Personality and susceptibility to positive and negative emotional states

An Investigation on the Academic Burden of Chinese Students Ranging from Primary Schools to Universities Based on a Word Association Test in Guangdong Province

China's basic education and higher education are currently facing policies aimed at reducing and increasing the academic burden, respectively. In this context, we first review and assess the methods of measuring students' academic burden and then apply the implicit association test for the first time to the academic burden of Chinese students from primary school to university under a unified framework. The results demonstrates that students' academic burden increases with the school stage, and thus university students face a greater burden than primary and high school students, and that learning attitude fully mediates the relationship between objective and subjective views of academic burden. These results suggest the three policy approaches of implementing a management system for classifying academic burden, considering how to improve students' learning quality, and developing their mental health education, thus providing a reference and inspiration for research and practice in the field of academic burden.

Expressing Personality Through Non-verbal Behaviour in Real-Time Interaction

The attribution of traits plays an important role as a heuristic for how we interact with others. Many psychological models of personality are analytical in that they derive a classification from reported or hypothesised behaviour. In the work presented here, we follow the opposite approach: Our personality model generates behaviour that leads an observer to attribute personality characteristics to the actor. Concretely, the model controls all relevant aspects of non-verbal behaviour such as gaze, facial expression, gesture, and posture. The model, embodied in a virtual human, affords to realistically interact with participants in real-time. Conceptually, our model focuses on the two dimensions of extra/introversion and stability/neuroticism. In the model, personality parameters influence both, the internal affective state as well as the characteristic of the behaviour execution. Importantly, the parameters of the model are based on empirical findings in the behavioural sciences. To evaluate our model, we conducted two types of studies. Firstly, passive experiments where participants rated videos showing variants of behaviour driven by different personality parameter configurations. Secondly, presential experiments where participants interacted with the virtual human, playing rounds of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game. Our results show that the model is effective in conveying the impression of the personality of a virtual character to users. Embodying the model in an artificial social agent capable of real-time interactive behaviour is the only way to move from an analytical to a generative approach to understanding personality, and we believe that this methodology raises a host of novel research questions in the field of personality theory.

Job Insecurity in the COVID-19 Pandemic on Counterproductive Work Behavior of Millennials: A Time-Lagged Mediated and Moderated Model

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the market environment for the information technology (IT) industry changed dramatically, presenting companies with numerous obstacles in day-to-day management activities and changing business needs. Previous studies found that job insecurity due to COVID-19 significantly impacted millennials. Our research explored the effect of job insecurity on counterproductive work behavior among millennial employees during the COVID-19 period, using moral disengagement as a mediating variable, and psychological capital and negative emotions as moderating variables. In this study, 298 employees working in Chinese IT companies completed the questionnaire survey. We collected data from employees over three different time intervals (baseline, three weeks later, and six weeks later) to mitigate the issues of common method bias and single-source data. We analyzed the collected data using SPSS25.0 and Amos24.0 for structural modeling. Our research results indicate that job insecurity is positively associated with counterproductive work behavior, and moral disengagement plays a mediating role. In addition, psychological capital moderates the relationship between job insecurity, moral disengagement, and counterproductive work behavior. Negative emotions also moderate the mediating effect of moral disengagement between job insecurity and CWB.

Personality matters: relationship between personality characteristics, spirituality, demoralization, and perceived quality of life in a sample of end-of-life cancer patients

PURPOSE

Personality could be an interesting dimension to explore in end-of-life cancer patients, in order to investigate how personality affects quality of life. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship among personality through the Big Five Inventory (BFI), spirituality, and demoralization and to explore their impact on their quality of life.

METHODS

A sample of 210 end-of-life Italian cancer patients were assessed with the BFI, the Demoralization Scale (DS), the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-SP-12), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-General Measure (FACT-G), and the Karnofsky performance status.

RESULTS

Correlational analysis highlighted a significantly negative relationship between extraversion and agreeableness traits and all the demoralization dimensions. On the other side, neuroticism trait was significantly and positively correlated with the Demoralization Scale (p < 0.01). To understand the impact of these variables on quality of life (FACT-G), we performed a hierarchical multiple regression: in the final model, demoralization remained the strongest contributing factor (β =  - 0.509, p < 0.001), followed by neuroticism (β =  - 0.175, p < 0.001), spirituality (β = 0.163, p = 0.015), and Karnofsky index (β = 0.115, p = 0.012).

CONCLUSION

Our data underlined how both the neuroticism trait and demoralization are correlated with a worst health status in terminal cancer patients, whereas spirituality is a protective factor. The study of personality may allow to better understand the inner patient's experience and improve communication between patient and healthcare staff in order to build and apply better-tailored psychological treatment.

Effects of Dispositional Affect on the N400: Language Processing and Socially Situated Context

We examined whether the N400 Event-Related Potential (ERP) component would be modulated by dispositional affect during sentence processing. In this study, 33 participants read sentences manipulated by direct object type (congruent vs. incongruent) and object determiner type (definite vs. demonstrative). We were particularly interested in sentences of the form: (i) The connoisseur tasted the wine on the tour vs. (ii) The connoisseur tasted the # roof … We expected that processing incongruent direct objects (#roof) vs. congruent objects (wine) would elicit N400 effects. Previous ERP language experiments have shown that participants in (induced) positive and negative moods were differentially sensitive to semantic anomaly, resulting in different N400 effects. Presently, we ask whether individual dispositional affect scores (as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PANAS) would modulate N400 effects as shown previously. Namely, previous results showed larger N400 effects associated with happy moods and attenuated amplitudes associated with sad moods. Results revealed significant N400 effects, driven by the #roof vs. the wine, where larger amplitude differences were found for individuals showing smaller negative affect (NA) scores, thus partially replicating previous findings. We discuss our results in terms of theories of local (lexical) inhibition, such that low NA promotes stronger lexico-semantic links in sentences. Finally, our results support accounts of language processing that include social and biological characteristics of individuals during real-time sentence comprehension.

Functional Polymorphisms in Oxytocin and Dopamine Pathway Genes and the Development of Dispositional Compassion Over Time: The Young Finns Study

Background: We define compassion as an enduring disposition that centers upon empathetic concern for another person's suffering and the motivation to act to alleviate it. The contribution of specific candidate genes to the development of dispositional compassion for others is currently unknown. We examine candidate genes in the oxytocin and dopamine signaling pathways.

Methods: In a 32-year follow-up of the Young Finns Study (N = 2,130, 44.0% men), we examined with multiple indicators latent growth curve modeling the molecular genetic underpinnings of dispositional compassion for others across the life span. We selected five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) whose functions are known in humans: rs2268498 (OXTR), rs3796863 (CD38) (related to lower oxytocin levels), rs1800497 (ANKK1/DRD2), rs4680 (COMT), and rs1611115 (DBH) (related to higher dopamine levels). Compassion was measured with Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory on three repeated observations spanning 15 years (1997–2012). Differences between gender were tested.

Results: We did not find an effect of the five SNPs in oxytocin and dopamine pathway genes on the initial levels of dispositional compassion for others. Individuals who carry one or two copies of the T-allele of DBH rs1611115, however, tend to increase faster in compassion over time than those homozygotes for the C-allele, b = 0.063 (SE = 0.027; p = 0.018). This effect was largely driven by male participants, 0.206 (SE = 0.046; p < 0.001), and was not significant in female participants when analyzed separately.

