scholarly journals Attentional Bias and Well-Being

2019 ◽  
pp. 118-136
Author(s):  
Ben Grafton ◽  
Colin MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Maladaptive Behavior ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Stimulus Information ◽  
Selective Processing ◽  
Affective Information ◽  
Emotional Disposition

This chapter reviews work that has sought to examine how biased patterns of attentional responding to affectively valenced information can contribute to variability in both emotional and situational well-being. It begins by critically appraising the cognitive–experimental procedures that have most commonly been employed to assess such attentional bias. Next, the chapter considers findings from research that have employed these assessment approaches to investigate how individual differences in attentional bias toward either negatively toned or positively toned affective information may contribute to variability in emotional disposition. The chapter then discusses research that has examined how the selective processing of aversive information concerning prospective threat and selective attentional responding to positively toned appetitive stimulus information may impact the prospect of engaging in behaviors that have the capacity to enhance or impair situational well-being. In doing so, this chapter highlights the possibility that these types of attentional biases may directly contribute to dissociation between emotional and situational well-being, either by evoking negative emotion while also increasing the prospect of adaptive behavior or by evoking positive emotion while increasing the prospect of maladaptive behavior.

scholarly journals Environmental volunteer well-being: Managers’ perception and actual well-being of volunteers

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitte Kragh ◽  
Rick Stafford ◽  
Susanna Curtin ◽  
Anita Diaz
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Biodiversity Monitoring ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Online Surveys ◽  
Multidimensional Construct ◽  
Positive Elements ◽  
Environmental Volunteering

Background: Environmental volunteering can increase well-being, but environmental volunteer well-being has rarely been compared to participant well-being associated with other types of volunteering or nature-based activities. This paper aims to use a multidimensional approach to well-being to explore the immediately experienced and later remembered well-being of environmental volunteers and to compare this to the increased well-being of participants in other types of nature-based activities and volunteering. Furthermore, it aims to compare volunteer managers’ perceptions of their volunteers’ well-being with the self-reported well-being of the volunteers. Methods: Onsite surveys were conducted of practical conservation and biodiversity monitoring volunteers, as well as their control groups (walkers and fieldwork students, respectively), to measure general well-being before their nature-based activity and activity-related well-being immediately after their activity. Online surveys of current, former and potential volunteers and volunteer managers measured remembered volunteering-related well-being and managers’ perceptions of their volunteers’ well-being. Data were analysed based on Seligman’s multidimensional PERMA (‘positive emotion’, ‘engagement’, ‘positive relationship’, ‘meaning’, ‘achievement’) model of well-being. Factor analysis recovered three of the five PERMA elements, ‘engagement’, ‘relationship’ and ‘meaning’, as well as ‘negative emotion’ and ‘health’ as factors. Results: Environmental volunteering significantly improved positive elements and significantly decreased negative elements of participants’ immediate well-being, and it did so more than walking or student fieldwork. Even remembering their volunteering up to six months later, volunteers rated their volunteering-related well-being higher than volunteers rated their well-being generally in life. However, volunteering was not found to have an effect on overall mean well-being generally in life. Volunteer managers did not perceive the significant increase in well-being that volunteers reported. Conclusions: This study showed how environmental volunteering immediately improved participants’ well-being, even more than other nature-based activities. It highlights the benefit of regarding well-being as a multidimensional construct to more systematically understand, support and enhance volunteer well-being.

scholarly journals Subjective well-being and month-long LF/HF ratio among deskworkers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257062
Author(s):  
Kiko Shiga ◽  
Keisuke Izumi ◽  
Kazumichi Minato ◽  
Tatsuki Sugio ◽  
Michitaka Yoshimura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽  
Parasympathetic Nerve ◽  
Pulse Waves ◽  
The Mean

The importance of workers’ well-being has been recognized in recent years. The assessment of well-being has been subjective, and few studies have sought potential biomarkers of well-being to date. This study examined the relationship between well-being and the LF/HF ratio, an index of heart rate variability that reflects sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activity. Pulse waves were measured using photoplethysmography through a web camera attached to the computer used by each participant. The participants were asked to measure their pulse waves while working for 4 weeks, and well-being was assessed using self-reported measures such as the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Flourishing Scale (FS). Each of the well-being scores were split into two groups according to the median value, and the LF/HF ratio during work, as well as the number of times an LF/HF ratio threshold was either exceeded or subceeded, were compared between the high and low SWLS, positive emotion, negative emotion, and FS groups. Furthermore, to examine the effects of the LF/HF ratio and demographic characteristics on well-being, a multiple regression analysis was conducted. Data were obtained from 169 participants. The results showed that the low FS group had a higher mean LF/HF ratio during work than the high FS group. No significant differences were seen between the high and low SWLS groups, the high and low positive emotion groups, or the high and low negative emotion groups. The multiple regression analysis showed that the mean LF/HF ratio during work affected the FS and SWLS scores, and the number of times the mean LF/HF ratio exceeded +3 SD had an effect on the positive emotion. No effect of the LF/HF ratio on negative emotions was shown. The LF/HF ratio might be applicable as an objective measure of well-being.

