Narratives of Dreams and Waking Thoughts: Emotional Processing in Relation to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic posed a significant challenge to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of each individual. It also brought the importance of daily emotional management for survival to the forefront of every human being. Our study aims to explore whether emotional processes perform different functions during waking thoughts and night dreams during the first lockdown in Italy. Utilizing Multiple Code Theory (MCT), our goal is to verify whether waking thoughts facilitate a functional disconnection in order to manage the trauma caused by COVID-19. Two online forms were distributed to random participants in the general population, presenting a total of 49 reports of night dreams (23 males; mean age 33.45 ds. 10.12; word mean 238.54 ds. 146.8) and 48 reports of waking thoughts (25 males; mean age 34.54 ds. 12.8; word mean M. 91 words ds. 23). The Referential Process linguistic measures and Affect Salience Index were utilized. It was found that Affect Salience is present in both dreams and in waking thoughts; however, Referential Activity was higher in dreams and Reflection and Affect words were higher in waking thoughts. Two different processes of emotional elaboration emerged. The results highlight the use of greater symbolization processes during dreams and a higher emotional distance in waking thoughts. These results confirm that during the nocturnal processes, there is greater contact with the processing of trauma, while during the diurnal processes, defensive strategies were activated to cope with and manage life via a moment of the defensive disruption of daily activities.

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The Ageing Brain in Context

10.1093/oso/9780198843290.003.0008 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 177-200

Author(s):

Muireann Irish ◽

Siddharth Ramanan

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Large Scale ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Well Being ◽

Interpersonal Functioning ◽

Comprehensive Overview ◽

Road Map ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Ageing Brain

Successful interpersonal functioning relies upon the dynamic interplay of several complex cognitive and socio-emotional processes, enabling us to anticipate, predict, and respond appropriately to the behaviour of others. While significant attention has been paid to the emergence of these functions in childhood, comparatively less research has addressed how social cognition continues to evolve and change across the lifespan. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of how changes in social cognition arise as a natural consequence of healthy ageing, with important implications for how we construct and assess these processes in older adults. It then considers how degeneration of large-scale brain networks specialized for socio-emotional processing disrupts interpersonal functioning in dementia syndromes, and the mechanisms driving such impairments. In doing so, we aim to provide an empirically grounded road map to understand the dynamic nature of social cognitive function across the lifespan with a view to promoting resilience and well-being in later years.

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Analytic Process and Linguistic Style: Exploring Analysts’ Treatment Notes in the Light of Linguistic Measures of the Referential Process

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research ◽

10.1007/s10936-021-09771-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 193-206

Author(s):

Rachele Mariani ◽

Leon Hoffman

Keyword(s):

Emotional Processing ◽

Linguistic Analysis ◽

Referential Activity ◽

Linguistic Variables ◽

Referential Process ◽

Linguistic Style ◽

Clinical Notes ◽

Analytic Process ◽

Supervisory Process ◽

Clinically Significant

AbstractThis paper presents a comparison between a clinical evaluation and a computerized linguistic analysis of the treatment notes of the first two years of an analysis conducted four sessions a week with the patient lying on a couch. Clinical notes had been written as part of the analyst’s standard practice after every session, some years prior to the planning of this study. The notes describe the analytic interchange and the analyst’s internal thoughts. The linguistic analysis focuses on two analytically relevant linguistic variables: Referential Activity (RA), a measure of the degree of connection between emotional processing and language, and Reflection, the use of words referring to thoughts. The examination of the linguistic measures point to overlooked parts of sessions which may be clinically significant. In particular, the examination of the clinical material during the nodal points of the first summer break, where significant changes in the linguistic measures were seen, provided clinical understanding of the analytic work that was not explicitly noted at the time of treatment. This method has the potential to be utilized in ongoing treatments and to improve the supervisory process.

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Stimulus Features of the Object Relations Technique Affecting the Linguistic Qualities of Individuals’ Narratives

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research ◽

10.1007/s10936-021-09764-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Attà Negri ◽

Martino Ongis

Keyword(s):

