We present the results of an experimental study towards modeling the reader’s emotional state variations induced by the typographic elements in electronic documents. Based on the dimensional theory of emotions we investigate how typographic elements, like font style (bold, italics, bold-italics) and font (type, size, color and background color), affect the reader’s emotional states, namely, Ple...

We examined affective reactions to conflicting (i.e., appealing and appalling) pairs of emotional pictures. In Studies 1 and 2, participants rated the intensity of pleasure and displeasure. Conflicting picture pairs elicited reports of both pleasure and displeasure (i.e., mixed feelings). However, the appalling picture reduced the intensity of pleasure and the appealing picture reduced the inte...

Cognitive conflict plays an important role in tuning cognitive control to the situation at hand. On the basis of earlier findings demonstrating emotional modulations of conflict processing, we predicted that affective states may adaptively regulate goal-directed behavior that is driven by conflict. We tested this hypothesis by measuring conflict-driven control adaptations following experimental...

We find that the pleasure of a gain is generally greater than the pleasure of a nonloss and that the pain of a loss is generally greater than the pain of a nongain. These patterns were found when participants reported both how they would feel if these outcomes were to happen (Studies 1 and 2) and how they actually felt when they happened (Study 3). Our results also suggest that it is stronger c...

Avatars are lifelike characters created by technology. Research suggests that avatars can increase the persuasiveness of online sales channels. The authors investigate how the social cues inherent in avatars influence consumers’ affect and shopping value. In Study 1, social cues induce perceptions of Web site socialness, leading to increased pleasure and arousal, both of which positively influe...

This study introduces the Children’s Scales of Pleasure and Arousal as instruments to enable children to provide subjective and descriptive judgments along the major dimensions of affect. Children (N = 160, 3 to 11 years), and an adult comparison group (N = 20), used the scales to indicate the levels of pleasure or arousal they perceived in stylized drawings of facial expressions. All age group...

The meanings of "anhedonia" and "depressed mood," the cardinal emotional symptoms of major depression, may be shaped by cultural norms regarding pleasure and sadness. Thirty-two European Americans, 26 Hispanic Americans, 33 Asian Americans, and 20 Russian Americans provided reports of (a) depressive symptoms, (b) momentary emotions and pleasure, and (c) global subjective well-being. Momentary r...

Introduction It is widely accepted that the performance of sex work involves both emotion work and emotional labour – the shaping of feelings, as well as their public management (for example, Chapkis, 1997; Sanders, 2004). However, whilst much is known about the feelings and experiences of female sex workers, very little is known about the experiences of their clients – the men who pay for sex....