Conclusions: Men who are known to have, on average, lower compassion than women seem to reduce this difference over time if they carry the T-allele of DBH rs1611115. The direction of the association indicates that dopamine signaling activity rather than overall dopamine levels might drive the development of compassion.

Neuroticism and Fear of COVID-19. The Interplay Between Boredom, Fantasy Engagement, and Perceived Control Over Time

The Italian government adopted measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection from March 9, 2020, to May 4, 2020 and imposed a phase of social distancing and self-isolation to all adult citizens. Although justified and necessary, psychologists question the impact of this process of COVID-19 isolation on the mental health of the population. Hence, this paper investigated the relationship between neuroticism, boredom, fantasy engagement, perceived control over time, and the fear of COVID-19. Specifically, we performed a cross-sectional study aimed at testing an integrative moderated mediation model. Our model assigned the boredom to the mediation role and both the fantasy engagement and perceived control of time to the role of moderators in the relationship between neuroticism and the fear of COVID-19. A sample of 301 subjects, mainly women (68.8%), aged between 18 and 57 years (M age = 22.12 years; SD = 6.29), participated in a survey conducted in the 1st-week lockdown phase 2 in Italy from May 7 to 18, 2020. Results suggested that neuroticism is crucial in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with literature showing high neurotic people having greater emotional reactivity and scarce resources to manage stress. We also found that people with high neuroticism tend to feel bored, and the relationship between neuroticism and boredom seems enhanced if one is involved in negative fantasies. Therefore, this result could also explain the positive effect between boredom and fear of COVID-19 we found in the current study. However, our data show that perceived control over time moderates the association between boredom and fear toward COVID-19. Having a high perceived control over time allows people to reduce boredom's effect on fear of COVID-19. In conclusion, we retain that psychological treatment programs could improve the individuals' perceived control over time to modulate anxiety toward the fear of COVID-19 and promote psychological well-being.

Associations of Affect, Action Readiness, and Sexual Functioning

Introduction

Emotions are theorized to contain the components of affect and action readiness. Affect guides behavior by causing an approach or withdrawal orientation. Action readiness is the individual's degree of willingness to interact with the environment. Emotions contribute to changes in behavior and physiological responses.

Aim

The present study applied these notions to sexuality and examined the associations between affect, action readiness, and sexual functioning.

Methods

Participants were male patients with urologic condition (N = 70) with and without sexual problems.

Main Outcome Measure

Affect and action readiness were jointly assessed using the latent factor of affective polarity of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Trait affective polarity was assessed questioning generally experienced feelings. State affective polarity was assessed after exposure to an erotic stimulus and questioning momentaneously experienced feelings. Sexual functioning was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Functioning questionnaire.

Results

A significant increase of approach-oriented action readiness was found after erotic stimulation, relative to trait levels. In addition, significant associations were found between state approach-oriented action readiness and various aspects of sexual functioning. Interventions based on principles of positive psychology might be developed to reinforce action readiness in men with erectile dysfunction. The strength of the current research concerns the introduction of action readiness as a potential psychological factor implied in sexual functioning. Limitations pertain to the use of the algorithm used to calculate state approach-oriented action readiness and the use of the current sample of patients with urological conditions, limiting generalizability of findings.

Conclusion

Action readiness was found to correlate positively with all aspects of sexual functioning. Further research into the role of action readiness in sexuality is recommended.

Henckens MJMJ, de Vries P, Janssen E, et al. Associations of Affect, Action Readiness, and Sexual Functioning. Sex Med 2020;8:691–698.

A Mixed-Method Analysis on the Impacts of a System-Driven Implementation of Multiple Child Evidence-Based Practices on Community Mental Health Providers

Initiatives to scale up evidence-based practices (EBPs) in routine care are likely to have myriad impacts on community providers, but these impacts have not yet been examined in depth. This is especially true within the context of simultaneous implementation of multiple evidence-based practices. The aim of this study was to characterize the multifaceted impacts on community mental health therapists within a system-driven implementation of multiple EBPs for youth and families. Semistructured interview and survey data were gathered from 60 therapists at 11 agencies contracted with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to deliver EBPs within the Prevention and Early Intervention initiative. Therapists' accounts of impacts varied, and were either predominately negative, predominantly positive, or mixed-valence. Mixed-methods analyses using Kruskal-Wallis tests showed therapist valence groups varied on mean levels of self-reported burnout on surveys. Themes from qualitative data revealed several favorable (e.g., increased EBP knowledge, structure) and unfavorable (e.g., distress, feeling constrained by EBPs) impacts of county-contracted EBP implementation. These findings inform the development and implementation of future system-driven EBP initiatives that consider therapist perspective to optimize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on therapists.

Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Employee Voice: A Conservation of Resources Perspective

Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we constructed a model about how two of Big-Five personality traits, extraversion and neuroticism, respectively, influence employee voice through an indirect effect of emotional exhaustion. We distributed two wave surveys to 435 employees and their supervisors in a Chinese state-owned bank. Our analyses indicated that extraversion had a positive indirect effect on employee voice via emotional exhaustion, whereas neuroticism had a negative indirect effect on employee voice via emotional exhaustion. We concluded by discussing our theoretical implications with research on employee voice and COR. Additionally, we discussed our practical implications for managerial practices and for the general public.

Sociable behavior is related to later fatigue: moment-to-moment patterns of behavior and tiredness

The popular idea that extraverted behavior is mentally depleting has received support in one previous study. The present research attempted to replicate this finding and rule out some alternative explanations. An experience-sampling study was conducted to this end (N = 74, observations = 1046). The results showed that extraverted behavior was indeed related to feeling tired 2–3 h later. The results provide empirical evidence of an everyday life pattern between behavior and feelings states.

Neuroticism may not reflect emotional variability

Neuroticism is one of the major traits describing human personality, and a predictor of mental and physical disorders with profound public health significance. Individual differences in emotional variability are thought to reflect the core of neuroticism. However, the empirical relation between emotional variability and neuroticism may be partially the result of a measurement artifact reflecting neuroticism's relation with higher mean levels-rather than greater variability-of negative emotion. When emotional intensity is measured using bounded scales, there is a dependency between variability and mean levels: at low (or high) intensity, it is impossible to demonstrate high variability. As neuroticism is positively associated with mean levels of negative emotion, this may account for the relation between neuroticism and emotional variability. In a metaanalysis of 11 studies (N = 1,205 participants; 83,411 observations), we tested whether the association between neuroticism and negative emotional variability was clouded by a dependency between variability and the mean. We found a medium-sized positive association between neuroticism and negative emotional variability, but, when using a relative variability index to correct for mean negative emotion, this association disappeared. This indicated that neuroticism was associated with experiencing more intense, but not more variable, negative emotions. Our findings call into question theory, measurement scales, and data suggesting that emotional variability is central to neuroticism. In doing so, they provide a revisionary perspective for understanding how this individual difference may predispose to mental and physical disorders.

