Emotion in Imaginative Resistance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Campbell ◽  
William Kidder ◽  
Jason D'Cruz ◽  
Brendan Gaesser
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Moral Beliefs ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Imaginative Resistance ◽  
Emotional Harm

Imaginative resistance refers to cases in which one’s otherwise flexible imaginative capacity is constrained by an unwillingness or inability to imaginatively engage with a given claim. In three studies, we explored which imaginative demands engender resistance when imagining morally deviant worlds and whether individual differences in emotion predict the degree of this resistance. Participants read narratives containing either no harmful actions, harmful actions, or harmful actions with evaluative statements that the harms were morally justified, after which measures of moral judgment and imaginative resistance were assessed. In Study 1 (N = 176), participants resisted the notion that harmful actions could be morally acceptable regardless of the author’s claims about these actions but did not resist imagining that a perpetrator of harm could believe their actions to be morally acceptable. In Study 2 (N = 167) we replicated the findings of Study 1 and showed that imaginative resistance is greatest among participants who experience more negative affect in response to imagining harm and are lower in either trait anxiety or trait psychopathy. In Study 3 (N = 210) we show that this is the case even when the harms assessed include both low-severity (i.e., emotional harm) and high-severity (i.e., killing) cases. These findings suggest that people’s moral beliefs constrain their ability to imagine hypothetical moral alternatives, although this ability systematically varies on the basis of stable individual differences in emotion.

Measures of RSA Suppression, Attentional Control, and Negative Affect Predict Self-Ratings of Executive Functions

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Healy ◽  
Aaron Treadwell ◽  
Mandy Reagan
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Low Levels

The current study was an attempt to determine the degree to which the suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and attentional control were influential in the ability to engage various executive processes under high and low levels of negative affect. Ninety-four college students completed the Stroop Test while heart rate was being recorded. Estimates of the suppression of RSA were calculated from each participant in response to this test. The participants then completed self-ratings of attentional control, negative affect, and executive functioning. Regression analysis indicated that individual differences in estimates of the suppression of RSA, and ratings of attentional control were associated with the ability to employ executive processes but only when self-ratings of negative affect were low. An increase in negative affect compromised the ability to employ these strategies in the majority of participants. The data also suggest that high attentional control in conjunction with attenuated estimates of RSA suppression may increase the ability to use executive processes as negative affect increases.

scholarly journals Effects of a Brief Meditation Training on Negative Affect, Trait Anxiety and Concentrated Attention

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (62) ◽  
pp. 393-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Baptista Menezes ◽  
Lisiane Bizarro
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Brief Interventions ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
State And Trait Anxiety ◽  
Nonclinical Sample ◽  
Meditation Group ◽  
Affect State

AbstractMeditation has been associated with positive psychological outcomes, but few studies have investigated brief interventions. This randomized controlled pilot study assessed the effects of five days of focused meditation on positive and negative affect, state and trait anxiety, as well as concentrated attention in a nonclinical sample distributed in two groups (experimental = 14, 51.8% female, Mage= 23.9; control = 19, 62% female, Mage= 24.9). The instruments used were the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Concentrated Attention Test. The meditation group reduced negative affect and trait anxiety, and also improved correct responses on the attention test, relative to controls. These preliminary findings indicate that even short focused meditation training may help improve some psychological variables. It is discussed that the early manifestation of these benefits may be especially relevant to strengthen the motivation to continue and practice regularly.

Inter-individual differences in trait anxiety shape the functional connectivity between the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the amygdala during brief threat processing

NeuroImage ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Brinkmann ◽  
Christine Buff ◽  
Katharina Feldker ◽  
Paula Neumeister ◽  
Carina Y. Heitmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Threat Processing

Effects of Color and Trait Anxiety on State Anxiety

1978 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 855-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Reeves ◽  
Ed M. Edmonds ◽  
Dollie L. Transou
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
The State ◽  
Color Condition ◽  
State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽  
Trait Theory ◽  
The Relationship

A 2 (trait anxiety) × 4 (color) factorial design was used to determine the effects of red, green, yellow, and blue on state anxiety as a function of high and low trait anxiety. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to assess both trait (A-Trait) and state (A-State) anxiety for the 10 students assigned to each of the eight treatment combinations. High A-Trait students were significantly more anxious while viewing blue, red, and green than were the low A-Trait students and blue produced significantly more state anxiety than did either yellow or green. These results are consistent with state-trait theory and indicate that the effects of color on state anxiety may be confounded with trait anxiety unless the levels of A-Trait are equivalent for each color condition. The role of cultural and individual differences in the relationship between color and emotion and implications for research are discussed.

