We studied the effects of experimentally induced emotions on inhibitory control using functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRI). The Simon task used involves two conditions with different attentional demands and is a well established paradigm for studying inhibitory control. Incompatible trials demand cognitive control for resolving interference. Compatible trials need no inhibitory contr...

Understanding how emotions can affect pleasure has important implications both for people and for firms’ communication strategies. Prior research has shown that experienced pleasure often assimilates to the valence of one’s active emotions, such that negative emotions decrease pleasure. In contrast, the authors demonstrate that the activation of guilt, a negative emotion, enhances the pleasure ...

We examined the impact of PTSD symptom severity on emotional reactions to one's own and one's partner's intimacy behaviors. Heterosexual, community couples in which at least one partner reported elevated symptoms of PTSD were video-recorded discussing a relationship problem and self-reported their emotions immediately before and after the discussion. Each partner's intimacy behaviors were coded...

Understanding how emotions can affect pleasure has important implications both for people and for firms’ communication strategies. Prior research has shown that experienced pleasure often assimilates to the valence of one’s active emotions, such that negative emotions decrease pleasure. In contrast, the authors demonstrate that the activation of guilt, a negative emotion, enhances the pleasure ...

Social media are used as main discussion channels by millions of individuals every day. The content individuals produce in daily social-media-based micro-communications, and the emotions therein expressed, may impact the emotional states of others. A recent experiment performed on Facebook hypothesized that emotions spread online, even in absence of non-verbal cues typical of in-person interact...

In his 1757 essay “Of Tragedy”, Hume reflected on a curious puzzle about emotions. Sometimes people seek out emotions or experiences that are typically negative and associated with displeasure or pain. People often desire to watch horror films that will make them scared or listen to music that will make them sad. Some people even engage in the pursuit of negative emotions on a regular basis suc...

In general, expressing emotions is beneficial and withholding emotions has personal and social costs. Yet, to serve social functions there are situations when emotions are withheld strategically. We examined whether social anxiety influenced when and how emotion expressiveness influences interpersonal closeness in existing romantic relationships. For people with greater social anxiety, withhold...

Objective: To explore the relationship between parental psychological control and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and examine whether negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, depression, and stress) mediated this relationship among a Chinese adolescent sample in rural areas. Methods: A number of 381 Chinese adolescents from a junior high school participated in this study. They aged from 12 to 17 years...

AIMS Negative emotions have an adverse effect on cardiac prognosis. We investigated whether social inhibition (inhibited self-expression in social interaction) modulates the effect of negative emotions on clinical outcome following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS AND RESULTS Eight hundred and seventy-five consecutive patients from the RESEARCH registry (Erasmus Medical Centr...

This study examined how the frequency of positive and negative emotions is related to life satisfaction across nations. Participants were 8,557 people from 46 countries who reported on their life satisfaction and frequency of positive and negative emotions. Multilevel analyses showed that across nations, the experience of positive emotions was more strongly related to life satisfaction than the...