Scared to Trust? - Predicting Trust in Highly Automated Driving by Depressiveness, Negative Self-Evaluations and State Anxiety

The advantages of automated driving can only come fully into play if these systems are used in an appropriate way, which means that they are neither used in situations they are not designed for (misuse) nor used in a too restricted manner (disuse). Trust in automation has been found to be an essential psychological basis for appropriate interaction with automated systems. Well-balanced system use requires a calibrated level of trust in correspondence with the actual ability of an automated system. As for these far-reaching implications of trust for safe and efficient system use, the psychological processes, in which trust is dynamically calibrated prior and during the use of automated technology, need to be understood. At this point, only a restricted body of research investigated the role of personality and emotional states for the formation of trust in automated systems. In this research, the role of the personality variables depressiveness, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and locus of control for the experience of anxiety before the first experience with a highly automated driving system were investigated. Additionally, the relationship of the investigated personality variables and anxiety to subsequent formation of trust in automation was investigated. In a driving simulator study, personality variables and anxiety were measured before the interaction with an automated system. Trust in the system was measured after participants drove with the system for a while. Trust in the system was significantly predicted by state anxiety and the personality characteristics self-esteem and self-efficacy. The relationships of self-esteem and self-efficacy were mediated by state anxiety as supported by significant specific indirect effects. While for depression the direct relationship with trust in automation was not found to be significant, an indirect effect through the experience of anxiety was supported. Locus of control did not show a significant association to trust in automation. The reported findings support the importance of considering individual differences in negative self-evaluations and anxiety when being introduced to a new automated system for individual differences in trust in automation. Implications for future research as well as implications for the design of automated technology in general and automated driving systems are discussed.

From Happiness Orientations to Work Performance: The Mediating Role of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Experiences

In organizations, psychologists have often tried to promote employees' well-being and performance, and this can be achieved through different pathways. The happy-productive worker thesis states that 'happy' workers perform better than 'unhappy' ones. However, most studies have focused on hedonic well-being at the expense of the person's eudaimonic experience. This study examines whether orientations to happiness (i.e., life of pleasure/meaning) are related to hedonic (i.e., perception of comfort) and eudaimonic (i.e., activity worthwhileness) experiences that, in turn, improve performance. We applied multilevel structural equation modeling to diary data (68 office workers; n = 471 timepoints). We obtained significant effects of: life of pleasure on self-rated performance through activity worthwhileness, life of meaning on performance (self-rated, rated by the supervisor) through activity worthwhileness, and life of meaning on performance rated by the supervisor through perception of comfort. Results show more significant paths from/or through eudaimonia to performance than from/or through hedonia. The results suggest that the pursuit and/or experience of eudaimonic happiness is more beneficial for work performance than the pursuit and/or experience of hedonic happiness. Theoretical and practical implications for organizations are discussed.

Cognitive emotion regulation and personality: an analysis of individual differences in the neural and behavioral correlates of successful reappraisal

A common and mostly effective emotion regulation strategy is reappraisal. During reappraisal, activity in cognitive control brain regions increases and activity in brain regions associated with emotion responding (e.g., the amygdala) diminishes. Immediately after reappraisal, it has been observed that activity in the amygdala increases again, which might reflect a paradoxical aftereffect. While there is extensive empirical evidence for these neural correlates of emotion regulation, only few studies targeted the association with individual differences in personality traits. The aim of this study is to investigate these associations more thoroughly. Seventy-six healthy participants completed measures of broad personality traits (Big Five, Positive and Negative Affect) as well as of more narrow traits (habitual use of emotion regulation) and performed an experimental fMRI reappraisal task. Participants were instructed to either permit their emotions or to detach themselves from the presented negative and neutral pictures. After each picture, a relaxation period was included. Reappraisal success was determined by arousal ratings and activity in the amygdala. During reappraisal, we found activation in the prefrontal cortex and deactivation in the left amygdala. During the relaxation period, an immediate aftereffect was found in occipital regions and marginally in the amygdala. Neither personality traits nor habitual use of emotion regulation predicted reappraisal success or the magnitude of the aftereffect. We replicated typical activation and deactivation patterns during intentional emotion regulation and partially replicated the immediate aftereffect in the amygdala. However, there was no association between personality traits and emotion regulation success.

Development of a Measure of Informal Workplace Social Interactions

A measure of informal, non-task-related workplace social interactions that captures both the frequency of interactions and the positive affect that can accompany such interactions was developed and validated. In two samples of employees (N = 188 and N = 315, respectively), the factor structure, reliability, and incremental predictive validity of the newly developed measure were evaluated. Results support the anticipated two-factor structure, demonstrate strong psychometric properties, and reveal that the new measure explains additional variance in employee outcomes (job satisfaction and job-related positive affect). This newly developed, 16-item scale provides a psychometrically sound measure for researchers and organizations to use in assessing, and potentially improving, two dimensions of workplace social interactions.

The Young Adult Love Lives of Happy Teenagers: The Role of Adolescent Affect in Adult Romantic Relationship Functioning

This study assessed early adolescent positive and negative affect as long-term predictors of romantic conflict, anxious and avoidant attachment, romantic and social competence, and relationship satisfaction in adulthood utilizing a longitudinal, multi-informant study of 166 participants assessed annually at ages 14-17, and again at ages 23-25. Positive affect in adolescence predicted greater self-rated social competence during late adolescence and greater self-rated romantic competence and less partner-reported hostile conflict almost a decade later. Negative affect predicted lower social and romantic competence. Results generally remained significant after controlling for personality traits, providing greater support for the hypothesis that affect has a robust, direct relation to romantic development over time.

Actor, partner, and similarity effects of personality on global and experienced well-being

The current study examined actor, partner, and similarity effects of personality on a variety of well-being indices, including both global and experiential measures of well-being in 2,578 heterosexual couples (N = 5,156 individuals; M age = 51.04, SD = 13.68) who completed the 2016 Wellbeing and Daily Life supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Among actor effects, those for conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism were the most robust predictors of well-being. Among partner effects, conscientiousness and neuroticism were the most robust predictors of well-being. Consistent with past research, similarity effects on well-being were generally small and not always significant. The results are discussed in the context of experiential conceptualizations of well-being and operationalizing similarity in relationship research.

Personality Traits Moderate Connections from Drinking Attitudes to Alcohol Use and Myopic Relief, Self-inflation, and Excess

BACKGROUND

Alcohol myopia theory postulates that the level of alcohol use in conjunction with personal cues, such as alcohol attitudes and personality traits help to understand the types of consequences manifested.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined and identified the personality traits that served as predictors and moderators of the risk connections from drinking attitudes to alcohol use to myopia outcomes.

METHODS

College students (N = 433) completed self-report measures. In a path analysis using structural equation modeling, personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism), drinking attitudes, and personality × drinking attitudes interactions simultaneously served as predictors on the outcomes of alcohol use and myopic relief, self-inflation, and excess.

RESULTS

Alcohol attitudes and use consistently emerged as unique predictors of all three myopia outcomes. Extraversion and neuroticism were identified as statistical moderators, but results varied depending on the myopia outcome interpreted. Specifically, extraversion moderated the pathways from attitudes to usage and from attitudes to myopic relief. Neuroticism, however, moderated the relations from attitudes to myopic self-inflation and from attitudes to myopic excess. Conclusions/Importance: Extraverted and neurotic dispositions could exacerbate or attenuate the risk connections from alcohol attitudes to outcomes. Findings offer implications for alcohol prevention efforts designed to simultaneously target drinking attitudes, personality traits, and alcohol myopia.

