The measurement of core affect: a Swedish self-report measure derived from the affect circumplex

Nocturnal exposure to a preferred ambient scent does not affect dream emotionality or post-sleep core affect valence in young adults

Emotions experienced within sleep mentation (dreaming) affect mental functioning in waking life. There have been attempts at enhancing dream emotions using olfactory stimulation. Odors readily acquire affective value, but to profoundly influence emotional processing, they should bear personal significance for the perceiver rather than be generally pleasant. The main objective of the present sleep laboratory study was to examine whether prolonged nocturnal exposure to self-selected, preferred ambient room odor while asleep influences emotional aspects of sleep mentation and valence of post-sleep core affect. We asked twenty healthy participants (12 males, mean age 25 ± 4 years) to pick a commercially available scented room diffuser cartridge that most readily evoked positively valenced mental associations. In weekly intervals, the participants attended three sessions. After the adaptation visit, they were administered the odor exposure and odorless control condition in a balanced order. Participants were awakened five minutes into the first rapid eye movement (REM) stage that took place after 2:30 a.m. and, if they had been dreaming, they were asked to rate their mental sleep experience for pleasantness, emotional charge, and magnitude of positive and negative emotions and also to evaluate their post-sleep core affect valence. With rs < 0.20, no practically or statistically significant differences existed between exposure and control in any outcome measures. We conclude that in young, healthy participants, the practical value of olfactory stimulation with self-selected preferred scents for enhancement of dream emotions and post-sleep core affect valence is very limited.

Travel satisfaction and travel well-being: Which is more related to travel choice behaviour in the post COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from public transport travellers in Xi'an, China

The spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has decreased the willingness to choose public transport where travellers are more likely to be infected due to intensive passenger flow, in which case it is hard to attract passenger volume if the subjective well-being of travellers is not improved. However, the traditional measurement of travel evaluation may be not applicable to the context of the pandemic and it is necessary to analyse the changes in the internal mechanisms of travel well-being to avoid the loss of passengers. Based on structural equation modelling, this paper explored the internal relationship between the constructs of travel well-being and emphasised the significance of taking psychological factors into consideration in the post COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that travel satisfaction with the anti-pandemic related service quality of public transport is related to overall travel well-being, which can be used as a key part of well-being measurement scale design in the future. The results also indicate that, due to negative mood on the affective level induced by COVID-19, travel satisfaction on the cognitive level is not directly but indirectly related to travel choice behaviour through overall travel well-being. Compared to travel satisfaction, travel well-being is more extensive and covers travel satisfaction to some extent. Therefore, instead of studying travel satisfaction simply, taking travel well-being as the dependent variable to identify shortages existing in public transport will provide a more accurate perspective for policymakers in the post COVID-19 pandemic.

A Multicriteria Approach for Measuring Employee Well-Being

This paper proposes that employee well-being includes four dimensions: job satisfaction, life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Each dimension is interdependent and correlated. Therefore, the measurement of employee well-being is complicated and fuzzy. This study aims to treat the measurement of employee well-being as a fuzzy problem, construct a measurement model from the perspective of multi-criteria decision making, and establish the preference relationship between indicators through fuzzy measure and Choquet integral. Applying multiple linear regression analysis and the heuristic least mean squares method, the main findings are as follows: (1) It is inappropriate to use job satisfaction as a substitute for measuring employee well-being, as the weight of job satisfaction is the lowest among the four dimensions. (2) Employee well-being is also largely reflected in their overall satisfaction with life because life satisfaction is the most heavily weighted. (3) Employee well-being needs to consider the emotion-related indicators and satisfaction-related indicators comprehensively because fuzzy analysis proves that their relationship is redundant. Finally, the practical implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

Risk perception and travel satisfaction associated with the use of public transport in the time of COVID-19. The case of Turin, Italy

The present study examined the association between risk perception and travel satisfaction related to the use of public transport (PT) during COVID-19 pandemic in Turin, Italy. A total of 448 PT users took part in an online survey conducted from January to March 2021. It investigated safety and risk perception related to the use of PT, and the users' subjective experience, measured through the Satisfaction with Travel Scale (STS). These perceptions were compared for three time scenarios: before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and in the future at the end of the pandemic emergency. Results showed that COVID-19 influenced respondents risk perception both during the pandemic and in their projections about the future, especially for females. The risk of contagion from COVID-19 is perceived as higher inside a PT vehicle than in the adjacent/waiting spaces. Regarding travel satisfaction, the overall scores of the STS indicated that the pandemic has impacted reported well-being while travelling, both now and in the future. The dimension of activation shifted towards the negative pole and did not indicate a return to risk perception before the pandemic levels at the end of the crisis (especially for females). Respondents reported a significant decrease in their level of pleasure and satisfaction during the pandemic, but expect that in the future these levels will go back to the levels previously experienced. Regarding travel satisfaction, PT users aged 36 to 50 years reported the highest level of satisfaction, while younger users (18 to 35 years) reported the lowest degree of satisfaction in all three time scenarios. Overall, the results clearly pinpoint that health-related perceived risk is becoming a key determinant for PT use. Within this context, different dimensions of travel satisfaction proved to be impacted differently by the pandemic, for both current and future scenarios.

