The psychological structure, social consequences, function, and expression of pride experiences

The MoodWheel app: validation and factor structure of a new tool for the assessment of mood based on the experience sampling method

BACKGROUND

The MoodWheel app is a newly developed tool that uses experience sampling method (ESM) for assessing negative and positive emotions, based on the circumplex model of emotions and the binary model of distress, and including behavioral and heart rate (HR) measurement via photoplethysmography and the possibility to personalize the application with additional measures. Aims: This study was designed to assess the factorial structure, reliability and validity of the MoodWheel (MW) application for evaluating emotions in children, adolescents.

METHODS

A sample of 490 children and adolescents were recruited from the schools. Internal consistency was assessed via Cronbach's alpha test. Concurrent validity was assessed by evaluating the correlations between MW and Profile of Emotional Distress scale (PED) scores, in terms of functional/dysfunctional negative and positive emotions.

RESULTS

Results obtained show that MW has good to excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability, while the convergent validity was also adequate. Moreover, we found support for the organization of the MW based on the binary model of distress, given the predictive value found for the irrational and rational beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

The MW application is a useful and easy to use tool that can be used for the accurate measurement of emotions, which will be complimented in future with additional behavioral parameters to provide a comprehensive and dynamic assessment.

The Appraisal Model of Conspiracy Theories (AMCT): Applying Appraisal Theories to Understand Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Conspiracy Theories

Beliefs in conspiracy theories are related to a diverse set of emotional and behavioral consequences. At the same time, a theoretical model detailing when a conspiracy theory is more likely to elicit confrontation compared to withdrawal, indirect aggression or community-building is missing. We argue that appraisals provide the missing link between conspiracy beliefs and their consequences, proposing the Appraisal Model of Conspiracy Theories (AMCT). Based on appraisal theories of emotions, we outline how the focus on different features that vary between conspiracy theories and the situations in which they are embedded (i.e., focus on secrecy vs. gained knowledge; powerlessness vs. option of confrontation; harm to oneself vs. others) facilitate specific appraisals, resulting in different behavioral outcomes. We also outline how the AMCT helps to reconcile inconsistent research on conspiracy beliefs by providing better predictions about their emotional and behavioral consequences.

Helping others in real life and in the laboratory: pride and prosocial behavior

BACKGROUND

Prosocial behavior may depend on the emotions experienced, and positive emotions such as pride may promote helping, offering support, donating, and other prosocial activities. Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between pride and prosocial behavior.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

A correlational study, Study 1 (N = 365), was conducted during the second week of the 2022 war in Ukraine. In Study 2, a laboratory experiment (N = 82) was conducted to test the effect of pride (recalling an event in which a person felt proud) on prosocial behavior. A pilot study demonstrated the effectiveness of the experimental manipulation. Prosocial behavior was operationalized as the amount of money donated to charity in support of people in need and the number of leaflets taken in support of recruitment for the study.

RESULTS

Study 1 results showed a positive but weak correlation between pride and involvement in helping, as well as the number of hours spent helping Ukrainian refugees. Study 2 results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the amount of money donated to charity and in the number of leaflets taken.

CONCLUSIONS

Our studies have provided new evidence for the role of pride in stimulating prosocial behavior. The inconsistent results of our research suggest that further studies are needed to better understand the relationship between pride and prosocial behavior.

"I've kept going" - a multisite repeated cross-sectional study of healthcare workers' pride in personal performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

For healthcare workers, working through a pandemic may include both challenges, such as coping with increased demands and a lack of control, and rewards, such as experiencing a sense of achievement and meaningfulness. In this study, we explore the accomplishments healthcare workers themselves are proud of achieving at work, in order to elucidate the positive aspects of working through a pandemic.

METHODS

In June 2020 (T1), December 2020 (T2), and May 2021 (T3), healthcare workers (n = 1,996) at four Norwegian hospitals participated in a web-based survey assessing job strain, psychological health, and support during the pandemic. The survey included the open-ended question "During the past two weeks, what have you been feeling proud of achieving at work?". Responses (1,046) to this item were analyzed using conventional content analysis, which resulted in 13 subthemes under 6 themes.

RESULTS

For some, pride was found in their professional identity and dedication to their work. Others took pride in specific achievements, such as juggling their own needs (e.g., health, private life) with those of the workplace, contributing to cohesion and collaboration, their ability to learn and adjust, in being a useful resource at work, and in their efforts towards developing the organization and workplace.