Emotional Intelligence Buffers the Effects of Negative Emotions on Job Burnout in Nursing

The study was designed to examine whether trait emotional intelligence would moderate the impact of negative emotions at work on job burnout. A total of 188 female nurses participated in this study and completed measures of trait affectivity, emotional intelligence, anger and sadness at work, and burnout. The results revealed significant and positive relationships between both types of negative emotions and burnout above and beyond demographics and the nurses' trait affectivity. Importantly, the study demonstrated that trait emotional intelligence buffers the effects of negative emotions on burnout. Specifically, anger- and sadness-related emotions predicted greater burnout among nurses with low trait emotional intelligence but not among nurses with high trait emotional intelligence. These results suggest that emotional intelligence training could be implemented to prevent the adverse effect of negative emotions felt at work on job burnout.

Brain structural connectivity and neuroticism in healthy adults

Understanding the neural correlates of the neurotic brain is important because neuroticism is a risk factor for the development of psychopathology. We examined the correlation between brain structural networks and neuroticism based on NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) scores. Fifty-one healthy participants (female, n = 18; male, n = 33; mean age, 38.5 ± 11.7 years) underwent the NEO-FFI test and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including diffusion tensor imaging and 3D T1WI. Using MRI data, for each participant, we constructed whole-brain interregional connectivity matrices by deterministic tractography and calculated the graph theoretical network measures, including the characteristic path length, global clustering coefficient, small-worldness, and betweenness centrality (BET) in 83 brain regions from the Desikan-Killiany atlas with subcortical segmentation using FreeSurfer. In relation to the BET, neuroticism score had a negative correlation in the left isthmus cingulate cortex, left superior parietal, left superior temporal, right caudal middle frontal, and right entorhinal cortices, and a positive correlation in the bilateral frontal pole, left caudal anterior cingulate cortex, and left fusiform gyrus. No other measurements showed significant correlations. Our results imply that the brain regions related to neuroticism exist in various regions, and that the neuroticism trait is likely formed as a result of interactions among these regions. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Comprehensive Brain Science Network) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.

Personality Traits and Vitamin D3 Supplementation Affect Mood State 12 h Before 100 km Ultramarathon Run

Background: Participation in extreme endurance sports is becoming an increasingly popular activity, and thus more and more people are getting involved in it. Taking part in a 100 km run is associated with great physiological and psychological stress, which can affect one’s mood state. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine if personality, experience, and motives for participation are related to a runner’s mood and its changes as well as to investigate whether vitamin D3 supplementation influences mood 12 h before and 12 h after the run.

Method: The study group consisted of 20 experienced marathon and ultramarathon runners taking part in a 100 km track run. All participants were males aged between 31 and 50 (M = 40.75, SD = 7.15). The group was divided in two equal subgroups: the placebo group and the group supplemented with vitamin D3. Personality traits were assessed using the Polish version of Eysenck’s EPQ-R 106 and mood states were measured twice (12 h before and after the run) using the Polish version of the UMACL by Mathews, Chamberlain, and Jones. Motives for participation in ultramarathons were measured with the IPAO by Lipowski and Zaleski.

Results: Levels of vitamin D3 correlated very strongly with energetic arousal (EA) (r_s = 0.80; p < 0.05) and strongly hedonic tone (HT) (r_s = 0.74; p < 0.05) 12 h before the run. There were no significant correlations between levels of vitamin D3 and mood states after the run. Moreover, extraversion correlated moderately with tense arousal (TA) (r_s = -0.48; p < 0.05) and EA (r_s = 0.47; p < 0.05) while neuroticism correlated moderately with TA (r_s = 0.53; p < 0.05) and HT (r_s = -0.57; p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Both personality and vitamin D3 supplementation are related to runners’ pre-run mood. These effects are nullified when it comes to post-run mood states.

Pessimistic expectations and poorer experiences: The role of (low) extraversion in anticipated and experienced enjoyment of social interaction

Given research suggesting that social interactions are beneficial, it is unclear why individuals lower in extraversion engage less in social interactions. In this study, we test whether individuals lower in extraversion reap fewer hedonic rewards from social interactions and explore social psychological processes that explain their experiences. Before participants socialized, we measured extraversion, state positive affect, cognitive capacity, and expectations about the social interactions. After participants socialized with one another, we measured state positive affect and cognitive capacity again as well as fear of negative evaluation and belief in limited cognitive capacity. Participants also rated the social skillfulness of each interaction partner. We found that less extraverted individuals expect to feel worse after socializing. However, all but those extremely low in extraversion (17% of sample) actually experience an increase in positive affect after socializing. Surprisingly, those low in extraversion did not show reduced cognitive capacity after socializing. Although they are more likely to believe that cognitive capacity is limited and to be fearful of negative evaluation, these characteristics did not explain the social experience of those low in extraversion.

Validation and psychometric properties of the Alcohol Positive and Negative Affect Schedule: Are drinking emotions distinct from general emotions?

People vary in experiences of positive and negative emotions from consuming alcohol, but no validated measurement instrument exclusively devoted to assessing drinking emotions exists in the literature. The current research validated and evaluated the psychometric properties of an alcohol affect scale based on adjectives from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and tested the extent that emotions incurred from drinking were distinct from general trait-based emotions. Three studies tested independent samples of adult alcohol users. In Study 1 (N = 494), exploratory factor analyses of the Alcohol PANAS revealed that both the 20-item model and the 9-parcel model (represented by similar mood content) supported the 2-factor dimensionality of alcohol positive and negative affect. In Study 2 (N = 302), confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the measurement structure of alcohol positive and negative affect, and both constructs evidenced statistical independence from general positive and negative affect. In Study 3 (N = 452), alcohol positive and negative affect exhibited discriminant, convergent, and criterion validity with established alcohol scales. Incremental validity tests demonstrated that alcohol positive and negative affect uniquely contributed (beyond general positive and negative affect) to alcohol expectancies, use, and problems. Findings support that alcohol emotions are conceptually distinct from trait emotions, and underscore the necessity of an assessment instrument tailored to the former to examine associations with alcohol beliefs and behaviors. The Alcohol PANAS confers theoretical and practical applications to understand the emotional consequences of drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record

Modus operandi and affect in Sweden: the Swedish version of the Regulatory Mode Questionnaire

Background

The Regulatory Mode Questionnaire (RMQ) is the most used and internationally well-known instrument for the measurement of individual differences in the two self-regulatory modes: locomotion (i.e., the aspect of self-regulation that is concerned with movement from state to state) and assessment (i.e., the comparative aspect of self-regulation). The aim of the present study was to verify the independence of the two regulatory modes, as postulated by the Regulatory Mode Theory (Kruglanski et al., 2000), and the psychometric properties of the RMQ in the Swedish context. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between regulatory modes (locomotion and assessment) and affective well-being (i.e., positive affect and negative affect).

Method

A total of 655 university and high school students in the West of Sweden (males = 408 females = 242, and five participants who didn’t report their gender; age_mean = 21.93 ± 6.51) responded to the RMQ and the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule. We conducted two confirmatory factor analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM). A third SEM was conducted to test the relationship between locomotion and assessment to positive affect and negative affect.