Properties of Central and Peripheral Concepts of Emotion in Japanese and Korean: An Examination Using a Multi-Dimensional Model

The concept of emotion can be organized within a hypothetical space comprising a limited number of dimensions representing essential properties of emotion. The present study examined cultural influences on such conceptual structure by comparing the performance of emotion word classification between Japanese and Korean individuals. Two types of emotional words were used; central concepts, highly typical examples of emotion, and less typical peripheral concepts. Participants classified 30 words into groups based on conceptual similarity. MDS analyses revealed a three-dimensional structure with valence, social engagement, and arousal dimensions for both cultures, with the valence dimension being the most salient one. The Japanese prioritized the social engagement over the arousal while the Koreans showed sensitivities to the arousal dimension. Although the conceptual structure was similar for the two countries, the weight of importance among the three dimensions seems to be different, reflecting each culture's values and communication styles.

The Influence of Subjective and Objective Characteristics of Urban Human Settlements on Residents’ Life Satisfaction in China

Under the guidance of people-oriented development concepts, improving residents’ life satisfaction has gradually become the goal of urban governance. Based on Chinese household tracking survey data and national socio-economic statistics, this study used the entropy method, multi-layer linear regression model and geographically weighted regression model and discusses the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of objective environmental characteristics and subjective perceived characteristics of urban residential environments on residents’ life satisfaction. It is of great importance to study the mechanisms through which subjective and objective characteristics of urban human settlements influence living satisfaction among residents. It is also important to discuss how to improve living satisfaction levels through the urban human settlements and to realize high-quality urban development. The research results show that in 2018, the overall level of life satisfaction among Chinese urban residents was relatively high. However, it is still necessary to continue to optimize the urban human settlements to improve residents’ life satisfaction. The objective characteristics of the urban human settlements, such as natural environmental comfort and environmental health, have a significant positive impact on residents’ life satisfaction. Residents’ subjective perceptions of government integrity, environmental protection, wealth gap, social security, medical conditions and medical level, as well as residents’ individual gender, age and health status also have a significant impact on residents’ life satisfaction. The direction and intensity of effects of different elements of the urban human settlements and residents’ personal attributes on urban residents’ life satisfaction have different characteristics in different regions.

Wellbeing, emotional response and stress among lay responders dispatched to suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrests

BACKGROUND

Systems for smartphone dispatch of lay responders to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and bring automated external defibrillators to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are advocated by recent international guidelines and emerging worldwide.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the emotional responses, posttraumatic stress reactions and levels of wellbeing among smartphone-alerted lay responders dispatched to suspected OHCAs.

METHODS

Lay responders were stratified by level of exposure: unexposed (Exp-0), tried to reach (Exp-1), and reached the suspected OHCA (Exp-2). Participants rated their emotional responses online, at 90 minutes and at 4-6 weeks after an incident. Level of emotional response was measured in two dimensions of core affect: "alertness" - from deactivation to activation, and "pleasantness" - from unpleasant to pleasant. At 4-6 weeks, WHO wellbeing index and level of posttraumatic stress (PTSD) were also rated.

RESULTS

Altogether, 915 (28%) unexposed and 1471 (64%) exposed responders completed the survey. Alertness was elevated in the exposed groups: Exp-0: 6.7 vs. Exp-1: 7.3 and Exp-2: 7.5, (p < 0.001) and pleasantness was highest in the unexposed group: 6.5, vs. Exp-1: 6.3, and Exp-2: 6.1, (p < 0.001). Mean scores for PTSD at follow-up was below clinical cut-off, Exp-0: 9.9, Exp-1: 8.9 and Exp-2: 8.8 (p = 0.065). Wellbeing index showed no differences, Exp-0: 78.0, Exp-1: 78.5 and Exp-2: 79.9 (p = 0.596).

CONCLUSION

Smartphone dispatched lay responders rated the experience as high-energy and mainly positive. No harm to the lay responders was seen. The exposed groups had low posttraumatic stress scores and high-level general wellbeing at follow-up.

