Sca 6 Social Cognitive Influences On Affect (And Motivation)

Front 1

Priming in social psychology: Replicability issues

Back 1

- Some priming effects – in particular the more spectacular ones – have recently been called into question

-> Doyen et al. (2012): Bargh elevator study could only be replicated if the experimenter knew the hypothesis (and the condition), however see study by Cesario et al (2006) for a replication

-> A series of failed replications of very specific embodied cognition effects:
-> Example: Holding a warm cup leads to friendlier (warmer) evaluations of another persons, while holding a cold cup leads to less positive (colder) evaluations  difficulties in replication(e.g. Bower, 2012)

- Potential reasons for non-replications
-> Original effects are the only significant ones in a whole series of failed attempts (false positives)
-> Cultural differences, language differences

Front 2

Priming of metaphors

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- Theoretical approaches for explaining metaphor priming are still being developed
-> Research on linguistic representations of metaphors shows that they are very abstract representations grounded in concrete sensory experiences (embodied realism, Lakoff & Johnson, 1999)
-> Various approaches to link bodily experiences to metaphorical representations of the environment
-> Barsalou (perceptual symbols approach)
-> Smith & Semin (grounded social cognition)

Front 3

Embodied social cognition & metaphors

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- The activation of metaphorical representations might influence our behavior

- Important difference to other forms of priming: The underlying assumption about memory representations is different! Representation of events not just as an (amodal) associative semantic network, but as perceptual symbols that include more than abstract knowledge

- Early findings
-> “pen study”: Participants in the “teeth” condition evaluated a cartoon as more funny than in the “lip” condition

-> Stepper & Strack (1993): Upright vs. slouched position has an influence on the experience of pride. Upright position + success in a task led to higher ratings of pride

- More recent findings
-> Holding a heavy vs. a light clipboard alters perceptions of importance (heavy clipboards lead to higher evaluation of monetary costs, Jostmann et al., 2009)

-> Vertical positions might be linked to the concept of power (Schubert, 2005)

Front 4

Power + verticality
Schubert, 2005, Study 1

Back 4

- Which picture best represents the propositions?

-> rules over, has influence on, is stronger than, is superior to, ... (powerful)

-> defers to, loses against, gives in to, is weaker than, ... (powerless)

-> gives something to, wants, pushes, pulls, ... (horizontal)

- Results: Powerful and powerless positions were more likely to be located in a vertical manner

Explanation:
- Not by the simple assumption of an associative network model

- Mental representations of certain concepts are tied to the way we perceive them

- Knowledge is stored in the form of perceptual symbols
-> Perceptual symbols include perceptual input like motor input
-> So in addition to all the semantic knowledge related to a concept, perceptual experiences are also stored
-> The activation of these experiences might then influence judgments, cognition etc.
-> Perceptual symbol systems theory is one model of an embodied cognition approach

Front 5

Power + verticality
Schubert, 2005, Study 4

Back 5

- Who’s more powerful? (response time task)

- Various group labels (or social roles)

- Results:
-> Positions of group label on the screen determine response speed
-> Powerful groups: top
-> Powerless groups: bottom

Explanation:
- Not by the simple assumption of an associative network model

- Mental representations of certain concepts are tied to the way we perceive them

- Knowledge is stored in the form of perceptual symbols
-> Perceptual symbols include perceptual input like motor input
-> So in addition to all the semantic knowledge related to a concept, perceptual experiences are also stored
-> The activation of these experiences might then influence judgments, cognition etc.
-> Perceptual symbol systems theory is one model of an embodied cognition approach

Front 6

Emotions can be socially constructed

Back 6

Front 7

Preference/evaluations versus moods versus emotions

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Preference/evaluations:
-> mild subjective reactions (pleasant, unpleasant)

Moods:
-> affective response without a specific target
-> Positive vs negative
-> Have some duration
-> Diverse influence on many aspects of social cognition

Emotions:
-> Complex pattern of affect (beyond good/bad)
-> Can include physical arousal
-> Temporal influence is limited (shorter than preferences)

Front 8

“Non-cognitive” theories of emotion

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- James-Lange Theory: Emotions are based on our physiological responses

- Different kinds of evidence:
-> Strack et al. (1988) pen study
-> Excitation transfer theory
-> Misattribution of arousal (Lecture 5)
-> Other studies on facial feedback
-> Dimberg (2000) very fast automatic responses to other people’s facial expressions

Front 9

Fast responsens to facial expressions
(Dimberg et al., 2000)

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- Participant were presented with happy or angry faces for only 30 milliseconds.