Results

The first analyses confirmed the unidimensional factor structure of locomotion and assessment and both scales showed good reliability. The assessment scale, however, was modified by dropping item 10 (“I don’t spend much time thinking about ways others could improve themselves”.) because it showed low loading (.07, p = .115). Furthermore, the effect of locomotion on positive affect was stronger than the effect of assessment on positive affect (Z = −15.16, p < .001), while the effect of assessment on negative affect was stronger than the effect of locomotion on negative affect (Z = 10.73, p < .001).

Conclusion

The factor structure of the Swedish version of the RMQ is, as Regulatory Mode Theory suggests, unidimensional and it showed good reliability. The scales discriminated between the two affective well-being dimensions. We suggest that the Swedish version of the RMQ, with only minor modifications, is a useful instrument to tap individual differences in locomotion and assessment. Hence, the present study contributes to the validation of the RMQ in the Swedish culture and adds support to the theoretical framework of self-regulatory mode.

Compassionate Goals and Affect in Social Situations

Optimal social interactions can leave people feeling socially connected and at ease, which has clear implications for health and psychological well-being. Yet, not all social interactions leave people feelings at ease and connected. What explains this variability? We draw from the egosystem-ecosystem theory of social motivation (Crocker & Canevello, 2008) to suggest that compassionate goals to support others explain some of this variability. We explored the nature of this association across 4 studies and varying social contexts. Across studies, compassionate goals predicted greater feelings of ease and connection. Results also indicate that a cooperative mindset may be one mechanism underlying this association: Findings suggest a temporal sequence in which compassionate goals lead to cooperative mindsets, which then lead to feeling at ease and connected. Thus, these studies suggest that people's compassionate goals lead to their sense of interpersonal ease and connection, which may ultimately have implications for their sense of belonging.

The Role of Personality in the Assessment of Subjective and Physiological Emotional Reactivity: A Comparison Between Younger and Older Adults

This study brings more clarity on the inconsistent findings on emotional reactivity differences between older (OA) and younger (YA) adults, by examining the influence of (mal)adaptive personality traits on emotional reactivity and by applying several assessment methods. We recruited 60 YA (25-50 years) and 60 OA (65+ years) from a nonclinical population. We used Visual Analogue Scales to measure subjective reactivity, and facial electromyography (corrugator and zygomaticus reactivity), heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance level to assess physiological reactivity during happy and sad film clips. Results showed that personality influences on emotional reactivity in OA were largely comparable to YA, although the influence of negative emotionality and neuroticism on subjective reactivity in response to the sad film was significantly stronger in OA. It is thus important to assess both subjective and physiological reactivity when comparing age-related differences in OA and YA given the differential relation with personality features.

Mind the First Step: The Intrapersonal Effects of Affect on the Decision to Initiate Negotiations under Bargaining Power Asymmetry

We undertook two vignette studies to examine the role of affect (trait and state) and bargaining power on initiating negotiations, an often overlooked stage of the negotiation process. Using a job negotiation opportunity, we examine three distinct phases of the initiation process-engaging a counterpart, making a request, and optimizing a request. Study 1 examines the effects of two affect dispositions (happiness and sadness), under power asymmetry (low vs. high bargaining power), on the three initiation behaviors. We found that power is pivotal to the decision to engage, request, and optimize. Also, sadness reduces the likelihood of initiation when power is high but is immaterial when power is low. In contrast, individuals who tend to be happy can reverse the adverse effect of powerlessness on requesting, but not on engaging and optimizing. However, happiness does not carry over a positive effect on negotiation initiation, over and above that of power. Study 2 investigated the role of trait affect when individuals are in power asymmetry and when they are induced with sadness or happiness. We found that those with a happy disposition initiate more (engage, request, and optimize) when power is high and experience incidental sadness. Overall, these findings qualify previous research on negotiation initiation and highlight the importance of trait affect and its interaction with state affect as additional driving forces and of power as a boundary condition. "for the error occurs at the beginning, and the beginning as the proverb says is half of the whole, so that even a small mistake at the beginning stands in the same ratio to mistakes at the other stages." (trans.Aristotle, 1944, 1303b).

The role of personality in health care use: Results of a population-based longitudinal study in Germany

Objective

To determine the role of personality in health care use longitudinally.

Methods

Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of German households starting in 1984. Concentrating on the role of personality, we used data from the years 2005, 2009 and 2013. Personality was measured by using the GSOEP Big Five Inventory (BFI-S). Number of physician visits in the last 3 months and hospital stays in the last year were used as measures of health care use.

Results

Adjusting for predisposing factors, enabling resources, and need factors, fixed effects regressions revealed that physician visits increased with increasing neuroticism, whereas extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness did not affect physician visits in a significant way. The effect of self-rated health on physician visits was significantly moderated by neuroticism. Moreover, fixed effects regressions revealed that the probability of hospitalization in the past year increased with increasing extraversion, whereas the other personality factors did not affect this outcome measure significantly.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that changes in neuroticism are associated with changes in physician visits and that changes in extraversion are associated with the probability of hospitalization. Since recent studies have shown that treatments can modify personality traits, developing interventional strategies should take into account personality factors. For example, efforts to intervene in changing neuroticism might have beneficial effects for the healthcare system.

Personality Traits as Predictors of Quality of Life and Body Image after Breast Reconstruction

Background:

It has been suggested that personality traits may influence patient-reported outcomes of breast reconstruction, but the research is limited. We investigated, in a prospective study, whether personality traits predict the achieved body image and quality of life (QoL) after breast reconstruction.

Methods:

Patients planning to undergo breast reconstruction at a University Hospital were consecutively recruited from January 2014 to January 2016. Participants completed validated measures of personality, body image, and QoL, before and 6 months after breast reconstruction. The influence of personality traits on achieved body image and QoL was explored with multivariate linear regression modelling, adjusting for baseline scores, demographics, and clinical variables.

Results:

Of 247 eligible patients, 208 (84%) participated. Twelve patients (6%) were excluded due to failed reconstruction. Of the remaining 196 patients, 180 (92%) completed the follow-up questionnaire. When adjusted for baseline QoL scores, higher trait Neuroticism, higher trait Openness, and higher body mass index measured at baseline showed to be independent and statistically significant predictors of deteriorating QoL scores from baseline to 6-month follow-up (P < 0.001; R² = 0.45). When adjusted for body image scores at baseline, higher trait Neuroticism and immediate reconstruction were found to be independent predictors of poorer body image from baseline to 6-months follow-up (P < 0.001; R² = 0.36).

Conclusions:

The present study suggests personality traits, in particular Neuroticism, as independent predictors of the achieved body image and QoL after breast reconstruction. Weighing in the personality traits of the patients may be an important adjunct in improving patient-reported outcomes after breast reconstructions.