Effects of all-night exposure to ambient odour on dreams and affective state upon waking

Previous laboratory research has shown that exposure to odours of contrasting pleasantness during sleep differentially affects the emotional tone of dreams. In the present study, we sought to investigate how a generally pleasant (vanillin) and unpleasant (thioglycolic acid [TGA]) smell influenced various dream characteristics, dream emotions, and post-sleep core affect during all-night exposure, controlling for appraisal of the olfactory environment during the assessments and sleep stage from which the participants woke up. We expected that exposure to vanillin would result in more pleasant dreams, more positive and less negative dream emotions, and a more positive post-sleep core affect compared to the control condition, whereas exposure to TGA would have the opposite effect. Sixty healthy volunteers (36 males, mean age 24 ± 4 years) were invited to visit the sleep laboratory three times in weekly intervals. The first visit served to adapt the participants to the laboratory environment. On the second visit, half the participants were exposed to an odour (vanillin or TGA, 1:1) and the other half to the odourless control condition. On the third visit, they received control or exposure in a balanced order. On each visit, the participants woke up twice, first from the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage and then in the morning, usually from a non-REM sleep stage. Repeated measures were taken upon each awakening. Dream pleasantness, emotional charge of the dream, positive and negative emotions experienced in the dream, and four dimensions of post-sleep core affect (valence, activation, pleasant activation - unpleasant deactivation, and unpleasant activation - pleasant deactivation) were assessed. We found a small effect of condition (exposure vs. control) in interaction with appraisal of the ambient olfactory environment on dream pleasantness. Specifically, false alarms (i.e., perceiving odour in the absence of the target stimulus) were associated with lower dream pleasantness than correct rejections. Although exposure had a statistically significant positive influence on post-sleep core affect (namely, valence, activation, and pleasant activation - unpleasant deactivation), the size of the effect was small and lacked practical significance. The hypothesised differential effects of vanillin and TGA were only modelled for dream ratings because they decreased the fit of the other models. Neither dream pleasantness nor emotionality differed according to the odour used for stimulation. The results of the present study suggest that all-night exposure to odours is unlikely to produce practically significant positive effects on dreams and post-sleep core affect.

Assessments of Acoustic Environments by Emotions - The Application of Emotion Theory in Soundscape

Human beings respond to their immediate environments in a variety of ways, with emotion playing a cardinal role. In evolutionary theories, emotions are thought to prepare an organism for action. The interplay of acoustic environments, emotions, and evolutionary needs are currently subject to discussion in soundscape research. Universal definitions of emotion and its nature are currently missing, but there seems to be a fundamental consensus that emotions are internal, evanescent, mostly conscious, relational, manifest in different forms, and serve a purpose. Research in this area is expanding, particularly in regards to the context-related, affective, and emotional processing of environmental stimuli. A number of studies present ways to determine the nature of emotions elicited by a soundscape and to measure these reliably. Yet the crucial question—which basic and complex emotions are triggered and how they relate to affective appraisal—has still not been conclusively answered. To help frame research on this topic, an overview of the theoretical background is presented that applies emotion theory to soundscape. Two latent fundamental dimensions are often found at the center of theoretical concepts of emotion: valence and arousal. These established universal dimensions can also be applied in the context of emotions that are elicited by soundscapes. Another, and perhaps more familiar, parallel is found between emotion and music. However, acoustic environments are more subtle than musical arrangements, rarely applying the compositional and artistic considerations frequently used in music. That said, the measurement of emotion in the context of soundscape studies is only of additional value if some fundamental inquiries are sufficiently answered: To what extent does the reporting act itself alter emotional responses? Are all important affective qualities consciously accessible and directly measurable by self-reports? How can emotion related to the environment be separated from affective predisposition? By means of a conceptual analysis of relevant soundscape publications, the consensus and conflicts on these fundamental questions in the light of soundscape theory are highlighted and needed research actions are framed. The overview closes with a proposed modification to an existing, standardized framework to include the meaning of emotion in the design of soundscapes.

Exploring the Relationship between Transport Interventions, Mode Choice, and Travel Perception: An Empirical Study in Beijing, China

Transport interventions help to facilitate the sustainable travel behavior. The effects of transport interventions on travel choices have been addressed extensively. However, little research has been devoted to the influence of transport interventions and travel choice on travel perception. This study aimed to investigate the relationship among the three aspects. Two intervention measures, information intervention and public transport service improvement, were selected. Intervention experiments were designed to collect mode choice and corresponding travel perception in different experiment stages. Process models of information intervention and public transport service improvement were proposed. The results show that information intervention only had a minor effect on mode choice and had no direct effect on travel perception. Public transport service improvement in in-vehicle time and comfort enhanced public transport use dramatically. Comfort improvement also had positive effects on travel perception. Walking had positive and public transport trips had negative effects on travel perception. For travelers who had a high evaluation of car trips, the probability of green mode use would decrease. Travelers who gave high marks to trips by green mode would have a higher probability to keep traveling by green mode. This study contributes to facilitating public transport use and enhancing positive perception during traveling.