Comment: Homing in on a Balanced Psychology

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-63
Author(s):  
Jeff T. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
To Come ◽  
Positive And Negative Emotions

Hernandez et al.’s (2018) review provides clear evidence that positive affect can contribute to well-being and fits nicely within the positive psychology framework. The emergence of positive psychology has been valuable for understanding well-being, but I suggest that a balanced psychology can prove even more valuable in the years to come. A balanced psychology requires giving as much attention to negative emotion as to positive emotion. It also requires considering whether there are circumstances in which positive emotions can be detrimental and negative emotions can be beneficial. Along those lines, evidence reviewed here indicates that healthy coping with severe stressors involves experiencing a combination of positive and negative emotions.

scholarly journals Boosting positive mood in medical and emergency personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: preliminary evidence of efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of a novel online ambulatory intervention

2021 ◽  
pp. oemed-2021-107427
Author(s):  
Karin G. Coifman ◽  
David D Disabato ◽  
T H Stanley Seah ◽  
Sarah Ostrowski-Delahanty ◽  
Patrick A Palmieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Emergency Responders

ObjectivesThe aim of this project was to test the efficacy of a brief and novel online ambulatory intervention aimed at supporting psychological health and well-being for medical personnel and first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsInterested participants, n=28, actively employed as medical personnel, support staff and emergency responders, in the Midwestern USA in May–June of 2020, provided informed consent and were randomised to complete either low-dose or high-dose intervention, one time daily for 1 week via smartphone application. Each daily intervention included expressive writing, adaptive emotion regulation activity and (one vs two) positive emotion-generation activities, lasting 3–6 min a day. Ratings of negative and positive emotion were provided before and after each activity daily. Analyses tested compliance, acceptability, as well as efficacy at increasing positive emotion and decreasing negative emotion with each use and across time.ResultsThe results indicated a 13% increase in positive emotion, t(25)=2.01, p=0.056; and decrease in negative emotion by 44%, t(25)=−4.00, p=0.001 across both doses. However, there was a clear advantage for individuals in the high-dose condition as daily boosts in positive emotion were significantly greater (an additional 9.4%) B=0.47, p=0.018. Overall, compliance was good. Acceptability ratings were good for those who completed the follow-up assessment.ConclusionFront-line personnel, including medical staff and emergency responders, are experiencing unprecedented psychological stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. This investigation suggests both feasibility and efficacy for a brief, daily, ambulatory intervention which could provide essential psychological support to individuals at risk in the workplace.

scholarly journals From Knowledge to Differentiation: Increasing Emotion Knowledge Through an Intervention Increases Negative Emotion Differentiation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya Vedernikova ◽  
Peter Kuppens ◽  
Yasemin Erbas
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Emotion Knowledge ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Emotion Differentiation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Degree

Labeling emotions with a high degree of granularity appears to be beneficial for well-being. However, there are individual differences in the level of emotion differentiation, and some individuals do not appear to differentiate much between different emotions. Low differentiation is associated with maladaptive outcomes, therefore such individuals might benefit from interventions that can increase their level of emotion differentiation. To this end, we tested the effects of an emotion knowledge intervention on the level of emotion differentiation. One hundred and twenty participants were assigned to either an experimental or a control condition. Emotion differentiation was assessed with a Scenario Rating Task before and after the intervention, and at follow-up. As predicted, negative emotion differentiation increased significantly after the emotion knowledge intervention, and this increase was not observed in the control group. Positive emotion differentiation also increased slightly; however, it did not reach significance level. This finding suggests that an emotion knowledge intervention might be beneficial for increasing negative emotion differentiation and may have implications for the clinical context.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Emotion Globalizing Across the Adult Lifespan

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 576-576
Author(s):  
Meaghan Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Adult Lifespan ◽  
Aging Theories ◽  
Age Related