Novelty seeking and reward dependence-related large-scale brain networks functional connectivity variation during salience expectancy

A salience network (SN) anchored in the anterior insula (AI) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) plays a key role in switching between brain networks during salience detection and attention regulation. Previous fMRI studies have associated expectancy behaviors and SN activation with novelty seeking (NS) and reward dependence (RD) personality traits. To address the question of how functional connectivity (FC) in the SN is modulated by internal (expectancy-related) salience assignment and different personality traits, 68 healthy participants performed a salience expectancy task using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and psychophysiological interaction analysis (PPI) was conducted to determine salience-related connectivity changes during these anticipation periods. Correlation was then evaluated between PPI and personality traits, assessed using the temperament and character inventory of 32 male participants. During high salience expectancy, SN-seed regions showed reduced FC to visual areas and parts of the default mode network, but increased FC to the central executive network. With increasing NS, participants showed significantly increasing disconnection between right AI and middle cingulate cortex when expecting high-salience pictures as compared to low-salience pictures, while increased RD also predicted decreased right dACC and caudate FC for high salience expectancy. Our findings suggest a direct link between personality traits and internal salience processing mediated by differential network integration of the SN. SN activity and coordination may therefore be moderated by novelty seeking and reward dependency personality traits, which are associated with risk of addiction. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4064-4077, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Personality and stressor-related affect

Greater increases in negative affect and greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur portend poorer mental and physical health years later. Although personality traits influence stressor-related affect, only neuroticism and extraversion among the Big Five personality traits have been examined in any detail. Moreover, personality traits may shape how people appraise daily stressors, yet few studies have examined how stressor-related appraisals may account for associations between personality and stressor-related affect. Two studies used participants (N = 2,022; age range: 30-84) from the National Study of Daily Experiences II to examine the associations between Big Five personality traits and stressor-related affect and how appraisals may account for these relationships. Results from Study 1 indicate that higher levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience and lower levels of neuroticism are related to less stressor-related negative affect. Only agreeableness was associated with stressor-related positive affect, such that higher levels were related to greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur. The second study found that stressor-related appraisals partially accounted for the significant associations between stressor-related negative affect and personality. Implications for these findings in relation to how personality may influence physical and emotional health are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Extraversion and neuroticism related to the resting-state effective connectivity of amygdala

The amygdala plays a key role in emotion processing. Its functional connectivity with other brain regions has been extensively demonstrated to be associated with extraversion and neuroticism. However, how the amygdala affects other regions and is affected by others within these connectivity patterns associated with extraversion and neuroticism remains unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the effective connectivity of the amygdala using Granger causality analysis on the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 70 participants. Results showed that extraversion was positively correlated with the influence from the right inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) to the left amygdala, and from the bilateral IOG to the right amygdala; such result may represent the neural correlates of social interactions in extraverts. Conversely, neuroticism was associated with an increased influence from right amygdala to right middle frontal gyrus and a decreased influence from right precuneus to right amygdala. This influence might affect the modulations of cognitive regulation function and self-referential processes in neurotic individuals. These findings highlight the importance of the causal influences of amygdala in explaining the individual differences in extraversion and neuroticism, and offer further insights into the specific neural networks underlying personality.

Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative thoughts, and mood-congruent recall

Previous work has shown that a stooped posture may activate negative mood. Extending this work, the present experiments examine how stooped body posture influences recovery from pre-existing negative mood. In Experiment 1 (n   =   229), participants were randomly assigned to receive either a negative or neutral mood induction, after which participants were instructed to take either a stooped, straight, or control posture while writing down their thoughts. Stooped posture (compared to straight or control postures) led to less mood recovery in the negative mood condition, and more negative mood in the neutral mood condition. Furthermore, stooped posture led to more negative thoughts overall compared to straight or control postures. In Experiment 2 (n   =   122), all participants underwent a negative mood induction, after which half received cognitive reappraisal instructions and half received no instructions. Mood-congruent cognitions were assessed through autobiographical memory recall. Again, stooped (compared to straight) position led to less mood recovery. Notably, this was independent of regulation instruction. These findings demonstrate for the first time that posture plays an important role in recovering from negative mood.

The Role of Response Styles in the Assessment of Intraindividual Personality Variability

Although personality psychologists often focus on between-person differences, understanding intraindividual variability is also a critical focus of the subdiscipline. Despite the fact that non-self-report techniques exist for assessing variability, questionnaire-based measures are still the norm. In two studies (N = 149 and N = 202) we examine the possibility that intraindividual variability measures derived from repeated self-report assessments are affected by certain response styles. These studies, which use a variety of techniques for assessing within-person variability, show that standard measures are moderately to strongly correlated with theoretically unrelated variability measures, including those based on ratings of satisfaction with neutral objects or the personality of cartoon characters. These results raise questions about the validity and utility of widely used measures for assessing intraindividual variability.

Listening to the Shepard-Risset Glissando: the Relationship between Emotional Response, Disruption of Equilibrium, and Personality

The endless scale illusion, obtained by cyclically repeating a chromatic scale made up of Shepard tones, has been used in a variety of musical works. Music psychology and neuroscience has been interested in this particular psychoacoustic phenomenon mainly for studying the cognitive processes of pitch perception involved. In the present study, we investigated the emotional states induced by the Shepard-Risset glissando, a variant of the Shepard scale. For this purpose we chose three musical stimuli: a Matlab-generated Shepard Risset glissando, Jean-Claude Risset's Computer Suite from Little Boy, which presents a Shepard-Risset glissando integrated in the aesthetic context of a composition, and an ordinary orchestral glissando taken from the opening of Iannis Xenakis's Metastasis. Seventy-three volunteers completed a listening experiment during which they rated their emotional response to these stimuli on a seven-point Likert scale and indicated whether they had experienced a disruption of equilibrium. Personality was also measured with the Five-Factor Model of personality traits. The results show that negative emotions were most strongly evoked during listening to each of the stimuli. We also found that the Shepard-Risset glissando illusion, both within the aesthetic context of a musical composition and on its own, was capable of evoking disruption of equilibrium, frequently leading to the associated feeling of falling. Moreover, generally for the Shepard-Risset glissando illusion, higher negative emotional ratings were given by individuals who had experienced a feeling of disturbance of equilibrium relative to those who had not had this experience. Finally, we found a complex pattern of relationships between personality and the subjective experience of the glissando. Openness to experience correlated positively with positive emotion ratings for the Computer Suite, while agreeableness correlated negatively with positive emotion ratings for the Matlab stimulus. Moreover, results indicated higher (Bonferroni-uncorrected) neuroticism for those who experienced an equilibrium disturbance relative to subjects who did not have this experience during listening to the Computer Suite. These findings suggest that musical paradoxes may be of interest not only for the insights they provide on our perceptual system, but also for the richness of the emotional experience elicited during listening.

Income, personality, and subjective financial well-being: the role of gender in their genetic and environmental relationships

Increasing levels of financial inequality prompt questions about the relationship between income and well-being. Using a twins sample from the Survey of Midlife Development in the U. S. and controlling for personality as core self-evaluations (CSE), we found that men, but not women, had higher subjective financial well-being (SFWB) when they had higher incomes. This relationship was due to ‘unshared environmental’ factors rather than genes, suggesting that the effect of income on SFWB is driven by unique experiences among men. Further, for women and men, we found that CSE influenced income and SFWB, and that both genetic and environmental factors explained this relationship. Given the relatively small and male-specific relationship between income and SFWB, and the determination of both income and SFWB by personality, we propose that policy makers focus on malleable factors beyond merely income in order to increase SFWB, including financial education and building self-regulatory capacity.