Why is active travel more satisfying than motorized travel? Evidence from Dublin

Some trips are better than others, and more and more studies find that active travel (walking and cycling) is more satisfying than motorized forms of travel (using the car or public transport). Why is this the case? Using data on travel satisfaction from 4134 commutes to a large University campus in Dublin, Ireland, this paper replicates the differences in travel satisfaction between active and motorized travel. We attribute these differences in large part to the duration of the trip. Subjective trip characteristics, such as safety and convenience, also play important roles. The trip duration explains rush-hour effects as well as why people starting from less affluent and more difficult-to-reach places are less satisfied with their trips. Longer-term policy options suggested by these results include infrastructure developments and spatial development strategies. A shorter-term initiative would be to delay university schedules in the morning to avoid low travel satisfaction during the slow rush-hour period and simultaneously ease pressure on the transport network at peak times.

Subjective Immediate Experiences during Large-Scale Cultural Events in Cities: A Geotagging Experiment

Cities are increasingly exploiting new activities such as large-scale cultural events in public open spaces. Investigating the subjective immediate experiences of visitors is valuable to reflect on these events and their configuration in the city. Therefore the aim of this study is twofold: (i) to demonstrate a data collection methodology to measure subjective immediate experiences of visitors and (ii) to test different types of factors that influence visitors’ subjective immediate experiences at cultural events by means of the new methodology. A quantitative research that is enabled by geotagging, paper surveys and secondary data (location characteristics and weather conditions) is applied at the Dutch Design Week event in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. After data collection, a binary logit model is estimated. It is found that apart from age and intended duration of stay, visitor characteristics do not influence the subjective immediate experiences while temporal, physical environmental and weather conditions do. Specifically, it is found that subjective immediate experiences at outdoor locations are mainly influenced by location characteristics. This study shows that the proposed data collection methodology is useful for gathering insights especially on the influence of physical characteristics on subjective immediate experiences. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and with suggestions to policy makers and event managers.

Travel Time Savings Perception and Well-Being through Public Transport Projects: The Case of Metro de Santiago

Relying mostly on travel time savings, cost-benefit analysis has been widely used in transport project appraisals in the Chilean context, with utility maximisation theory as its background. Nevertheless, subjective well-being advocates have challenged the notion of the rational man underlying this theory by proposing that other trip attributes, individual perceptions and personal features mediate satisfaction with travel, alongside global well-being. Using the recently-opened Line 6 of Metro de Santiago (Chile) as a case study, this research has two main aims: (1) to verify to what extent travel time savings, which support the cost-benefit analysis process, are present after the launching of the new line; and (2) analyse the perception of passengers’ travel time savings, and to what extent this element contributes to the travel satisfaction and to the global well-being at the individual level. Using passive data from smart cards, the results show that travel times decreased by 14% in comparable trips after the launching of Line 6. Furthermore, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) construct is proposed, including travel and life satisfaction as latent variables of the model. This revealed that travel times in the Metro system are highly valued by people. However, this element does not mediate travel satisfaction, as users take low travel times for granted. Waiting times, stations’ design, safety and intermodality are perceived attributes that effectively mediate travel satisfaction. Moreover, the latter variable has a relevant influence on global life satisfaction, revealing that transport conditions mediate in day-to-day well-being. These results challenged travel time savings as the most important driver in transport projects’ appraisal processes, and some recommendations are made in order to incorporate these findings in future appraisals.

Effects of a Mindfulness Meditation App on Subjective Well-Being: Active Randomized Controlled Trial and Experience Sampling Study

BACKGROUND

Mindfulness training (MT) includes a variety of contemplative practices aimed at promoting intentional awareness of experience, coupled with attitudes of nonjudgment and curiosity. Following the success of 8-week, manualized group interventions, MT has been implemented in a variety of modalities, including smartphone apps that seek to replicate the success of group interventions. However, although smartphone apps are scalable and accessible to a wider swath of population, their benefits remain largely untested.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate a newly developed MT app called Wildflowers, which was codeveloped with the laboratory for use in mindfulness research. It was hypothesized that 3 weeks of MT through this app would improve subjective well-being, attentional control, and interoceptive integration, albeit with weaker effects than those published in the 8 week, manualized group intervention literature.

METHODS

Undergraduate students completed 3 weeks of MT with Wildflowers (n=45) or 3 weeks of cognitive training with a game called 2048 (n=41). State training effects were assessed through pre- and postsession ratings of current mood, stress level, and heart rate. Trait training effects were assessed through pre- and postintervention questionnaires canvassing subjective well-being and behavioral task measures of attentional control and interoceptive integration. State and trait training data were analyzed in a multilevel model using emergent latent factors (acceptance, awareness, and openness) to summarize the trait questionnaire battery.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed both state and trait effects specific to MT; participants engaging in MT demonstrated improved mood (r=.14) and a reduction of stress (r=-.13) immediately after each training session compared with before the training session and decreased postsession stress over 3 weeks (r=-.08). In addition, MT relative to cognitive training resulted in greater improvements in attentional control (r=-.24). Interestingly, both groups demonstrated increased subjective ratings of awareness (r=.28) and acceptance (r=.23) from pre- to postintervention, with greater changes in acceptance for the MT group trending (r=.21).