Gleichgültig, verantwortungsbewusst oder überfordert? Eine Online-Befragung zum emotionalen Befinden junger Erwachsener in der Frühphase des Corona-bedingten Lockdowns in Deutschland und Österreich

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Eichenberg ◽  
Martin Grossfurthner ◽  
Jeannine Andrich ◽  
Sibylle Kietaibl ◽  
Stefana Holocher-Benetka
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Sich Eine ◽  
State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽  
Eine Hohe

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund In der COVID-19-Pandemie ist die Einhaltung von gesetzlich angeordneten Präventionsmaßnahmen durch die Bevölkerung von größter Bedeutung, um die Ausbreitung des Virus einzudämmen. Dabei ist davon auszugehen, dass diese mit spezifischen Belastungen einhergehen, die von verschiedenen Bevölkerungsgruppen unterschiedlich gut bewältigt werden. Zielsetzung Erfassung der Akzeptanz und Belastungen bzgl. der gesetzten Präventionsmaßnahmen, aber auch der Bewältigungsmöglichkeiten in Abhängigkeit von soziodemografischen und persönlichkeitsspezifischen Faktoren. Methode Online-Befragung an N=3006 Personen, die während der frühen Phase der ersten Lockdowns in Deutschland und Österreich lebten, mittels eines selbstentwickelten Fragebogens zur Erfassung der Sorgen und Akzeptanz der von der Regierungen gesetzten Präventionsmaßnahmen. Zusätzlich wurden die Fragebögen Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen (SVF 78), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Unsicherheitsintoleranz-Skala (UI-18) und das State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) vorgegeben. Ergebnisse Insgesamt zeigte sich eine hohe Akzeptanz der gesetzlich angeordneten Präventionsmaßnahmen. Allerdings sind die emotionalen Reaktionen auf diese nicht für alle Bevölkerungsgruppen gleich: 18–29-Jährige zeigten signifikant höhere negative emotionale Reaktionen im Vergleich zu allen anderen Gruppen. Eine Clusteranalyse an dieser jungen Bevölkerungsgruppe ergab fünf Gruppen, die gruppenspezifische Belastungs- und Bewältigungsprofile aufzeigen. Diskussion Jüngere werden im Zusammenhang mit der Pandemie häufig als besonders vulnerable Gruppe beschrieben. Die vorliegende Studie zeigt jedoch, dass die „Jüngeren“ nicht als homogene Gruppe zu betrachten sind und daher differenzierte Interventionsstrategien anzuwenden sind.

scholarly journals Alexithymia Profile in Relation to Negative Affect in Parents of Autistic and Typically Developing Young Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 496
Author(s):  
Elisa Leonardi ◽  
Antonio Cerasa ◽  
Francesca Isabella Famà ◽  
Cristina Carrozza ◽  
Letteria Spadaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Broader Autism Phenotype ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Potential Measurement ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Tas 20

In our study, we explored the construct of alexithymia in parents of children with and without ASD using a multi-method approach based on self-rated and external rater assessment. We also assessed the level of self-report measures of negative affect states such as trait anxiety and depression, and investigated the correlation between the alexithymia construct, trait anxiety, and depression within the broader autism phenotype (BAP). A total sample of 100 parents (25 mothers and 25 fathers in each group) were administered the TAS-20 and the TSIA to measure self-reported and observer-rated alexithymia traits, as well as self-report measures of anxiety and depression. Study results showed that the TSIA but not the TAS-20 was able to detect significant group differences in alexithymia traits among parents of children with and without ASD, with parents of ASD children displaying significantly higher levels of alexithymia. Furthermore, differently from the TAS-20, no significant correlations between the TSIA and measures of anxiety and depression were detected. Taken together, our results suggest the importance of using multi-method approaches to control for potential measurement bias and to detect psychological constructs such as alexithymia in subclinical samples such as parents of children with ASD.

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