scholarly journals Existential Threat: Uncovering Implicit Affect in Response to Terror Reminders in Soldiers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Quirin ◽  
Farhood Malekzad ◽  
Miguel Kazén ◽  
Udo Luckey ◽  
Hugo Kehr

Psychological science has a hard time assessing affective processes of the individuals that they may not recognize or do not like to report on. Here, the authors used the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT; Quirin et al., 2009) to investigate whether reminders of an existential threat induce unpleasant implicit affect in soldiers waiting for their deployment to a country with high levels of terrorist threat, Afghanistan. As expected, relative to reminding participants of a television evening, implicit negative affect was higher and implicit positive affect was lower after reminding participants of terror acts performed in different cities. No significant effects were found in self-reports of negative or positive affect. Our findings suggest that reminders of existential threat can elicit implicit negative affect that individuals may not report on explicitly and thus, validate the IPANAT as an easily applicable measure in emotional contexts.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 287-287
Author(s):  
Deepan Guharajan ◽  
Roee Holtzer

Abstract Aging populations are at increased risk to experience mobility disability, which is associated with falls, frailty, and mortality. Previous studies have not examined the concurrent associations of both positive and negative affect with gait velocity. We examined whether individual differences in positive and negative affect predicted dual-task performance decrements in velocity in a dual-task (DT) paradigm in non-demented older adults. We hypothesize that positive affect would be associated with lower DT costs, and negative affect would be associated with higher DT costs. Participants (N = 403; mean age, = 76.22 (6.55); females = 56%) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and a DT paradigm that involved three task conditions: Single-Task-Walk (STW), Alpha (cognitive interference requiring participants to recite alternate letters of the alphabet), and Dual-Task-Walk (DTW) requiring participant to perform the two single tasks concurrently. Gait velocity was assessed via an instrumented walkway. As expected, results of a linear mixed effects model (LME) showed a significant decline in gait velocity (cm/s) from STW to DTW (estimate = -11.79; 95%CI = -12.82 to -10.77). LME results further revealed that negative affect was associated with greater decline in gait velocity from STW to DTW (ie., worse DT cost) (estimate = -0.38; 95%CI = -0.73 to -0.03). Positive affect did not, however, predict DT costs in gait velocity (estimate = -0.09; 95%CI = -0.23 to 0.05). These findings suggest that increased negative affect interferes with the allocation of attentional resources to competing task demands inherent in the DT paradigm.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532110499
Author(s):  
Jingxin Zhao ◽  
Jing Ge ◽  
Qianyu Li

This study examined the roles of grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality in left-behind children’s positive and negative affect compared with non-left-behind children. Data from 557 participants indicated that grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality predicted children’s emotional adaptation. Friend trust and support and intimate exchange had a stronger predictive effect on positive affect among non-left-behind children. Moreover, the interaction effects between grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality on children’s positive affect supported the reinforcement model, while the interaction effects on negative affect supported the reinforcement model among left-behind children but supported the compensation model among non-left-behind children.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Garrido-Vásquez ◽  
Tanja Rock

People believe repeated statements more than new ones—the repetition-induced truth effect. It is prominently explained with processing fluency: The subjective ease of processing repeated versus new information. To date, the role of affective processes for the truth effect is rather unclear. From a theoretical perspective, people should rely more on fluency under positive than under negative affect. Here, we tested whether an affective picture presented before a statement influences the repetition-induced truth effect. Thirty-five participants took part in two sessions that were a week apart. In both sessions, they rated the truth status of statements. In session 2, repeated and new statements were intermixed, and each statement was preceded by a positive, negative, or neutral picture. We expected participants to rely more on fluency as a cue to truth in the positive than in the negative affective condition. However, although we replicated the repetition-induced truth effect, the interaction between affect and repetition was insignificant, but we observed a significant main effect of affect—statements were rated as truer after a positive rather than a negative or neutral picture. Our results suggest two independent mechanisms that enhance the subjective truth of statements: repetition and positive affect.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110444
Author(s):  
Mehmet Çetin ◽  
Bayram Dede ◽  
Özgür Kökalan ◽  
Ezgi Dede

This research aimed to examine the effects of daily work–family conflict and work–family enrichment on daily positive and negative affect levels of employees during the first phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. The multilevel structure of the research design makes this study original. 730 day-level data were collected from 146 respondents during five consecutive workdays. One week later, a larger survey was delivered for assessing the person-level variables. The results indicated that both forms of work–family conflict significantly decreased positive affect and increased negative affect. Both types of work–family enrichment significantly increased positive affect; but only daily work to family enrichment significantly decreased daily negative affect. Findings also revealed that positive affect levels of respondents increase while negative affect levels decrease with time. On the days employees worked from distance, lower levels of positive and negative affect were experienced.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 215-244
Author(s):  
Virginia A. Periss ◽  
David F. Bjorklund

Adherence to religious belief may serve to promote group cohesion and cooperation by decreasing the costs associated with social exchange. Consistent with this, organized religious ideologies, unlike secular or spiritual based ideologies, have been argued to facilitate cooperation among individuals living in large-scale societies. In the current study, we examined whether hypothetical adults’ explanations of natural events focused on religious ideologies were more effective at eliciting positive-affect compared to spiritual or natural explanations. Results revealed that religious cues were more effective than spiritual cues in eliciting perceptions of positive-affect, but only when participant religiosity was taken into account. Participants high in religiosity favored the religious cues over the spiritual and natural cues, whereas participants high in spirituality showed no preferences. Conversely, participants low in religious belief demonstrated not only a positive bias towards the natural explanations, but also rated the adults expressing the supernatural explanations, in particular the religious explanations, as having greater negative-affect. From an evolutionary perspective, we interpreted the results as providing support that some forms of supernatural thinking, typical of organized religion, are more effective at eliciting feelings of positive and negative affect compared to supernatural beliefs not rooted in organized religion.