CONCLUSIONS

MT, using a smartphone app, may provide immediate effects on mood and stress while also providing long-term benefits for attentional control. Although further investigation is warranted, there is evidence that with continued usage, MT via a smartphone app may provide long-term benefits in changing how one relates to their inner and outer experiences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03783793; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03783793 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/75EF2ehst).

Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study

How and to what extent household car ownership and commuting behavior affect individual subjective well-being (SWB) is of great interest for urban and transportation planning. Increasing attention has been paid to the associations between car ownership, commuting and SWB. However, only a limited number of studies examined the effects of travel-related factors on both cognitive and affective SWB aspects. This research empirically investigated the relationships from the two SWB aspects. Furthermore, we extend the modeling of generic cognitive SWB to several specific measures (e.g., satisfaction with life compared to a specific group of people, degree of free choice, social position, and social equality) to explore how car ownership and commuting behavior contribute to individual SWB. Drawing on the data derived from the 2014 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, a set of ordered probit models based on Bayesian inference are estimated. The findings point out that household car ownership has a significant effect on cognitive SWB but a limited influence on affective SWB. It appears that commuting time is significantly and negatively associated with individuals’ cognitive and affective well-being, whereas a positive correlation is found between the commuting by bicycle and affective SWB. The effects of commuting time and transportation modes on different measured satisfactions with life have no big differences. Finally, results of the Wald tests indicate that incorporating household car ownership and commuting behavior into the modeling framework can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of individual SWB.

Sickness behavior is not all about the immune response: Possible roles of expectations and prediction errors in the worry of being sick

BACKGROUND

People react very differently when sick, and there are only poor correlations between the intensity of the immune response and sickness behavior. Yet, alternative predictors of the individual differences in sickness are under-investigated. Based on the predictive coding model of placebo responses, where health outcomes are function of bottom-up sensory information and top-down expectancies, we hypothesized that individual differences in behavioral changes during sickness could be explained by individual top-down expectancies and prediction errors.

METHODS

Twenty-two healthy participants were made sick by intravenously administering lipopolysaccharide (2 ng/kg body weight). Their expectations of becoming sick were assessed before the injection.

RESULTS

Participants having lower expectations of becoming sick before the injection reacted with more emotional distress (i.e., more negative affect and lower emotional arousal) than those with high expectations of becoming sick, despite having similar overall sickness behavior (i.e., a combined factor including fatigue, pain, nausea and social withdrawal). In keeping with a predictive coding model, the "prediction error signal", i.e., the discrepancy between the immune signal and sickness expectancy, predicted emotional distress (reduction in emotional arousal in particular).

CONCLUSION

The current findings suggest that the emotional component of sickness behavior is, at least partly, shaped by top-down expectations. Helping patients having a realistic expectation of symptoms during treatment of an illness may thus reduce aggravated emotional responses, and ultimately improve patients' quality of life and treatment compliance. REGISTRATION: "Endotoxin-induced Inflammatory and Behavioral Responses and Predictors of Individual Differences", https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02529592, registration number: NCT02529592.

Building mindfulness bottom-up: Meditation in natural settings supports open monitoring and attention restoration

Mindfulness courses conventionally use effortful, focused meditation to train attention. In contrast, natural settings can effortlessly support state mindfulness and restore depleted attention resources, which could facilitate meditation. We performed two studies that compared conventional training with restoration skills training (ReST) that taught low-effort open monitoring meditation in a garden over five weeks. Assessments before and after meditation on multiple occasions showed that ReST meditation increasingly enhanced attention performance. Conventional meditation enhanced attention initially but increasingly incurred effort, reflected in performance decrements toward the course end. With both courses, attentional improvements generalized in the first weeks of training. Against established accounts, the generalized improvements thus occurred before any effort was incurred by the conventional exercises. We propose that restoration rather than attention training can account for early attentional improvements with meditation. ReST holds promise as an undemanding introduction to mindfulness and as a method to enhance restoration in nature contacts.

Season and Weather Effects on Travel-Related Mood and Travel Satisfaction

This study examines the effects of season and weather on mood (valence and activation) and travel satisfaction (measured by the Satisfaction with Travel Scale). Analyses are presented of 562 time-sampled morning commutes to work made by 363 randomly sampled people in three different Swedish cities asking them to use smartphones to report their mood in their home before and directly after the commutes. These reports as well as satisfaction with the commute obtained in summer and winter are linked to weather data and analyzed by means of fixed-effects regression analyses. The results reveal main effects of weather (temperature and precipitation) on mood and travel satisfaction (temperature, sunshine, precipitation, and wind speed). The effects of weather on mood and travel satisfaction differ depending on travel mode. Temperature leads to a more positive mood, wind leads to higher activation for public transport users, and sunshine leads to a more negative mood for cyclists and pedestrians. Sunshine and higher temperatures make travel more relaxed although not for cycling and walking, and rain and snow lead to a higher cognitive assessed quality of travel.

