Valence Lasts Longer than Arousal

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Gomez ◽  
P.G. Zimmermann ◽  
S. Guttormsen Schär ◽  
B. Danuser
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Film Clips ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Conductance Level

How long induced moods last is a critical question for mood research, but has been only poorly addressed to date. In particular, physiological parameters have rarely been included to assess the effectiveness of mood induction procedures. We investigated the persistence of four different moods (positive high-arousal, positive low-arousal, negative high-arousal, and negative low-arousal) induced by film clips during a computer task. We measured subjective affective state, respiration, skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate, and corrugator activity. People who watched the two negative clips reported more negative valence after the task and showed more facial frowning and lower SCL during the task than people who watched the two positive clips. No arousal effects persisted throughout the task. The results suggest that induced changes in the valence dimension of moods are maintained throughout an intervening task and are physiologically best reflected by corrugator activity and SCL, whereas induced changes in the arousal dimension dissipate quickly. The implications of these findings for mood research are discussed.

scholarly journals Physiological synchrony promotes cooperative success in real-life interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Behrens ◽  
J. A. Snijdewint ◽  
R. G. Moulder ◽  
E. Prochazkova ◽  
E. E. Sjak-Shie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Gut Feelings ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractCooperation is pivotal for society to flourish and prosper. To ease cooperation, humans express and read emotions and intentions via explicit signals or subtle reflections of arousal visible in the face. Evidence is accumulating that humans synchronize these nonverbal expressions, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them, potentially promoting cooperative behavior. The current study is designed to verify the existence of this putative linkage between synchrony and cooperation. To that extent, 152 participants played multiple rounds of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game in a naturalistic dyadic interaction setting. During one round of games they could see each other, and during a second round they could not. The results showed that when people’s heart rate and skin conductance level aligned, they cooperated more successfully. Interestingly, for skin conductance level synchrony to boost cooperation, face to face contact was essential. The effect of heart rate synchrony on cooperation was context independent. Skin conductance level, but not heart rate, tended to closely correlate with changes in pupil size and we discuss how the pupil might provide a window to partners’ sympathetic arousal. These findings show how unconscious mechanisms guide social behavior and emphasize the importance of studying social processes between rather than within individuals in real-life interactions.Significance StatementHuman cooperation is remarkable in its scale, complexity, and efficiency. However, whereas people think of themselves as rational agents, they actually partly base their decision to cooperate with someone on gut feelings. These feelings are informed by non-verbal expressions that are picked up implicitly and that synchronize across interaction partners. For the first time, we show that the alignment of people’s arousal over multiple rounds of the Prisoners’ dilemma game predicts cooperative success. Through synchrony, partners converge emotionally, fostering understanding and bonding, which are key ingredients when it comes to successful cooperation. This suggests that successfully cooperating does not depend on individuals, but on the connection between individuals, emphasizing the importance of studying social decision-making processes in real-life settings.

scholarly journals Exposure to virtual nature: the impact of different immersion levels on skin conductance level, heart rate, and perceived relaxation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiemo Knaust ◽  
Anna Felnhofer ◽  
Oswald D. Kothgassner ◽  
Helge Höllmer ◽  
Robert-Jacek Gorzka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Relaxation Effects ◽  
Subject Experiment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractIt is generally accepted that natural environments reduce stress and improve mood. Since access to natural environments is sometimes limited, virtual natural environments, especially monoscopic 360° nature videos, offer a viable alternative. However, it remains unclear whether presenting monoscopic 360° nature videos via a head-mounted display (HMD) or a PC monitor results in larger relaxation effects. Therefore, this study examined whether a monoscopic 360° beach video presented with an HMD is significantly more relaxing than the same video presented via a PC screen, or no video at all (control condition), in altering skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate (HR), and perceived relaxation. Overall, 102 adults (40.2% females, age range 19–62 years) participated in a counterbalanced, randomized, controlled, within-subject experiment. All participants were subjected to three stressors comprising different mental arithmetic tasks, followed by three different recovery phases (HMD, PC, control). For SCL, the results showed a significantly larger decrease in the HMD and PC than in the control condition, but no significant differences between the HMD and PC condition. For HR, there were no significant differences between the recovery conditions. However, the HMD condition was rated significantly more relaxing than the other conditions, with no significant differences between the PC and control condition. Exploratory analyses showed that these results were not moderated by the participants’ age, gender, or technology anxiety. Overall, the psychophysiological results showed no significant benefit favoring the HMD over PC condition, although the self-reported relaxation ratings did. Future studies are warranted to clarify this divergence.