IMPLICATIONS

The current findings shed light on what healthcare workers feel proud of achieving in their day-to-day work. Assessment of these factors provides insight on both positive and negative aspects of working clinically during a pandemic, and highlights specific targets for building sustainable and rewarding work environments for healthcare workers.

Moral Foundations for the Feelings of Shame and Pride Regarding the Native Country

The feelings of shame and pride regarding the native country are important in the context of the problem of civic identity; therefore, they are of growing interest on the part of sociologists and psychologists. Given the moral nature of these emotions, their analysis based on one of the most authoritative approaches in the psychology of morality, moral foundations theory, seems relevant and justified. The purpose of this study was to analyze the moral foundations for the feelings of shame and pride regarding the native country. The online survey involved 752 subjects (49.9% men) aged 16-73 (mean age M = 42, SD = 10.87). A new version of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ-2) was used to assess the moral foundations. The feelings of shame and pride regarding the native country were assessed using a questionnaire tested in previous sociological and psychological studies. Data processing was carried out using exploratory factor analysis, linear regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the regression analysis on the factors of shame and pride regarding the native country showed that the moral foundations play an important role in these feelings among the inhabitants of Russia. However, a specific set of predictors is determined by what exactly is the subject of pride or shame. In general, the moral foundations of loyalty and authority are of the greatest importance for pride, while liberty and equity are most important for shame regarding the native country. Using the latent profile analysis, we identified typical profiles of moral foundations associated with age. A small group (14% of the sample) of relatively young respondents with an individualistic profile of moral foundations demonstrated a significant predominance of shame over pride regarding their native country. The other two groups with a traditionalist and a moderate profiles of moral foundations were characterized by a balance (or approximate equality) of pride and shame regarding their native country. The results of the study contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of the moral factors of patriotic education based on the formation of a feeling of pride in the country.

Comparing gratitude and pride: evidence from brain and behavior

Gratitude and pride are both positive emotions. Yet gratitude motivates people to help others and build up relationships, whereas pride motivates people to pursue achievements and build on self-esteem. Although these social outcomes are crucial for humans to be evolutionarily adaptive, no study so far has systematically compared gratitude and pride to understand why and how they can motivate humans differently. In this review, we compared gratitude and pride from their etymologies, cognitive prerequisites, motivational functions, and brain regions involved. By integrating the evidence from brain and behavior, we suggest that gratitude and pride share a common reward basis, yet gratitude is more related to theory of mind, while pride is more related to self-referential processing. Moreover, we proposed a cognitive neuroscientific model to explain the dynamics in gratitude and pride under a reinforcement learning framework.

Successful emotion regulation via cognitive reappraisal in authentic pride: Behavioral and event-related potential evidence

The present study explored whether authentic pride (AP) and hubristic pride (HP) were differently associated with cognitive reappraisal strategy. In study 1, undergraduates (n = 235) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires, including the Authentic and Hubristic Pride-Proneness Scale (AHPPS), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and emotion regulation questionnaire (ERP-R). The results showed that AP significantly predicted successful down-regulation of negative emotions via a spontaneous cognitive reappraisal strategy. However, hubristic pride (HP) was negatively associated with spontaneous cognitive reappraisal. In study 2, participants with trait AP (n = 31) and trait HP (n = 29) undergoing continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording were required to reinterpret emotional pictures to down-regulate/up-regulate their negative/positive emotional reactions. The results showed that individuals with AP reported lower levels of emotional arousal and lower amplitudes of late positive potentials (LPPs) than did individuals with HP in response to negative pictures during the down-regulation of negative emotions, but not during passive viewing or up-regulation of positive emotions. Across two studies, these findings showed that individuals with AP could utilize the cognitive reappraisal strategy (spontaneously in daily life and under experimental instructions) to down-regulate negative emotions more successfully relative to individuals with HP.

The Chicken and Egg of Pride and Social Rank

Prior research has found an association between pride experiences and social rank outcomes. However, the causal direction of this relationship remains unclear. The current research used a longitudinal design (N = 1,653) to investigate whether pride experiences are likely to be a cause, consequence, or both, of social rank outcomes, by tracking changes in individuals' pride and social rank over time. Prior research also has uncovered distinct correlational relationships between the two facets of pride, authentic and hubristic, and two forms of social rank, prestige and dominance, respectively. We therefore separately examined longitudinal relationships between each pride facet and each form of social rank. Results reveal distinct bidirectional relationships between authentic pride and prestige and hubristic pride and dominance, suggesting that specific kinds of pride experiences and specific forms of social rank are both an antecedent and a consequence of one another.