Object Relations ◽

Emotional Experience ◽

Referential Activity ◽

Italian Population ◽

Italian Version ◽

Referential Process ◽

Linguistic Style ◽

Reality Testing ◽

Two Measures ◽

Stimulus Features

AbstractPrevious studies on projective techniques have investigated the effects of variation in stimulus features on individuals’ response behavior. In particular, the influence of chromatic colors and form definition on the images elicited by the stimuli has been tested. Most studies have focused on the Rorschach and TAT and have examined effects in terms of variables such as reality testing and reactions to perceptual details. This is the first study to examine the effects of variation in visual stimuli as represented in features of the Object Relations Technique (ORT) cards on linguistic indicators of connection to emotional experience using measures of the referential process. The ORT was administered to 207 Italian non-clinical participants to explore effects of color, form and content variation on language style. The sample was stratified by age, gender, marital status and education to be representative of the Italian population. The stories told in response to the card images were rated using computerized linguistic measures, including the Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary—Italian version (IWRAD) which indicates the degree to which language is connected to nonverbal experience, and the Weighted Reflection/Reorganization List—Italian version (IWRRL) which detects a linguistic style of personal re-elaboration of emotional experience. The results provide support for the color-affect and form-reality testing hypotheses. Cards with better form definition, including color definition, and with fewer silhouettes of people elicited responses that were higher in IWRAD and lower in IWRRL, and also higher in the degree to which the two measures varied together. Implications of the results for use of ORT in clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.

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Compassionate Coach and Psychological Quality of Life in Portuguese Athletes: Effect of Mediating Variables

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2020-0058 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Sara Oliveira ◽

Marina Cunha ◽

António Rosado ◽

Cláudia Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Path Analysis ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Competitive Sports ◽

Social Safeness ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Proposed Model

This study aimed to test a model that hypothesized that the compassionate coach, as perceived by the athletes, has an impact on athlete-related social safeness and psychological health, through shame and self-criticism. The sample comprised 270 Portuguese adult athletes, who practiced different competitive sports. The path analysis results confirmed the adequacy of the proposed model, which explained 45% of the psychological health’s variance. Results demonstrated that athletes who perceive their coaches as more compassionate tend to present higher levels of social safeness (feelings of belonging to the team) and of psychological health, through lower levels of shame and self-criticism. These novel findings suggest the importance of the adoption of supportive, warm, safe, and compassionate attitudes from coaches in athletes’ mental health. This study also offers important insights by suggesting that feelings of acceptance and connectedness in team relationships may be at the root of athletes’ emotional processes and well-being.

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Inteligencia emocional, Resiliencia y Autoestima en personas con discapacidad física y sin discapacidad

Enfermería Global ◽

10.6018/eglobal.17.2.291381 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 263-283

Author(s):

Magdalena Gómez-Díaz ◽

María Jiménez-García

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Physical Disability ◽

Personal Development ◽

Physical Disabilities ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Esteem ◽

The Self ◽

Emotional Management ◽

Different Dimensions ◽

People With Physical Disabilities

Introducción: La Inteligencia emocional, resiliencia y autoestima son conceptos relacionados con el desarrollo personal. Las personas que presentan discapacidad física, la percepción de las diferentes situaciones a las que tienen que enfrentarse pueden influir en sus emociones y comportamiento.Objetivo: Analizar las diferencias o similitudes entre las personas con discapacidad y sin discapacidad en el ámbito de la inteligencia emocional, la resiliencia y la autoestima. Metodología: Estudio cuantitativo de tipo descriptivo, transversal, y prospectivo, utilizando las escalas de la Inteligencia emocional TMMS-24, la escala de la Resiliencia CD-RISC10 y la escala de la autoestima de Rosemberg, con un total de 100 participantes. Resultados: Las personas con discapacidad física presentan medias estadísticamente superiores en inteligencia emocional y resiliencia, aunque en autoestima las personas sin discapacidad presentan medias superiores. Discusión: Distintos autores ponen de manifiesto que las emociones juegan un papel fundamental en el bienestar de los individuos. En el caso de las enfermedades que implican discapacidad física, afectan a los diferentes aspectos de la vida de las personas, por lo tanto se hace más necesario aún el buen manejo emocional para evitar que la persona sufra mayores consecuencias físicas y/o emocionales. Conclusiones: Las personas con discapacidad física presentan unos niveles adecuados de inteligencia emocional en sus diferentes dimensiones, desarrollando estrategias de afrontamiento que les permiten hacer frente a dichas dificultades. La autoestima de las personas con discapacidad física, se ve mermada por la baja percepción de control independiente. Introduction: Emotional intelligence, resilience and self-esteem are concepts related to personal development. People who have physical disabilities, the perception of the different situations that have to face may influence emotions and behavior.Objective: Analyze the differences or similarities between people with disabilities and without disabilities in the field of emotional intelligence, resilience and self-esteem.Methodology: Type descriptive, transversal and prospective, quantitative study using the scales of the emotional intelligence TMMS-24, the scale of the Resilience CD-RISC10 and the scale of the Rosenberg self-esteem, with a total of 100 participants.Results: Persons with physical disabilities present mean statistically higher on emotional intelligence and resilience, although regarding self-esteem people without disabilities have an upper mean.Discussion: Different authors have shown that emotions play a fundamental role in the well-being of individuals. In the case of diseases that involve physical disability, affect different aspects of the life of people, therefore even good emotional management is necessary most to avoid that the person may suffer greater consequences physical and/or emotional.Findings: Persons with physical disability have adequate levels of emotional intelligence in its different dimensions, developing coping strategies that enable them to cope with such difficulties. The self-esteem of people with physical disabilities is weakened by the low perception of independent control.