The affect heuristic, mortality salience, and risk: domain-specific effects of a natural disaster on risk-benefit perception

We examine how affect and accessible thoughts following a major natural disaster influence everyday risk perception. A survey was conducted in the months following the 2004 south Asian Tsunami in a representative sample of the Swedish population (N = 733). Respondents rated their experienced affect as well as the perceived risk and benefits of various everyday decision domains. Affect influenced risk and benefit perception in a way that could be predicted from both the affect-congruency and affect heuristic literatures (increased risk perception and stronger risk-benefit correlations). However, in some decision domains, self-regulation goals primed by the natural disaster predicted risk and benefit ratings. Together, these results show that affect, accessible thoughts and motivational states influence perceptions of risks and benefits.

Effects of blue light and caffeine on mood

RATIONALE

Both short wavelength (blue) light and caffeine have been studied for their mood enhancing effects on humans. The ability of blue light to increase alertness, mood and cognitive function via non-image forming neuropathways has been suggested as a non-pharmacological countermeasure for depression across a range of occupational settings.

OBJECTIVES

This experimental study compared blue light and caffeine and aimed to test the effects of blue light/placebo (BLU), white light/240-mg caffeine (CAF), blue light/240-mg caffeine (BCAF) and white light/placebo (PLA), on mood.

METHODS

A randomised, controlled, crossover design study was used, in a convenience population of 20 healthy volunteers. The participants rated their mood on the Swedish Core Affect Scales (SCAS) prior to and after each experimental condition to assess the dimensions of valence and activation.

RESULTS

There was a significant main effect of light (p = 0.009), and the combination of blue light and caffeine had clear positive effects on core effects (ES, ranging from 0.41 to 1.20) and global mood (ES, 0.61 ± 0.53).

CONCLUSIONS

The benefits of the combination of blue light and caffeine should be further investigated across a range of applications due to the observed effects on the dimensions of arousal, valence and pleasant activation.

The effect of violent and nonviolent video games on heart rate variability, sleep, and emotions in adolescents with different violent gaming habits

OBJECTIVE

To study cardiac, sleep-related, and emotional reactions to playing violent (VG) versus nonviolent video games (NVG) in adolescents with different gaming habits.

METHODS

Thirty boys (aged 13-16 years, standard deviation = 0.9), half of them low-exposed (≤1 h/d) and half high-exposed (≥3 h/d) to violent games, played a VG/NVG for 2 hours during two different evenings in their homes. Heart rate (HR) and HR variability were registered from before start until next morning. A questionnaire about emotional reactions was administered after gaming sessions and a sleep diary on the following mornings.

RESULTS

During sleep, there were significant interaction effects between group and gaming condition for HR (means [standard errors] for low-exposed: NVG 63.8 [2.2] and VG 67.7 [2.4]; for high-exposed: NVG 65.5 [1.9] and VG 62.7 [1.9]; F(1,28) = 9.22, p = .005). There was also a significant interaction for sleep quality (low-exposed: NVG 4.3 [0.2] and VG 3.7 [0.3]); high-exposed: NVG 4.4 [0.2] and VG 4.4 [0.2]; F(1,28) = 3.51, p = .036, one sided), and sadness after playing (low-exposed: NVG 1.0 [0.0] and VG 1.4 [0.2]; high-exposed: NVG 1.2 [0.1] and VG 1.1 [0.1]; (F(1,27) = 6.29, p = .009, one sided).

CONCLUSIONS

Different combinations of the extent of (low versus high) previous VG and experimental exposure to a VG or an NVG are associated with different reaction patterns-physiologically, emotionally, and sleep related. Desensitizing effects or selection bias stand out as possible explanations.

The Effect of Interior Aircraft Noise on Pilot Performance

This study examined the effect of the interior sounds of an aircraft cockpit on ratings of affect and expected performance decrement. While exposed to 12 interior aircraft sounds, of which half were modified to correspond to what is experienced with an active noise reduction (ANR) headset, 23 participants rated their affective reactions and how they believed their performance on various tasks would be affected. The results suggest that implementation of ANR-technique has a positive effect on ratings of expected performance. In addition, affective reactions to the noise are related to ratings of expected performance. The implications of these findings for both research and pilot performance are discussed.

Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute

Research suggests that for many people happiness is being able to make the routines of everyday life work, such that positive feelings dominate over negative feelings resulting from daily hassles. In line with this, a survey of work commuters in the three largest urban areas of Sweden show that satisfaction with the work commute contributes to overall happiness. It is also found that feelings during the commutes are predominantly positive or neutral. Possible explanatory factors include desirable physical exercise from walking and biking, as well as that short commutes provide a buffer between the work and private spheres. For longer work commutes, social and entertainment activities either increase positive affects or counteract stress and boredom. Satisfaction with being employed in a recession may also spill over to positive experiences of work commutes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0003-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Affective responses to qigong: a pilot study of regular practitioners

Single sessions of Qigong have been associated with increased positive affect/emotional benefits. In the present study the aim was to refine the present understanding by using newly developed research methodologies. Therefore, affective reactions were studied in a group performing Qigong through pre-, during, and post-assessments using a modified version of the short Swedish Core Affect Scale complemented with open-ended questions. Affect was measured on a group and individual level. The results showed a shift during Qigong toward increased pleasant activated and deactivated affect in the group of 46 women who regularly practice Qigong. Inter-individual responses displayed positive affective responses, which also increased as the bout proceeded for the majority of practitioners. Acknowledging some limitations, these findings have practical implications for the enhancement of positive affect and subjective well-being.

Perceptual and emotional categorization of sound

This paper investigates how different types of data from psychoacoustical experiments may be combined to render further knowledge about the mechanisms underlying sound perception. Two studies were conducted with auditory alerts of short duration. First, an experiment where participants rated the dissimilarity among the auditory alerts was performed. This resulted in a two-dimensional multi-dimensional scaling solution. Second, an experiment where participants evaluated the stimuli with semantic descriptors and rated their emotional reactions to the sounds was performed. The output of this experiment was a reduced set of underlying perceptual and emotional dimensions. The results of the two experiments were then integrated by the use of multi-dimensional perceptual unfolding and a set mediation analyses. The integrative analyses showed that part of the cognitive categorization of the semantic descriptors was mediated by the emotional reactions to the sounds. The results are discussed in relation to theories of auditory perception and emotional response categorization.

Understanding the role of cancer worry in creating a "teachable moment" for multiple risk factor reduction

The manuscript examines the influence of contextual factors on whether and for whom a colon polyp diagnosis might be a teachable moment, as indicated by engagement with a proactively delivered intervention. Baseline and 8-month follow-up data were analyzed from a two-site behavioral intervention trial with patients in Massachusetts and North Carolina, USA who had recently undergone polypectomy for pre-cancerous colon polyps and were randomized to a behavior change intervention condition (N=591). Intervention "buy-in" was used as an indicator of response consistent with the polyp identification serving as a teachable moment. Cancer worry, personal risk, health-related self-identity and other sociodemographic factors were tested to predict intervention buy-in. As predicted, those who were most worried about colon cancer were most likely to engage in the intervention. One indicator of personal risk, number of risk behaviors, was significantly and negatively associated with buy-in. Predictors of intervention buy-in and cancer worry were not consistent. We recommend that expanded measures of affect and health-related self-identity should be considered in future research to understand the motivational potential of health events for increasing engagement in effective behavior change interventions.

Affect, risk perception and future optimism after the tsunami disaster

Environmental events such as natural disasters may influence the public's affective reactions and decisions. Shortly after the 2004 Tsunami disaster we assessed how affect elicited by thinking about this disaster influenced risk perceptions and future time perspective in Swedish undergraduates not directly affected by the disaster. An experimental manipulation was used to increase the salience of affect associated with the disaster. In Study 1 we found that participants reminded about the tsunami had a sense that their life was more finite and included fewer opportunities than participants in the control condition (not reminded about the tsunami). In Study 2 we found similar effects for risk perceptions. In addition, we showed that manipulations of ease-of-thought influenced the extent to which affect influenced these risk perceptions, with greater ease of thoughts being associated with greater perceived risks.

Validation of a Swedish short self-report measure of core affect

This research aimed at validating two self-report composite rating scales of core affect that are useful when quick assessments are required, for instance, of current mood or recalled, anticipated, and experienced emotional reactions. The ratings were derived from the Swedish Core Affect Scales (SCAS) comprising six self-report rating scales of the two orthogonal dimensions of core affect, valence (unpleasantness-pleasantness) and activation (quietness-excitement). In three samples of university students who were requested to rate current moods, affect-inducing sounds, or affect-inducing pictures, the composite ratings were compared to SCAS, two widely used graphical rating scales of valence and activation, and skin conductance responses and the acceleratory peak of heart rate. Three different rating formats were also compared. The results showed that the composite ratings were reliable and yielded the expected correlations with the other ratings and with the physiological affect indicators. No effects of rating format were detected. It is concluded that the composite ratings of valence and activation may be used if quick assessments are called for. Choices can be made of any of three rating formats depending on purpose with the assessments.