2000 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Kvaal ◽  
Shobhana Patodia

The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), a brief measure of Positive and Negative Affect, may be useful in assessing mood of medical patients because it does not include somatic items frequently confounded with medical conditions. In previous research Positive and Negative Affect have been independent and uncorrelated, and Negative Affect but not Positive Affect has been positively correlated with somatic symptoms. However, relationships between variables may vary in different populations, and there is relatively little information on Positive and Negative Affect in medical patients. In the current study, the PANAS was used to assess the relationships among Positive Affect, Negative Affect, and somatic symptoms and pain in a medically ill hospital population. Positive and Negative Affect scores were positively correlated and for patients reporting pain, Positive Affect scores were positively correlated with pain intensity. Results from this and other studies indicate that Positive and Negative Affect are independent but in some populations may be correlated; positive affects such as hopefulness may co-occur with both somatic complaints and psychological distress.


2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 181-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. De Gucht

Background:Somatization has been defined in a number of ways. Despite their differences, these definitions have one element in common, namely the presence of somatic symptoms that cannot be explained (adequately) by organic findings.Objective:The primary objectives of the dissertation were to gain a better insight into the concept of somatization, and to study (prospectively) the relationship between neuroticism and alexithymia, two personality traits that have been shown to be related to somatization, the affective state dimensions positive and negative affect (or psychological distress) and medically unexplained symptoms.Method:A selective review was conducted regarding conceptual and methodological issues related to somatization. A total number of 318 patients, presenting to their primary care physician with medically unexplained symptoms, participated in the prospective study. Both at baseline and at 6-month follow-up a number of measures were filled out with respect to somatization, neuroticism, alexithymia, negative and positive affect, anxiety and depression.Results:The concept of somatization was clarified, thereby making use of the distinction between presenting and functional somatization. The personality traits neuroticism and alexithymia were found to have an indirect influence on symptom reports. Both the cross-sectional and follow-up data pointed to the importance of positive and negative affect as determinants of (changes in) number of symptoms (over time). Negative affect, together with the alexithymia dimension measuring difficulty identifying feelings, predicted symptom persistence.Conclusions:The theoretical as well as therapeutic implications of the present paper may give an impetus to new research in the domain of somatization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S281-S282
Author(s):  
Shelbie Turner ◽  
Shannon T Mejia ◽  
Robert S Stawski ◽  
Karen Hooker

Abstract Research suggests that grandparent-grandchild dyads shift in degree of solidarity over extended periods of time (e.g. Moorman & Stokes, 2016), but no work has considered grandparent-grandchild interactions microlongitudinally. This study utilized microlongitudinal data with an emphasis on intraindividual variability to examine the daily processes associated with relational aspects of grandparenting. Using data from 24 grandmothers in the Personal Understandings of Life and Social Experiences (PULSE) project, we explored how grandmother-reported satisfaction with grandchild interactions impacted grandmothers’ same-day positive and negative affect over 100 days. We first justified the need for microlongitudinal analyses by assessing the degree to which there were within-person shifts in interaction satisfaction over time. Intra-class correlations indicated 86% of the variation in interaction satisfaction was within-persons, warranting an intraindividual variability approach. As such, we then employed multi-level models to examine the within-person and between-person effects of interaction satisfaction predicting same day positive and negative affect. At the within-person level, on days when grandmothers reported higher than their average interaction satisfaction, they reported more positive affect (Estimate = 0.09, SE = 0.03, p = 0.009) and lower negative affect overall that day (Estimate = -0.08, SE = 0.02, p = 0.005). At the between-person level, grandmothers who had, on average, higher interaction satisfaction had more positive affect (Estimate = 0.63, SE = 0.09, p<.0001) and lower negative affect on average (Estimate = -0.53, SE = 0.11, p<.0001).


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Koen Demyttenaere ◽  
Glenn Kiekens ◽  
Ronny Bruffaerts ◽  
Philippe Mortier ◽  
Philip Gorwood ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. The Leuven Affect and Pleasure Scale (LAPS) is a depression outcome measure aiming to better reflect patient treatment expectations. We investigated the evolution of the LAPS and some comparator scales during antidepressant treatment and compared scores of remitters with scores of healthy controls. Methods. A total of 109 outpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) major depressive disorder were assessed over 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment. At baseline and after 2, 4, and 8 weeks, the LAPS as well as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) were administered. Healthy controls consisted of 38 Italian adults and 111 Belgian students. Results. Correlations between baseline positive and negative affect were only moderate (R between −0.20 and −0.41). LAPS positive affect and hedonic tone showed higher correlations with LAPS cognitive functioning, overall functioning, meaningfulness of life, and happiness than HAMD scores or PANAS negative affect. HAMD remission was associated with normal levels of LAPS negative affect but with significantly lower levels of LAPS positive affect, hedonic tone, cognitive functioning, overall functioning, meaningfulness of life, and happiness. The scores on the latter subscales only reached healthy control scores when the HAMD approached a score of 0 or 1. Conclusions. The standard definition of remission (HAMD cutoff of 7) is probably adequate for remitting negative mood, but not good enough for recovering positive mood, hedonic tone, functioning, or meaningfulness of life.


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