Week 12 Todays questions Why are some people naturally happy or sad angry or calm anxious or chill jealous or secure Why do the same event lead to different emotions Why do the same events lead to different intensities ID: 538277
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Slide1
Individual differences in emotionality
Week 12Slide2
Today’s questions
Why are some people “naturally” happy or sad, angry or calm, anxious or chill, jealous or secure, …?
Why do the same event lead to different emotions?
Why do the same events lead to different intensities
of the same emotion in different people?Can we really change our natural emotionality tendency?Slide3
Recap: Definitions in Week 1
Emotions are fleeting eventsMoods are diffused valence “feelings”
Temperament
is the frequency / tendency of experiencing particular emotionsIndividual differences in reactivity and self-regulationSlide4
Temperament is not clinically problematic
Yes, some of us often feel sad, anxious, angry, jealous, fear
Chronic experiences of these can lead to clinical problems
Sadness
___________Anxiety _________Anger _________
Jealousy
_________
Fear
_________
But all of us have temperaments, and all of us cannot be “clinically problematic”Slide5
Is there a default mode of affective state?
Surprisingly, yes!Subjective wellbeing (≈ happiness) is often measured on a bipolar scale, with 0 = neither satisfied with life nor dissatisfied
Of 43 countries polled in 1993, only 2 fell below zero (India is sadly one of them)
How about 2016?
Diener &
Diener
(1996
).
Most people are happy.
Psy
Sci.Slide6
2016 World Values Survey (SWB: -5 to +5)Slide7
Same event, different emotion
Part 1Slide8
General modelSlide9
Chronic individual differences
Pessimism-optimismAttribution styles (e.g., internal-external)1
Focus of attention
[recall: Culture,
Week 10]Neuroticism, extraversion, sensation seeking, rejection sensitivity, chronic jealousy, trait anger, […]1Sweeney et al. (1986
).
Attributional
style in
depression: A
meta-analytic
review.
J
Pers
Soc
Psy
.Slide10
Appraisal process
Ind. diff
Ind. diff
Knuppens
& Tong (2010). An appraisal account of individual differences in emotional experience.
Soc
Psy
Pers
Comp.Slide11
Same event, different emotional intensities
Part 2Slide12
Expanding the previous model
Ind. diff
Ind. diff
Ind. diff
motivation & ability
Emotion
up-/downregulation
SituationSlide13
(1) Can we / (2) Do we change…permanently?
Part 3Slide14
(1) Still debatable
Temperament is heritableidentical twins reared apart were much more similar in their levels of well-being than were dizygotic twins who were reared
apart
Hedonic
treadmill theoryPeople briefly react to good and bad events, but in a short time they return to neutralityProbably true: Personality can change when environments change drastically
Tellegen
et al.
(1988). Personality similarity in twins reared apart
and together.
J
Pers
Soc
Psy
.Slide15
(2) Do we change?Slide16
Emotionality changes with age
Scheibe
&
Carstensen (2010). Emotional aging: Recent findings and future trends.
J
Gerontology
What are the significant life changes?
How would emotional experience change?Slide17
What’s changing?
PubertyShifts in goalsBetter emotional regulationSocial networks
Degradation and functional slowing of emotion-relevant brain and autonomic systems (in older age)Slide18
One major class of difference in emotionality: Gender
Part 4Slide19
Let’s look at one commonly-held beliefSlide20
Who smiles more – men or women?
109,645
participants
162
articles
0.41
Effect size d
LaFrance et al. (2003). The contingent smile:
A
meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling.
Psy
Bull.Slide21
You already know this from Week 3
Fessler
, Sparks, Chan, Ashokkumar, &
Holbrooks (under review). Gender differences in disgust sensitivity. Emotion
.Slide22
We are probably not surprised that…Slide23
Who gets angry more – men or women?
Argher
. (2004). Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings
: A
meta-analytic review. Rev Gen Psy.
Physical
Verbal
Indirect
Self-report angerSlide24
Who is more impulsive
– men or
women?
Punishment sensitivity
Reward sensitivity
Sensation seeking
Behavioral
risk taking
Cross et al. (2011
). Sex differences in impulsivity: A
meta-analysis.
Psy
Bull.Slide25
Who is more likely to ruminate over problems – men or women
?
Rumination
Brooding
Reflection
Johnson &
Wissman
(2013). Gender
differences in rumination: A
meta-analysis.
Pers
Ind
Diff.Slide26
Self-conscious emotions
Guilt
Shame
Embarrassment
Authentic pride
Hubristic pride
Else-Quest et al. (2012). Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: A meta-analysis.
Psy
Bull.Slide27
Fear?
Else-Quest et al. (2006). Gender differences in temperament: A
meta-analysis.
Psy
Bull.34articles
-0.12
Effect size dSlide28
Social-cultural explanations
Women are more likely than men to have domestic and nurturing roles
To perform these social roles successfully, distinct emotions and emotion expressions are
required
Women in some societies are “hidden” (e.g., behind a burqa, or even in nearby Asawapur)Slide29
If the social role hypothesis is true…
The type of social role determines emotionality between gendersGathering resource | Men | Anger, contempt
Nurturance | Women | Sadness, fear, shame, guilt, disgustSlide30
What can we extract from all of these?
1. Gender difference in emotionality (statistically: main effect) is misleading to claim because it differs by emotion (statistically: interaction)Slide31
What can we extract from all of these?
2. Gender differences in emotionality towards different types
of emotions exist
.
Even within emotion, subtypes gender differences existMale: Sexual jealousyFemales: Emotional jealousy
Buss. (2011).
The dangerous passion
: Why
jealousy is as necessary as love or sex.Slide32
How do we explain gender differences?
1. Response biasWomen simply respond differently, explicitly towards explicit measures (self-reports)
Statistically, this can be resolved using
differential item functioning (DIF)
- the extent to which the item might be measuring different abilities for members of separate subgroupsThis is unlikely for some studies (e.g., disgust sensitivity), which have already addressed DIF issuesSlide33
How do we explain gender differences?
2. Brain differences?Most (if not all) fMRI studies are underpowered to examine gender differences
Assuming
d
= 0.50, how many males and females do you need? But even if they are sufficiently powered, what does differential activation really tell you? [Recall: levels of explanation]
Stevens &
Hamann
. (2012).
Sex differences in brain activation to emotional stimuli: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.
Neuropsychologia
.
Negative emotion, L amygdalaSlide34
How do we explain gender differences?
3. Nature vs. nurture?It’s true that in many societies, women’s emotionality are restricted by social-cultural norms
It’s also possible that gender differences may a genetic origin (but data is too sparse now)Slide35
Take home messages
Emotionality has different componentsFrequency of experience
Intensity of experience
Type of experience
Personality traits can influence emotionality, through appraisal processesWhether we change our emotionality strongly depends on whether (how) personality traits can changeMen and women have different gender profiles…but explanation remains tricky