The Learning Affect Monitor (LAM)

Abstract. The Learning Affect Monitor (LAM) is a new computer-based assessment system integrating basic dimensional evaluation and discrete description of affective states in daily life, based on an autonomous adapting system. Subjects evaluate their affective states according to a tridimensional space (valence and activation circumplex as well as global intensity) and then qualify it using up to 30 adjective descriptors chosen from a list. The system gradually adapts to the user, enabling the affect descriptors it presents to be increasingly relevant. An initial study with 51 subjects, using a 1 week time-sampling with 8 to 10 randomized signals per day, produced n = 2,813 records with good reliability measures (e.g., response rate of 88.8%, mean split-half reliability of .86), user acceptance, and usability. Multilevel analyses show circadian and hebdomadal patterns, and significant individual and situational variance components of the basic dimension evaluations. Validity analyses indicate sound assignment of qualitative affect descriptors in the bidimensional semantic space according to the circumplex model of basic affect dimensions. The LAM assessment module can be implemented on different platforms (palm, desk, mobile phone) and provides very rapid and meaningful data collection, preserving complex and interindividually comparable information in the domain of emotion and well-being.

A Swedish adaptation of the Emotional Contagion Scale: factor structure and psychometric properties

The Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) is a self-report scale used to measure individual differences in susceptibility to converge towards the emotions expressed by others. The original American ECS (Doherty, 1997), translated into Swedish, was completed by 665 undergraduate students in two independent samples (N = 233 and N = 432, respectively). To investigate the factor structure of the ECS, confirmatory factor analyses of alternative models derived from previous research in emotion and emotional contagion were conducted. The results showed that the proposed one-dimensional structure of the ECS was not tenable. Instead a multi-facet model based on a differential emotions model and a hierarchal valence/differential emotions model was supported. Cross-validation on the second independent sample demonstrated and confirmed the multi-faceted property of the ECS and the equality of the factor structure across samples and genders. With regard to homogeneity and test-retest reliability, the Swedish version showed acceptable results and was in concordance with the original version.

Preference for negative emotions

This research demonstrates that preference for emotions sometimes cannot be equated with a positive-negative valence dimension. Participants were asked to make choices between pairs of affect-inducing options opposite in valence but equal in activation. The results showed that in absence of contextual cues or situational constraints, choices followed a pleasure-maximizing principle. However, when information was provided about a context cueing appropriateness of certain emotions over others, a preference reversal was observed so that negative emotions were preferred over positive emotions. These results are discussed in relation to current theories of pleasure-maximizing choice and behavior.

Preference for current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, and experienced emotional reaction

Two experiments investigated how preference for emotions is related to valence and activation of current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, and experienced emotional reaction. In Experiment 1, 40 undergraduates on one occasion rated valence and activation of and preference for their emotional reaction to an aircraft noise, then on a later occasion rated valence and activation of and preference for their recalled or anticipated emotional reaction to the same aircraft noise. On both occasions they also rated valence and activation of current mood. In Experiment 2, another 40 undergraduates rated valence and activation of current mood followed by ratings of preference for and valence and activation of anticipated emotional reaction to descriptions of familiar emotion-eliciting situations. The results showed that preference is related to valence and activation of current mood, anticipated emotional reaction, or experienced emotional reaction. The valence of current mood was also found to influence preference for anticipated and experienced emotions.

The Dimensionality of Anticipated Affective Reactions to Risky and Certain Decision Outcomes

Abstract. In three experiments, anticipated affective reactions to risky and certain decision outcomes were investigated. It was shown that the two affect dimensions, valence and activation, describe anticipated affective reactions. When combined in a nonlinear dimension ranging from elation to disappointment, the results were found to replicate previous research showing that anticipated affective reactions are influenced by both sign (loss or gain), magnitude, and probability of outcomes. Preference for the anticipated affective reactions was furthermore related to both affect dimensions.

Emotion and auditory virtual environments: affect-based judgments of music reproduced with virtual reverberation times

Emotions are experienced both in real and virtual environments (VEs). Most research to date have focused on the content that causes emotional reactions, but noncontent features of a VE (such as the realism and quality of object rendering) may also influence emotional reactions to the mediated object. The present research studied how noncontent features (different reverberation times) of an auditory VE influenced 76 participants' ratings of emotional reactions and expressed emotional qualities of the sounds. The results showed that the two emotion dimensions of pleasantness and arousal were systematically affected if the same musical piece was rendered with different reverberation times. Overall, it was found that high reverberation time was perceived as most unpleasant. Taken together, the results suggested that noncontent features of a VE influence emotional reactions to mediated objects. Moreover, the study suggests that emotional reactions may be a important aspect of the VE experience that can help complementing standard presence questionnaires and quality evaluations.