- EMG activity in facial muscles was observed previously when emotional pictures were presented consciously, but can people also unconsciously imitate other people?

Front 10

Excitation transfer

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Front 11

Cognitive approaches to emotions

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- Early theory: Cannon-Bard approach
-> Visceral input insufficient (and too diffuse to produce specific emotions)

-> Basis for many cognitive emotion models, especially so-called appraisal theories

-> Appraisal: evaluations of how the environment will impact us based on similar past experiences and potential for own actions

Front 12

Kelley’s Covariation Model

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Front 13

Weiner’s Attributional Theory of Emotion (1985)

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- Originally put forward as a theory of achievement motivation

- Dimensions that people use to explain an event or situation:
-> Internal-external locus
-> Stable-variable
-> Controllable-uncontrollable

- Attributions on these dimensions provoke basic emotions

Front 14

Regret vs. disappointment seen from an attributional logic

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- How can regret and disappointment be distinguished?
-> both are emotions related to negative situations involving violated expectations

- Zeelenberg et al. (1998)
-> When asked to generate counterfactual thoughts about situations involving regret, or disappointment participants showed the following pattern:
-> Regret: counterfactuals about own actions (internal aspects)
-> Disappointment: counterfactuals about the situation (external aspects)

Front 15

Emotions influenced by mental simulations

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Front 16

Two types of relief

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- Near-miss relief: a negative outcome has been narrowly avoided

- Task-completion relief: an unpleasant/aversive event has been completed

Front 17

What are the functional differences between the two types of relief?
Hypotheses by Sweeney & Vohs, 2012

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- Functions:

-> Near-miss relief should be linked to downward counterfactual thinking (imagining how things could have been worse) in order to prepare individuals for similar events in the future

-> Near-miss relief should lead to a focus on the person (potentially to rumination), and thereby increase feelings of increase social isolation


-> Task-completion relief should not be influenced by downward counterfactual thoughts but should be linked to stronger endurance of negative events (potentially upward counterfactuals)

Front 18

What are the functional differences between the two types of relief?
Research by Sweeney & Vohs, 2012

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- Near-miss condition: Participants thought they would have to sing an embarrassing song, after the preparations they learned that the recorder was broken

- Task-relief conditions: Participants had to sing the song

- DVs: extent of counterfactual thinking, social isolation, experienced emotions (open answer)

- Results: Path analysis showed that the strength of counterfactual thinking mediated the influence of relief on feelings of isolation

Front 19

Regret from a cognitive perspective

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- Reminder: Norm theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986)

- Emotional amplification: states that the affective response to an event is enhanced if its causes are abnormal.

- “Abnormal” in this context means that an event has highly available alternatives (retrieved or constructed)

- Classic study: Medvec, Madey, & Gilovich (1995)
-> Bronze medal winners during 1992 Summer Olympics are rated as happier than silver medalists
-> Explanation: it is easier for Silver medalists to imagine how they could have had gold, while Bronze medalists could easily imagine not to have won any meda.

Front 20

What do people regret?

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Front 21

Cognition and affect

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- Both causal dimensions (cognition  bodily experiences vs. bodily experiences  cognition) have stimulated research

- More complex emotion models tend to put a stronger emphasis on cognition (also relevant in clinical contexts)

- However, bodily influences play a big role in automatic (fast) responses, especially for preferences and evaluations

Front 22

From concept activation to behavior change

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- Does thinking about a desired goal always lead to behavior change?

- Research on fantasizing about the future specifies the conditions under which thinking about a goal is likely to result in behavior change

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Fantasies versus expectancies
Research example: Oettingen & Mayer

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- How do fantasies and expectancies about a situation influence future behavior?

- Context: recovery from hip replacement surgery
-> Prediction: Positive fantasies predict low success, while high expectancies of success promote recovery

Front 24

Expectancies

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= Beliefs about the future, assessment of probabilities

- Link between expectancies and performance: Provide a strong basis for behavioral investment

Front 25

Fantasies

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= Images about the future

- Link between fantasies and performance: Positive fantasies can be about smooth goal attainment, and can lead to moments of indulgence in a yet to be attained outcome