Abstract Emotion globalizing, the extent to which current emotions impact satisfaction with life, is associated with poorer psychological well-being. Given extant aging theories and research highlighting age-related changes in emotional experiences and emotion regulation, the present study examined age differences in positive and negative emotion globalizing across the adult lifespan. Participants (N = 145 females; aged 23-79) completed assessments of positive emotion (i.e., amused, energetic, calm, happy, interested, excited, and content), negative emotion (i.e., anxious, lonely, sad, annoyed, angry, and distressed), and life satisfaction for 16 days. Multilevel model analyses revealed age differences in negative, but not positive, emotion globalizing. More specifically, older individuals reported lower levels of negative emotion globalizing, as compared to younger individuals. These findings highlight the need to explore downstream consequences of emotion globalizing across the lifespan, as this could unveil novel pathways towards successful aging.

scholarly journals Development of the Work-Related Well-Being Questionnaire Based on Seligman’s PERMA Model

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ágota Kun ◽  
Péter Balogh ◽  
Katalin Gerákné Krasz
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Work Related ◽  
University Of Technology

Drawing on recent research on determinants of subjective well-being, we developed and conducted a pilot study of an employee well-being questionnaire using M. Seligman’s (2011) multidimensional PERMA model (Positive emotion, Engagement, positive Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) model. Employees (N = 397) from postgraduate courses at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) completed a survey including 56 items which were theoretically relevant to the PERMA theory. Factor analyses recovered the expected five PERMA components and a negative emotion factor. Based on factor and reliability analyses, we reduced the 56 PERMA items to 35 items.  Our results support the multidimensional approach to defining and measuring multidimensional well-being. A multidimensional well-being assessment may be useful for understanding employees’ well-being, which can then be applied when developing policy and practice to increase well-being for all employees at work.

scholarly journals Natural emotion vocabularies as windows on distress and well-being

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Vine ◽  
Ryan L. Boyd ◽  
James W. Pennebaker
Keyword(s):  
Physical Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Stream Of Consciousness ◽  
Emotion Word ◽  
Vocabulary Richness ◽  
Natural Emotion

Abstract To date we know little about natural emotion word repertoires, and whether or how they are associated with emotional functioning. Principles from linguistics suggest that the richness or diversity of individuals’ actively used emotion vocabularies may correspond with their typical emotion experiences. The current investigation measures active emotion vocabularies in participant-generated natural speech and examined their relationships to individual differences in mood, personality, and physical and emotional well-being. Study 1 analyzes stream-of-consciousness essays by 1,567 college students. Study 2 analyzes public blogs written by over 35,000 individuals. The studies yield consistent findings that emotion vocabulary richness corresponds broadly with experience. Larger negative emotion vocabularies correlate with more psychological distress and poorer physical health. Larger positive emotion vocabularies correlate with higher well-being and better physical health. Findings support theories linking language use and development with lived experience and may have future clinical implications pending further research.

The impact of positive reappraisal on positive (and negative) emotion among older adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie S. Nowlan ◽  
Viviana M. Wuthrich ◽  
Ronald M. Rapee
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Positive Reappraisal ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Adverse Life Event ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTBackground:Positive reappraisal is an important cognitive strategy for older adults associated with wide-ranging improvements in psychological well-being. However, little is known about the relationship between positive reappraisal and positive and negative emotion, anxiety and depression, and whether positive reappraisal is associated with continued increases in positive emotion over time.Methods:In the first study, 61 participants aged 62 to 88 years (M = 72, SD = 5.8) completed current measures of cognitive emotion regulation, positive emotion, negative emotion, anxiety and depression regarding their most distressing aging-related adverse life event, and rated (retrospectively) positive reappraisal use at the time of the stressor. Utilizing a longitudinal design, in a second study 60 participants aged 62 to 88 years (M = 71.2, SD = 5.7) completed the same measures for a recent adverse life event and repeated the measures 3 and 6 months later.Results:In the first study, positive reappraisal reported for both time periods was significantly correlated with current positive emotion, but not negative emotion with mixed findings for anxiety and depression, and positive reappraisal use increased with time since stressor onset. In the second study, positive reappraisal was significantly correlated with positive emotion and significantly predicted positive emotion from 3-month to 6-month follow-up, and was related to anxiety and depression but not general negative emotion.Conclusions:These findings indicate that positive reappraisal is related to positive emotion but not consistently with negative emotion, and continues to be beneficial over time in older adults who have experienced a stressor.

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