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Multimodal Emotion Evaluation: A Physiological Model for Cost-Effective Emotion Classification

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20123510 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (12) ◽

pp. 3510 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gisela Pinto ◽

João M. Carvalho ◽

Filipa Barros ◽

Sandra C. Soares ◽

Armando J. Pinho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotional Processing ◽

Electrodermal Activity ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Well Being ◽

Physiological Model ◽

Classification Systems ◽

Physiological Signals ◽

Emotion Classification ◽

Adaptive Responses ◽

Emotion Identification

Emotional responses are associated with distinct body alterations and are crucial to foster adaptive responses, well-being, and survival. Emotion identification may improve peoples’ emotion regulation strategies and interaction with multiple life contexts. Several studies have investigated emotion classification systems, but most of them are based on the analysis of only one, a few, or isolated physiological signals. Understanding how informative the individual signals are and how their combination works would allow to develop more cost-effective, informative, and objective systems for emotion detection, processing, and interpretation. In the present work, electrocardiogram, electromyogram, and electrodermal activity were processed in order to find a physiological model of emotions. Both a unimodal and a multimodal approach were used to analyze what signal, or combination of signals, may better describe an emotional response, using a sample of 55 healthy subjects. The method was divided in: (1) signal preprocessing; (2) feature extraction; (3) classification using random forest and neural networks. Results suggest that the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is the most effective for emotion classification. Yet, the combination of all signals provides the best emotion identification performance, with all signals providing crucial information for the system. This physiological model of emotions has important research and clinical implications, by providing valuable information about the value and weight of physiological signals for emotional classification, which can critically drive effective evaluation, monitoring and intervention, regarding emotional processing and regulation, considering multiple contexts.

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Family Dynamics in Three-Generation Grandfamilies

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/0192513x06296672 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 355-379 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Catherine Chase Goodman

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Family Members ◽

Intergenerational Relationships ◽

Well Being ◽

Family Interventions ◽

Relationship Patterns ◽

Emotional Closeness ◽

Emotional Management

Grandparent-headed families, called grandfamilies, are increasingly important in assisting adult children and grandchildren. This study ( N = 376) provides a qualitative analysis of statements made by grandmothers about relationships between three core family members: (a) grandmother, (b) parent, and (c) grandchild. These family members constitute an intergenerational triad, displaying a variety of relationship patterns based on emotional closeness or distance. The most common configuration in three-generation families was all-three inter-generational members emotionally close or connected, and comments about relationships reflected problem solving, communication, and emotional management. Families in which the parent was close to and linked both adjacent generations were also frequent, and comments showed a clear parenting hierarchy with grandmother as secondary. Few families had weak, disconnected relationships between all three triad members or an emotionally isolated parent: These patterns were related to low grandmother and grandchild well-being. Evaluating intergenerational relationships aids identification of at-risk grandfamilies and has implications for family interventions.

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Human Capacities for Emotion Recognition and their Implications for Computer Vision

i-com ◽

10.1515/icom-2015-0032 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 126-137 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Benny Liebold ◽

René Richter ◽

Michael Teichmann ◽

Fred H. Hamker ◽

Peter Ohler

Keyword(s):

Emotion Recognition ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Affective Computing ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Connectivity Pattern ◽

Motor Patterns ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Current State ◽

Amygdala Activity ◽

Cortical Involvement

AbstractCurrent models for automated emotion recognition are developed under the assumption that emotion expressions are distinct expression patterns for basic emotions. Thereby, these approaches fail to account for the emotional processes underlying emotion expressions. We review the literature on human emotion processing and suggest an alternative approach to affective computing. We postulate that the generalizability and robustness of these models can be greatly increased by three major steps: (1) modeling emotional processes as a necessary foundation of emotion recognition; (2) basing models of emotional processes on our knowledge about the human brain; (3) conceptualizing emotions based on appraisal processes and thus regarding emotion expressions as expressive behavior linked to these appraisals rather than fixed neuro-motor patterns. Since modeling emotional processes after neurobiological processes can be considered a long-term effort, we suggest that researchers should focus on early appraisals, which evaluate intrinsic stimulus properties with little higher cortical involvement. With this goal in mind, we focus on the amygdala and its neural connectivity pattern as a promising structure for early emotional processing. We derive a model for the amygdala-visual cortex circuit from the current state of neuroscientific research. This model is capable of conditioning visual stimuli with body reactions to enable rapid emotional processing of stimuli consistent with early stages of psychological appraisal theories. Additionally, amygdala activity can feed back to visual areas to modulate attention allocation according to the emotional relevance of a stimulus. The implications of the model considering other approaches to automated emotion recognition are discussed.