Investigating the Goldilocks Hypothesis: The Non-Linear Impact of Positive Trait Change on Well-Being

This paper attempts to reconcile two perspectives on the impact of positive trait change. The first perspective views positive trait change as salubrious because it reflects the process of self-enhancement, whereas the second perspective views positive change as costly because it disrupts the self-verification process. We propose that benefits and costs accrue at discrete rates, such that moderate positive trait change is more beneficial than too little and too much positive change. This constitutes a Goldilocks hypothesis. Using the MIDUS longitudinal dataset (N = 1,725) we test this hypothesis on four traits, namely, social extraversion, agentic extraversion (agency), conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The Goldilocks hypothesis was supported for social extraversion, agentic extraversion (agency), and conscientiousness. Reduction in neuroticism seemed uniformly predictive of higher well-being. Thus, not all amounts of positive trait change are beneficial. While we find no evidence for a limit to the benefits of reduced neuroticism, there is a "just right" amount of positive change in extraversion and conscientiousness that results in the highest level of well-being. Our findings suggest that non-monotonic models may be more valid in investigations of personality change and well-being.

Neuroticism and extraversion are associated with amygdala resting-state functional connectivity

The personality traits neuroticism and extraversion are differentially related to socioemotional functioning and susceptibility to affective disorders. However, the neurobiology underlying this differential relationship is still poorly understood. This discrepancy could perhaps best be studied by adopting a brain connectivity approach. Whereas the amygdala has repeatedly been linked to neuroticism and extraversion, no study has yet focused on the intrinsic functional architecture of amygdala-centered networks in relation to both traits. To this end, seed-based correlation analysis was employed to reveal amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and its associations with neuroticism and extraversion in 50 healthy participants. Higher neuroticism scores were associated with increased amygdala RSFC with the precuneus, and decreased amygdala RSFC with the temporal poles, insula, and superior temporal gyrus (p < .05, cluster corrected). Conversely, higher extraversion scores were associated with increased amygdala RSFC with the putamen, temporal pole, insula, and several regions of the occipital cortex (p < .05, cluster corrected). The shifts in amygdala RSFC associated with neuroticism may relate to the less-adaptive perception and processing of self-relevant and socioemotional information that is frequently seen in neurotic individuals, whereas the amygdala RSFC pattern associated with extraversion may relate to the heightened reward sensitivity and enhanced socioemotional functioning in extraverts. We hypothesize that the variability in amygdala RSFC observed in the present study could potentially link neuroticism and extraversion to the neurobiology underlying increased susceptibility or resilience to affective disorders.

Effects of music on cardiovascular responses in men with essential hypertension compared with healthy men based on introversion and extraversion

Introduction: The present research investigated the effects of two different types of music on cardiovascular responses in essential hypertensive men in comparison with healthy men based on introversion and extraversion.

Methods: One hundred and thirteen hypertensive men referred to Madani Heart Hospital in Tabriz completed the NEO-FFI Questionnaire and after obtaining acceptable scores were classified in four groups: introvert patients, extravert patients, introvert healthy subjects, and extravert healthy subjects (each group with 25 samples with age range 31-50). Baseline blood pressure and heart rate of each subject was recorded without any stimulus. Then subjects were exposed to slow-beat music and blood pressure and heart rate were recorded. After15 minute break, and a little cognitive task for distraction, subjects were exposed to fast-beat music and blood pressure and heart rate were recorded again.

Results: Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) test showed that extravert patient subjects obtained greater reduction in systolic blood pressure and heart rate after presenting slow-beat music compared with introvert patients (P= 0.035, and P= 0.033 respectively). And extravert healthy subjects obtained greater reduction in heart rate after presenting slow-beat music compared with introvert healthy subjects (P= 0.036). However, there are no significant differences between introvert and extravert groups in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate after presenting fast-beat music.

Conclusion: Based on our results, introvert subjects experience negative emotions more than extravert subjects and negative emotions cause less change in blood pressure in these subjects compared with extravert subjects.

Does personality moderate reaction and adaptation to major life events? Analysis of life satisfaction and affect in an Australian national sample

We used a nationally representative panel of Australian households to replicate a study by Yap et al. (2012) that evaluated how life satisfaction changed following major life events and the extent to which personality moderated those changes. We replicated the protective function of marriage but found that long-term declines that follow widowhood mostly reflect normative changes. In addition, we found that people reported slight decreases in positive affect following marriage and childbirth, an increase in positive affect following widowhood, and a slight increase in negative affect following childbirth, relative to normative trajectories. The Big Five did not moderate response to life events in a way that is consistent with past theory and research.

Implicit processing of visual emotions is affected by sound-induced affective states and individual affective traits

The ability to recognize emotions contained in facial expressions are affected by both affective traits and states and varies widely between individuals. While affective traits are stable in time, affective states can be regulated more rapidly by environmental stimuli, such as music, that indirectly modulate the brain state. Here, we tested whether a relaxing or irritating sound environment affects implicit processing of facial expressions. Moreover, we investigated whether and how individual traits of anxiety and emotional control interact with this process. 32 healthy subjects performed an implicit emotion processing task (presented to subjects as a gender discrimination task) while the sound environment was defined either by a) a therapeutic music sequence (MusiCure), b) a noise sequence or c) silence. Individual changes in mood were sampled before and after the task by a computerized questionnaire. Additionally, emotional control and trait anxiety were assessed in a separate session by paper and pencil questionnaires. Results showed a better mood after the MusiCure condition compared with the other experimental conditions and faster responses to happy faces during MusiCure compared with angry faces during Noise. Moreover, individuals with higher trait anxiety were faster in performing the implicit emotion processing task during MusiCure compared with Silence. These findings suggest that sound-induced affective states are associated with differential responses to angry and happy emotional faces at an implicit stage of processing, and that a relaxing sound environment facilitates the implicit emotional processing in anxious individuals.

Effects of emotional stimuli on cardiovascular responses in patients with essential hypertension based on brain/behavioral systems

INTRODUCTION

Effects of emotional stimuli on hemodynamics in patients with essential hypertension based on brain/behavioral systems have not been studied broadly.

METHODS

Eighty five essential hypertensive male patients who had completed Carver-White BIS/BAS scale were enrolled to the study. Later, 25 BIS and 25 BAS patients were selected and their blood pressure and heart rate were recorded prior to stimuli induction. Participants were then exposed to stressor pictures. After that, 15 minutes of relaxation and cognitive tasks were performed. Finally, the participants were exposed to pleasant pictures. The blood pressure and heart rate were recorded after presenting of 2 stimuli.

RESULTS

Our study showed that BIS patients achieved higher scores in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate in comparison with BAS patients after presenting stressful stimuli. Also, BAS patients achieved lower scores in systolic blood pressure and heart rate in comparison with BIS patients after presenting pleasant stimuli.

CONCLUSION

In summary, BIS patients experience negative emotions more than BAS patients. Therefore, the role of induced mood states is important in relation to physical health.

