From the current literature, it is evident that emotions influence working memory performance. However, based on the current literature, it seems that the direction of the influence of emotion...Show moreFrom the current literature, it is evident that emotions influence working memory performance. However, based on the current literature, it seems that the direction of the influence of emotion depends on the situation. Specifically, it seems that the epoch (the moment when an emotional stimulus was present) is a determining factor for the variability in how emotions influence working memory. To examine whether this is the case, this meta-analysis was conducted using data from healthy, young participants. Subsequently, the data were filtered based on a priori determined factors to achieve greater homogeneity. Ultimately, this meta-analysis encompasses 32 articles, contributing 109 effect sizes. To account for the expected high variance, the following a priori determined factors, in addition to epoch, were incorporated in the analyses: the valence of the emotional stimulus (positive or negative), the type of working memory task (verbal or visuospatial) and the type of type of metric (e.g., reaction time or accuracy). The analyses revealed that none of these moderators could account for the variance; neither the main effects nor the interaction effects were significant (p > 0.05). Exploratory analyses, however, indicated that when an emotional stimulus was present in the epoch “before encoding”, emotions negatively impacted working memory capacity and positively influenced the precision of working memory. In conclusion, the a priori determined factors in this meta-analysis cannot explain the variance of the influence of emotions on working memory. Nonetheless, these results offer valuable insights for guiding future research. Furthermore, the exploratory analyses provide valuable insights into the complex relationship between emotion and working memory, emphasizing the potential trade-off between capacity and quality of working memory in the context of an emotional stimulus. More clarity into the relationship of emotion and working memory (when and how emotions intervene in working memory) can contribute to and improve the efficacy of interventions for psychopathologies.Show less
Non-verbal communication is an import social skill we humans have mastered. The eyes of others are of particular interest to us. Gaze direction in combination with the emotional expression on...Show moreNon-verbal communication is an import social skill we humans have mastered. The eyes of others are of particular interest to us. Gaze direction in combination with the emotional expression on someone’s face, provides a plethora of information about location and evaluation. Theory of mind is important in understanding this information. There is evidence that depression can cause a bias towards negative stimuli, however not all studies regarding this subject find similar results. To investigate whether depression influences attention in a negative matter a gaze cueing paradigm was used. The level of depression was measured using the BDI. Our findings indicated an effect of cue validity, but not of emotion. The level of depression did not influence attention.Show less
Can people be motivated to experience an emotion solely due to the belief that this emotion reinforces their ideology? This study investigated whether people would be motivated to experience...Show moreCan people be motivated to experience an emotion solely due to the belief that this emotion reinforces their ideology? This study investigated whether people would be motivated to experience ideology-congruent and -incongruent emotions, if they believed these would reinforce their (left or right) ideology. A repeated-measures design showed that across ideologies, people were more motivated to experience fear when they believed it was ideology-reinforcing than when they had no such belief. Contrary to the hypothesis, for hope, the data suggested motivation to be high regardless of people’s beliefs about its usefulness for their ideology. This study also investigated potential differences between leftists and rightists in their motivation to experience ideology congruent and incongruent emotions. Whilst the data suggested rightists to be generally more motivated to experience both hope and fear, these results had to be disregarded, due to a great gender and age difference between the samples of the leftist and rightist supporters, which influenced the results. The significance and implications of the current findings are discussed.Show less
Previous research has shown that people are motivated to up-regulate certain emotions if they believe that it reinforces their ideological convictions. More specifically, Pliskin and colleagues...Show morePrevious research has shown that people are motivated to up-regulate certain emotions if they believe that it reinforces their ideological convictions. More specifically, Pliskin and colleagues reported that leftists were more likely to experience hope, and rightists were more likely to experience fear if they believed that the respective emotions reinforce their ideology in regard to the acceptance or rejection of social change. The present research expands on these findings by investigating whether people would be motivated to up-regulate their level of anger if they believe it reinforces their ideology, and whether such motivational effort differs between ideological groups (left vs right). To this end, we sampled 206 British participants (114 female, 90 male, 2 other, Mage = 33.18, SD = 11.96) of which 115 (40 male, 73 female, 2 self-identified; Mage = 29.15, SD = 9.9) reported a leftist ideology and 91 (41 female, Mage = 38.29, SD = 12.43) a rightist ideology. Both groups were presented with one of three bogus scientific articles claiming that anger reinforces a leftist ideology, anger reinforces a rightist ideology or a neutral control article. Subsequently, the participants were asked to rank order eight headlines that hinted at emotion-inducing articles (anger, fear, hope, neutral). The results of the ANCOVA revealed a non-significant interaction effect, disconfirming our formulated hypothesis. Such null findings may support the context-dependence of anger and point at the necessity of adopting a multi-dimensional, context sensitive approach to the study of ideological differences in the motivated regulation of emotions.Show less
This thesis presents a cross-linguistic analysis of expressing emotions in sign languages. Four claims about iconicity in sign languages are tested, which were merely based on American Sign...Show moreThis thesis presents a cross-linguistic analysis of expressing emotions in sign languages. Four claims about iconicity in sign languages are tested, which were merely based on American Sign Language. These claims are tested cross-linguistically for four different sign languages, namely the unrelated sign languages of Guinea-Bissau (LGG), the Netherlands (NGT), Mexico (LSMY) and Hong Kong (HKSL). The data indicates that the torso is preferred as the articulation place for expressing emotion in NGT and HKSL, which also predominantly express the basic emotions at the torso. Most of the signs of LGG are expressed at the head (also the basic emotions) and surprisingly LSMY only expresses emotion at the head. For the second parameter, motion, the data supports the claim that a movement towards the interlocutor indicates the communication of the speaker’s emotional state towards the interlocutor. The third parameter handshape indicates different levels of positivity or negativity in expressing emotion. However, the dictionaries of the four sign languages differ in quality and quantity and more research and data is needed.Show less
Addressing a shortcoming in theories on the influence of emotion on political decision-making this thesis aims to explore the distinct effects of anger on voting behavior in the Netherlands. The...Show moreAddressing a shortcoming in theories on the influence of emotion on political decision-making this thesis aims to explore the distinct effects of anger on voting behavior in the Netherlands. The biological origin of emotion and its function in individuals and social interactions, specifically the influence on decision-making processes, are justification for including emotion in a model of vote choice. However, this inclusion should correspond with the biology and theoretical predictions of emotional effects. The most complete and authoritative model which includes emotion is the Theory of Affective Intelligence (AI). Because in the operationalization of anxiety fear and anger are combined, the theory is flawed in this respect. This is an important issue to address since it can have a significant impact on predictions from the model. Predictions that can be used to solve the ongoing debate on the personalization of Dutch politics by pointing to the different circumstances under which voters rely on different decision-making strategies. Using a a online survey to collect data, which included items on candidate traits, policy preferences and ideology, party attachments and background items, the hypotheses for the specific effects of anger were tested in a model based on logistic regression. The survey included a manipulation of the emotional state. Results show some distinct influences of anger and fear. Fear increases the relative weight candidate traits in a vote-choice, whereas anger increases the weight of ideological distance and policy preferences. Furthermore, party-attachments are weak and knowledge seems to have no effect.Show less