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An Investigation on Well-being and Emotional Intelligence among Young Adults

YMER Digital ◽

10.37896/ymer20.12/43 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (12) ◽

pp. 456-467

Author(s):

Dr. Sandeep Panchal ◽

◽

Dr. Sanjeev Kumari ◽

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Young Adults ◽

Well Being ◽

Emotional Awareness ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Emotional Management ◽

Age Range ◽

The Relationship

Subjective well-being is a psychological aspect of life satisfaction. An individual’s psychological well-being affects how a person thinks and feels. There are numerous factors which can influence the subjective well-being of an individual. One of the most important factors is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has been preoccupying a significant place in well-being literature. Goleman (1998) defines it as “emotional awareness and emotional management abilities give the ability to balance emotion and reason in order to maximise long-term enjoyment". It entails recognising one's own and others feelings, managing one's own emotions, and adapting to others emotions. The objective of this study was to examine the nature of the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological well-being among young adults who are following bachelor degrees from recognized national universities. The sample consists of 200 participants both male and female of age range 19 to 23 years mean age is 21, included in this study. Well-being Inventory and Multidimensional Measures of Emotional Intelligence were administered to measure the subjective well-being and emotional intelligence. Results showed that selfawareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself, handling relations dimension of emotional intelligence evidenced strong positive associations with well-being positive affect, well-being negative affect and well-being total dimensions of well-being. Stepwise regression analysis disclosed two predictors of well-being i.e. managing emotions and motivating oneself. These results have important implications with regard to our current understanding of the relationships between well-being and emotional intelligence.

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Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729425 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

José Manuel Rodríguez Arce ◽

Michael James Winkelman

Keyword(s):

Emotional Processing ◽

Interpersonal Relations ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Receptor Subtype ◽

Systematic Bias ◽

Religious Activities ◽

Cognitive Niche ◽

Hominin Evolution ◽

Serotonin 2A

Our hominin ancestors inevitably encountered and likely ingested psychedelic mushrooms throughout their evolutionary history. This assertion is supported by current understanding of: early hominins’ paleodiet and paleoecology; primate phylogeny of mycophagical and self-medicative behaviors; and the biogeography of psilocybin-containing fungi. These lines of evidence indicate mushrooms (including bioactive species) have been a relevant resource since the Pliocene, when hominins intensified exploitation of forest floor foods. Psilocybin and similar psychedelics that primarily target the serotonin 2A receptor subtype stimulate an active coping strategy response that may provide an enhanced capacity for adaptive changes through a flexible and associative mode of cognition. Such psychedelics also alter emotional processing, self-regulation, and social behavior, often having enduring effects on individual and group well-being and sociality. A homeostatic and drug instrumentalization perspective suggests that incidental inclusion of psychedelics in the diet of hominins, and their eventual addition to rituals and institutions of early humans could have conferred selective advantages. Hominin evolution occurred in an ever-changing, and at times quickly changing, environmental landscape and entailed advancement into a socio-cognitive niche, i.e., the development of a socially interdependent lifeway based on reasoning, cooperative communication, and social learning. In this context, psychedelics’ effects in enhancing sociality, imagination, eloquence, and suggestibility may have increased adaptability and fitness. We present interdisciplinary evidence for a model of psychedelic instrumentalization focused on four interrelated instrumentalization goals: management of psychological distress and treatment of health problems; enhanced social interaction and interpersonal relations; facilitation of collective ritual and religious activities; and enhanced group decision-making. The socio-cognitive niche was simultaneously a selection pressure and an adaptive response, and was partially constructed by hominins through their activities and their choices. Therefore, the evolutionary scenario put forward suggests that integration of psilocybin into ancient diet, communal practice, and proto-religious activity may have enhanced hominin response to the socio-cognitive niche, while also aiding in its creation. In particular, the interpersonal and prosocial effects of psilocybin may have mediated the expansion of social bonding mechanisms such as laughter, music, storytelling, and religion, imposing a systematic bias on the selective environment that favored selection for prosociality in our lineage.

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