Gender Differences in Psychophysiological Responses to Disgust

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Rohrmann ◽  
Henrik Hopp ◽  
Markus Quirin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Immunoglobulin A ◽  
Subjective Responses ◽  
Film Clips ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Secretory Immunoglobulin ◽  
Conductance Level

Several studies have revealed that women report stronger feelings of disgust than men ( Gross & Levenson, 1995 ; Schienle, Schäfer, Stark, Walter, & Vaitl, 2005 ). However, the extent to which this gender difference also influences physiological disgust responses remains an open question. In Experiment 1, 54 female and 41 male participants were exposed to slides of different disgust-content. In Experiment 2, 47 women and 53 men watched two film clips showing hygiene-related or food-related disgust stimuli, respectively. Differences between males and females in reported and physiological disgust responses (heart rate, electrodermal activity, salivary cortisol, secretory immunoglobulin A) were tested by analysis of variance. Replicating previous studies, women reported stronger feelings of disgust than men across all disgust inductions. Additionally, in Study 1, women showed a higher increase in skin conductance level than men. In conclusion, gender moderates subjective responses to disgust, whereas physiological disgust responses are only marginally moderated by gender. Gender stereotypes as an explanation for the results are discussed.

scholarly journals Disorganized attachment in adolescence: Emotional and physiological dysregulation during the Friends and Family Interview and a conflict interaction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Alessandro Decarli ◽  
Blaise Pierrehumbert ◽  
André Schulz ◽  
Violetta Katharina Schaan ◽  
Claus Vögele
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Disorganized Attachment ◽  
Physiological Dysregulation ◽  
Lower Extent ◽  
Interaction Task ◽  
Family Interview ◽  
Conflict Interaction ◽  
Conductance Level

Abstract The current study examined the effects of attachment on autonomy, relatedness, and emotion regulation during an attachment interview (Friends and Family Interview; FFI) and a Parent×Child Conflict interaction (Family Interaction Task; FIT) in 49 adolescents (11 to 17 years old). Disorganized adolescents displayed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and at a lower extent than organized ones in the FIT with mothers but not with fathers. Disorganized adolescents also showed a steeper decrease in heart rate variability (HRV) than organized ones, during both the FFI and the FITs. Moreover, disorganized adolescents responded with a more marked increase in skin conductance level to the FIT with mothers than organized individuals. Dismissing adolescents showed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and to a lesser extent than secure ones, while displaying more often behaviors undermining autonomy and relatedness in the FITs. Dismissing adolescents also showed a more pronounced decrease in HRV during the FFI than secure and preoccupied individuals; no differences were found between these groups in HRV during the FITs. The results suggest that disorganized adolescents had more difficulties in regulating their emotions during both the FFI and the FITs, whereas dismissing individuals seemed effectively challenged only during the interview.

scholarly journals Autonomic, hormonal, and subjective responses to a modified version of the TSST: a pilot study

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-431
Author(s):  
Laura Espín López ◽  
Alicia Salvador ◽  
Jesús Gómez-Amor
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Luteal Phase ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Cycle Phase ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Las Mujeres ◽  
Conductance Level

El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar las respuestas hormonales, autonómicas y afectivas a una versión modificada del estresor TSST en una muestra de jóvenes universitarios compuesta de treinta y ocho sujetos (11 hombres y veintisiete mujeres, 11 en la fase lútea del ciclo menstrual, 16 mujeres en la fase folicular). La respuesta hormonal se evaluó con niveles de cortisol. La frecuencia cardíaca y la actividad electrodérmica se registraron durante toda la sesión experimental y la ansiedad rasgo y estado se evaluaron antes y después de la tarea. La fase de discurso provocó la frecuencia cardíaca más alta, la mayor frecuencia de respuestas inespecíficas y el mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel, mostrando diferencias significativas con la fase de habituación. Sin embargo, la respuesta de cortisol salival no fue significativa con respecto al factor estresante. En relación con las diferencias de sexo, independientemente del factor estresante,los hombres mostraron una mayor frecuencia de respuesta inespecífica, un mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel que las mujeres y mayores niveles de cortisol en comparación con las mujeres en la fase lútea. La ansiedad estado fue similar pre y postarea y no reveló ninguna diferencia asociada con el sexo o la fase del ciclo menstrual. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el eje HHA no responde al TSST sentado y proporcionó evidencia de que el TSST provoca diferentes patrones de respuesta psicofisiológica dependiendo de algunas variaciones del protocolo. The aim of this research was to study hormonal, autonomic and affective responses to a modified version of the stressor TSST in a sample of young university students composed for thirty-eight subjects (11 men and twenty seven women, 11 in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, 16 women in the follicular phase). The hormonal response was evaluated with levels of cortisol. Heart rate and Electrodermal Activity were recorded during all the experimental session and trait-state anxiety was evaluated before and after the task. The speech phase elicited the highest heart rate, frequency of non-specific response and skin conductance level, showing significant differences mainly with the habituation phase. However, the salivary cortisol response was not significant with respect to stressor. In relation with sex differences, regardless of the stressor, menshowed higher frequency of non-specific response, greater skin conductance level than women and higher cortisol levels in comparison with women in the luteal phase. State-anxiety was similar pre-/post task and did not reveal any difference associated to sex or menstrual cycle phase. Our results suggest that the HPA axis not response to sitting TSST and provided evidence that TSST elicits different pattern of psychophysiological response depending on some protocol variations.

scholarly journals Home measures of anxiety, avoidant coping and defence as predictors of anxiety, heart rate and skin conductance level just before invasive cardiovascular procedures

1994 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke de Jong ◽  
Rudolph A.M. Erdman ◽  
Marcel J.B.M. van den Brand ◽  
Frans Verhage ◽  
Rutger W. Trijsburg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Avoidant Coping ◽  
Conductance Level
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