The dynamic role of personality states in mediating the relationship between extraversion and positive affect

One of the most noteworthy and robust findings in personality psychology is the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. Existing theories have debated the origins and nature of this relationship, offering both structural/fixed and environmental/dynamic explanations. We tested the novel and straightforward dynamic hypothesis that part of the reason trait extraversion predicts trait positive affect is through an increased propensity to enact extraverted states, which in turn leads to experiencing more positive affect states. We report 5 experience sampling studies (and a meta-analysis of primary studies) conducted in natural environments and laboratory settings in which undergraduate participants (N = 241) provided ratings of trait extraversion, trait positive affect, extraversion states, and positive affect states. Results of primary studies and the meta-analysis showed that relationships between trait extraversion and trait positive affect were partially mediated by aggregated extraversion states and aggregated positive affect states. The results supported our dynamic hypothesis and suggested that dynamic explanations of the relationship between trait extraversion and trait positive affect are compatible with structural explanations. An important implication of these findings is that individuals might be able to increase their happiness by self-regulating their extraverted states.

Does Personality Moderate Reaction and Adaptation to Major Life Events? Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

A nationally representative panel study of British households was used to examine the extent to which Big Five personality traits interact with the experience of major life events (marriage, childbirth, unemployment, and widowhood) to predict increases and decreases in life satisfaction following the event. Results show that major life events are associated with changes in life satisfaction, and some of these changes are very long lasting. Personality traits did not have consistent moderating effects on the association between stressful life events and life satisfaction over time.

Neural mechanisms underlying the higher levels of subjective well-being in extraverts: pleasant bias and unpleasant resistance

The present study investigated the neural mechanisms that underlie the higher levels of subjective well-being in extraverts. The impact of extraversion on the human sensitivity to pleasant and unpleasant pictures of diverse emotional intensities was examined. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) for highly positive (HP), moderately positive (MP), and neutral stimuli in the pleasant session, and for highly negative (HN), moderately negative (MN), and neutral stimuli in the unpleasant session, while subjects (16 extraverts and 16 ambiverts) performed a standard/deviant categorization task, irrespective of the emotionality of the deviant stimuli. The results showed significant emotion effects for HP and MP stimuli at the P2 and P3 components in extraverts, but not in ambiverts. Despite a pronounced emotion effect for HN stimuli across the P2, N2, and P3 components in both samples, ambiverts displayed a significant emotion effect for MN stimuli at the N2 and P3 components that was absent in extraverts. The posterior cingulate cortices, which connect multiple neural regions that are important in interactions of emotion and extraversion, may mediate the extravert-specific emotion effect for pleasant stimuli. Thus, extraverts are less susceptible to unpleasant stimuli of mild intensity than are ambiverts, while extraverts have an additional enhanced sensitivity to pleasant stimuli, regardless of emotion intensity. Consequently, the decreased threshold for pleasant emotion and the increased threshold for unpleasant emotion might be essential neural mechanisms that underlie the higher levels of subjective well-being in extraverts.

Neuroticism modifies psychophysiological responses to fearful films

BACKGROUND

Neuroticism is a personality component frequently found in anxious and depressive psychiatric disorders. The influence of neuroticism on negative emotions could be due to its action on stimuli related to fear and sadness, but this remains debated. Our goal was thus to better understand the impact of neuroticism through verbal and physiological assessment in response to stimuli inducing fear and sadness as compared to another negative emotion (disgust).

METHODS

Fifteen low neurotic and 18 high neurotic subjects were assessed on an emotional attending task by using film excerpts inducing fear, disgust, and sadness. We recorded skin conductance response (SCR) and corrugator muscle activity (frowning) as indices of emotional expression.

RESULTS

SCR was larger in high neurotic subjects than in low neurotics for fear relative to sadness and disgust. Moreover, corrugator activity and SCR were larger in high than in low neurotic subjects when fear was induced.

CONCLUSION

After decades of evidence that individuals higher in neuroticism experience more intense emotional reactions to even minor stressors, our results indicate that they show greater SCR and expressive reactivity specifically to stimuli evoking fear rather than to those inducing sadness or disgust. Fear processing seems mainly under the influence of neuroticism. This modulation of autonomic activity by neurotics in response to threat/fear may explain their increased vulnerability to anxious psychopathologies such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

"Have a drink, you'll feel better." Predictors of daily alcohol consumption among extraverts: the mediational role of coping

An abundance of information exists pertaining to individual differences in college drinking behaviors with much attention being provided to the role of personality. However, plausible explanations for what prompts engagement in or avoidance of these behaviors have remained largely ambiguous or underexplored, particularly with respect to extraversion (E). Research has since explored how coping behaviors contribute to these associations. The present study built on this research by evaluating differences in daily alcohol consumption as a function of coping choice. The mediational effects of two specific strategies frequently observed in high E individuals (i.e., problem-focused coping and social support) were examined. Using a daily diary approach, 365 undergraduates reported their most stressful experience, how they coped with it, and the number of drinks consumed for five consecutive days. Resulting multilevel-models were consistent with hypotheses indicating the relationship between E and alcohol consumption was partially mediated by problem-focused and support-seeking strategies. The use of problem-focused coping by high E individuals was associated with lower levels of daily alcohol consumption, suggesting this strategy may play a protective role in influencing drinking behaviors. Conversely, the positive effect observed for social support approached significance (p=.054) and was indicative of a potential risk-factor for daily alcohol consumption.

Individual differences methods for randomized experiments

Experiments allow researchers to randomly vary the key manipulation, the instruments of measurement, and the sequences of the measurements and manipulations across participants. To date, however, the advantages of randomized experiments to manipulate both the aspects of interest and the aspects that threaten internal validity have been primarily used to make inferences about the average causal effect of the experimental manipulation. This article introduces a general framework for analyzing experimental data to make inferences about individual differences in causal effects. Approaches to analyzing the data produced by a number of classical designs and 2 more novel designs are discussed. Simulations highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the data produced by each design with respect to internal validity. Results indicate that, although the data produced by standard designs can be used to produce accurate estimates of average causal effects of experimental manipulations, more elaborate designs are often necessary for accurate inferences with respect to individual differences in causal effects. The methods described here can be diversely applied by researchers interested in determining the extent to which individuals respond differentially to an experimental manipulation or treatment and how differential responsiveness relates to individual participant characteristics.

Extraversion is linked to volume of the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala

Neuroticism and extraversion are personality factors associated with the vulnerability for developing depression and anxiety disorders, and are possibly differentially related to brain structures implicated in the processing of emotional information and the generation of mood states. To date, studies on brain morphology mainly focused on neuroticism, a dimension primarily related to negative affect, yielding conflicting findings concerning the association with personality, partially due to methodological issues and variable population samples under study. Recently, extraversion, a dimension primarily related to positive affect, has been repeatedly inversely related to with symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. In the present study, high resolution structural T1-weighted MR images of 65 healthy adults were processed using an optimized Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) approach. Multiple regression analyses were performed to test for associations of neuroticism and extraversion with prefrontal and subcortical volumes. Orbitofrontal and right amygdala volume were both positively related to extraversion. Extraversion was differentially related to volume of the anterior cingulate cortex in males (positive) and females (negative). Neuroticism scores did not significantly correlate with these brain regions. As extraversion is regarded a protective factor for developing anxiety disorders and depression and has been related to the generation of positive affect, the present results indicate that the reduced likelihood of developing affective disorders in individuals high on extraversion is related to modulation of emotion processing through the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala.