain their natural emotional response. Valence and arousal ratings indicated successful up- and down-regulation of the emotional experience, while heart rate and pupil dilation increased during up-regulation, but showed no reduction in down-regulation. State and trait anxiety correlated with evaluations of safety but not threat stimuli, which supports the role of deficient safety learning in anxiety. Reappraisal did not modulate this effect. In conclusion, this study reveals evidence for up-regulation effects in fear, which might be even more efficient than down-regulation on a physiological level and highlights the importance of catastrophizing thoughts for the maintenance of fear and anxiety.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES IN SEVERE QUARANTINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE ROLE OF TOLERANCE FOR UNCERTAINTY

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1312-1316
Author(s):  
Nataliia I. Pogorilska ◽  
Roman Y. Synelnykov ◽  
Borys I. Palamar ◽  
Sergii V. Tukaiev ◽  
Liudmyla L. Nezhyva
Keyword(s):  
Time Management ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Ambiguity Tolerance ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Self Image

The aim: To examine the features of experiences during quarantine relating to the tolerance for uncertainty. Materials and methods: 306 volunteers aged 18-65 years participated in this study. All participants were tested during strict quarantine in April 2020. In order to diagnose the personality traits related to ambiguity tolerance, we used Budner’s scale of tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity. To determine the features of experiences we used the survey, which included 40 statements and 12 emotional states related to the cognitive, emotional-evaluative, and behavioral components of the person’s self-image. Results: The overwhelming majority of volunteers perceive the pandemic as a dangerous, threatening, uncertain situation and make hasty decisions on the base of polar judgments, react with anxiety, attempt to avoid uncertainty, rejection of everything unusual. Their experiences were filled with feelings of powerlessness and deterioration in mood. For the majority of our subjects, the situation of uncertainty is the source of intolerance. Negative consequences appeared in the behavior (loss of time management skills, laziness). There are direct relationships between the factor of shock and anxiety with the sources of intolerance, novelty and complexity, and general intolerance. The cognitive component of the experience was the least pronounced and involved only after an emotional experience. Conclusions: It has been established that cognitive rethinking of the self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic is possible after an emotional response and leads to a change in the behavioral stereotypes.

Understanding the role of dopamine in conditioned and unconditioned fear

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus L. Brandão ◽  
Norberto C. Coimbra
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Zona Incerta ◽  
Serotonin System ◽  
Receptor Signaling Pathway ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Development Of Anxiety ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Innate Fear

Abstract Pharmacological and molecular imaging studies in anxiety disorders have primarily focused on the serotonin system. In the meantime, dopamine has been known as the neurotransmitter of reward for 60 years, particularly for its action in the nervous terminals of the mesocorticolimbic system. Interest in the mediation by dopamine of the well-known brain aversion system has grown recently, particularly given recent evidence obtained on the role of D2 dopamine receptors in unconditioned fear. However, it has been established that excitation of the mesocorticolimbic pathway, originating from dopaminergic (DA) neurons from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), is relevant for the development of anxiety. Among the forebrain regions innervated by this pathway, the amygdala is an essential component of the neural circuitry of conditioned fear. Current findings indicate that the dopamine D2 receptor-signaling pathway connecting the VTA to the basolateral amygdala modulates fear and anxiety, whereas neural circuits in the midbrain tectum underlie the expression of innate fear. The A13 nucleus of the zona incerta is proposed as the origin of these DA neurons projecting to caudal structures of the brain aversion system. In this article we review data obtained in studies showing that DA receptor-mediated mechanisms on ascending or descending DA pathways play opposing roles in fear/anxiety processes. Dopamine appears to mediate conditioned fear by acting at rostral levels of the brain and regulate unconditioned fear at the midbrain level.

Maternal Perception of Infants’ Expressions of Emotion

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Krippl ◽  
Stephanie Ast-Scheitenberger ◽  
Ina Bovenschen ◽  
Gottfried Spangler
Keyword(s):  
Response Pattern ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Startle Amplitude ◽  
Caregiving System ◽  
Parental Caregiving ◽  
Opponent Process ◽  
Opponent Process Theory ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Methodological Considerations

In light of Lang’s differentiation of the aversive and the approach system – and assumptions stemming from attachment theory – this study investigates the role of the approach or caregiving system for processing infant emotional stimuli by comparing IAPS pictures, infant pictures, and videos. IAPS pictures, infant pictures, and infant videos of positive, neutral, or negative content were presented to 69 mothers, accompanied by randomized startle probes. The assessment of emotional responses included subjective ratings of valence and arousal, corrugator activity, the startle amplitude, and electrodermal activity. In line with Lang’s original conception, the typical startle response pattern was found for IAPS pictures, whereas no startle modulation was observed for infant pictures. Moreover, the startle amplitudes during negative video scenes depicting crying infants were reduced. The results are discussed with respect to several theoretical and methodological considerations, including Lang’s theory, emotion regulation, opponent process theory, and the parental caregiving system.

Parenting Behaviors and Anxiety in Young Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin N. Stevens ◽  
Joseph R. Bardeen ◽  
Kyle W. Murdock
Keyword(s):  
Effortful Control ◽  
Parenting Behaviors ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Parental Overprotection ◽  
High Control ◽  
Development Of Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

Parenting behaviors – specifically behaviors characterized by high control, intrusiveness, rejection, and overprotection – and effortful control have each been implicated in the development of anxiety pathology. However, little research has examined the protective role of effortful control in the relation between parenting and anxiety symptoms, specifically among adults. Thus, we sought to explore the unique and interactive effects of parenting and effortful control on anxiety among adults (N = 162). Results suggest that effortful control uniquely contributes to anxiety symptoms above and beyond that of any parenting behavior. Furthermore, effortful control acted as a moderator of the relationship between parental overprotection and anxiety, such that overprotection is associated with anxiety only in individuals with lower levels of effortful control. Implications for potential prevention and intervention efforts which specifically target effortful control are discussed. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences in self-regulatory abilities when examining associations between putative early-life risk factors, such as parenting, and anxiety symptoms.

Age Advantages of Emotional Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic are Robust, but Diminished Compared to Pre-pandemic Conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Prolonged Stress

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).

Supernatural norm enforcement: Thinking about Karma and God reduces selfishness among believers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindel White ◽  
John Michael Kelly ◽  
Azim Shariff ◽  
Ara Norenzayan
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Exclusion Criteria ◽  
Total N ◽  
Norm Enforcement ◽  
Dictator Games ◽  
Within Subjects

Four experiments (total N = 3591) examined how thinking about Karma and God increases adherence to social norms that prescribe fairness in anonymous dictator games. We found that (1) thinking about Karma decreased selfishness among karmic believers across religious affiliations, including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and non-religious Americans; (2) thinking about God also decreased selfishness among believers in God (but not among non-believers), replicating previous findings; and (3) thinking about both karma and God shifted participants’ initially selfish offers towards fairness (the normatively prosocial response), but had no effect on already fair offers. These supernatural framing effects were obtained and replicated in high-powered, pre-registered experiments and remained robust to several methodological checks, including hypothesis guessing, game familiarity, demographic variables, between- and within-subjects designs, and variation in data exclusion criteria. These results support the role of culturally-elaborated beliefs about supernatural justice as a motivator of believer’s adherence to prosocial norms.

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