Emotion最新文献

Grounded theories of cognition would predict that processing concepts such as emotions, which are inherently associated with a variety of bodily states, would rely on embodied simulations. Here, we manipulated attention to respiratory rate and used a feature-verification task to assess the degree to which such simulations are involved when processing emotion, concrete, and abstract (but non-emotion-related) concepts. Participants in the experimental group were guided through a mindful breathing exercise and instructed to pay attention to the sensations of breath for the duration of the feature verification task. They reported an estimate of number of breaths taken during the preceding minute at specific intervals throughout the experiment, while we continuously recorded the participants' respiration rate. A separate control group tracked the presence of an unrelated visual distractor while completing the feature verification task. Using a linear mixed effects model to analyze the data, we found evidence of an interference effect where attention to respiration slowed reaction times specifically for emotion concepts. This effect was driven by multiple dimensions of interoceptive ability, including individual differences in baseline interoceptive sensibility, and task-concurrent engagement of those interoceptive resources. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Positive affect has been linked to better sleep. However, this evidence primarily comes from Western societies with a long-standing cultural tradition of prioritizing the pursuit of positivity. Here, we tested whether such benefits generalize to East Asian societies, where positive affect is less culturally valued. In these cultural contexts, individuals strive to achieve emotional balance, and thus, elevating positive emotions may not confer the same health benefits. We tested this hypothesis in two cross-cultural studies. Using large-scale surveys from American and Japanese midlife adults (N = 1,358), Study 1 examined whether culture moderates the relationship between positive affect and subjective sleep quality. As predicted, higher positive affect was associated with better subjective sleep quality among European Americans, but not among Japanese. Study 2 employed a 2-week daily diary design to examine whether European American and East Asian college students (N = 119) differ in how positive affect relates to both subjective and actigraphy-derived sleep measures. Among European Americans, higher average positive affect was associated with better subjective sleep quality and a calmer (vs. tense) mood upon awakening. By contrast, these associations were not observed among East Asians; instead, greater positive affect predicted shorter sleep duration for these individuals. Notably, these cultural differences emerged only for high-arousal (not low-arousal) positive affect. Together, these findings suggest that the restorative benefits of positive affect on sleep may be culturally contingent, depending on how positive emotions are viewed in different societies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Are you willing to trade some present happiness for a better future? This study examined cross-country variation in delaying happiness-the belief that sacrificing current joy is worthwhile for long-term happiness. Using nationally representative data from 22 countries (N > 200,000), Study 1 showed that people in countries with high relational mobility (e.g., North and Latin America) were more likely to delay happiness than those in countries with lower mobility (e.g., East Asia). Other national-level variables such as national wealth, income inequality, and individualism-collectivism did not account for this difference. Study 2 replicated the link between relational mobility and delaying happiness in two countries (N = 785) and further tested the mediating roles of sense of control and optimism. We also showed that delaying happiness is associated with different domains of well-being, including happiness/satisfaction, meaning/purpose, and balance/harmony, at both the individual and country levels. These findings suggest that social ecologies that afford greater relational freedom may foster a sense of control over one's current situation and an optimistic view of the future, which in turn encourages the pursuit of long-term happiness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Dispositional cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation skill that involves reframing thoughts about a situation to improve emotional responses, may be an important factor in predicting response to cognitive restructuring. This study examines whether dispositional cognitive reappraisal skills are associated with the efficacy of a lab-based cognitive restructuring manipulation in reducing physiological conditioned fear responses. Psychiatrically healthy participants (n = 107) completed fear acquisition on Day 1, followed by a cognitive restructuring manipulation or control task on Day 2 and a test of physiological fear responses and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire on Day 3. A significant interaction between manipulation and dispositional cognitive reappraisal skills was observed (p < .05). Specifically, among participants who completed the lab-based cognitive restructuring manipulation, participants with low reappraisal skills showed greater decreases in conditioned fear responses than participants with high reappraisal skills. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and determine whether they would extend to clinical populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Although rejection is a universal human experience, the short- and long-term social and emotional consequences of naturally occurring rejection are understudied. Using two experience-sampling designs, we delineated the concurrent and prospective sequelae of rejection. Study 1 used daily diary data collected in 2020 to examine how rejection experiences predicted daily emotional well-being and social motivation in 269 participants (age range = 18-73) screened for social anxiety and/or depression symptoms. Study 2 used denser, within-day sampling via ecological momentary assessment data collected in 2021 and multivariate, temporal network analyses to examine the direct and indirect effects of rejection on socioemotional factors in 96 participants (age range = 18-66) with and without social anxiety disorder. In Study 1, feeling rejected during daily social interactions predicted same-day increases in negative emotions (i.e., sadness, anger, irritability), decreases in approach motivation, and increases in avoidance motivation, but none of these effects persisted to the next day. In Study 2, feeling rejected concurrently and temporally predicted increased negative emotions (i.e., loneliness, sadness, embarrassment, hurt, anger, and irritability) and desire to be alone. Temporal network analyses yielded evidence of direct and indirect feedback loops between rejection and feeling hurt and angry that might maintain a cycle of negative affect and rejection feelings. Sensitivity analyses indicated that social anxiety moderated some reciprocal effects between rejection and social motivation. Together, these findings shed new light on the potency of naturally occurring rejection and why its consequences can be so difficult to counteract. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Empathic accuracy-the ability to infer others' emotions accurately-is associated with positive social functioning. To be empathically accurate, individuals must base their inferences on accurate cues. Consequently, expressive accuracy-the extent to which individuals accurately communicate their self-reported affect-may be a constraint on others' empathic accuracy. Though affective communication involves both perceivers (i.e., those who make inferences) and targets (i.e., those being judged), prior research has focused on perceivers. Here, we examined the relative contribution of perceivers and targets to explaining variance in empathic accuracy and the association between targets' expressive accuracy and perceivers' empathic accuracy. Data from 137 same-gender friend dyads were collected between 2018 and 2020. After engaging in a supportive interaction, participants watched videos and rated their own and their friend's affect during the conversation. Empathic accuracy was the correlation between participants' inferences of friends' affect and friends' reports of their own affect. Between 2022 and 2023, six to 10 external raters watched the videos and inferred participants' affect, providing additional empathic accuracy scores. Expressive accuracy was indexed as how accurately each participant's affect was read by the external raters on average. Targets (participants) explained more variance in empathic accuracy scores than perceivers (external raters), and participants' expressive accuracy positively predicted friends' empathic accuracy, even after controlling for emotional expressivity. Results suggest that expressing affect accurately may be a key component of affective communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Method of loci (MOL) is a strategy heavily utilized by superior memorists that leverages visualizations of familiar spatial environments (memory palaces) to enhance information recall. The characteristics of memory palaces used in MOL have not been well-studied. Yet, understanding how different memory palace features contribute to memory enhancement may allow us to design optimal palaces. Here, we examined whether memory palace valence influences neutral information recall. We found that participants (U.S. adults) who applied MOL using a negatively valenced palace (N = 40) outperformed participants who applied MOL using a positively valenced palace (N = 38) and participants in a non-MOL control group (N = 47) on a word recall test. Furthermore, participants who perceived the negative palace more negatively or positive palace more positively exhibited greater recall accuracy, but overall, the negative group outperformed the positive group. We replicated these findings in an independent sample of participants tested on their memory for steps in the process of making a floral paperweight. Again, the negative group (N = 33) outperformed the positive (N = 34) and control (N = 31) groups. These findings highlight that memory palaces can be constructed to optimize loci-dependent memory accuracy, providing new evidence-based strategies to improve memorization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Mindfulness is robustly associated with psychological and physiological well-being. To date, studies have primarily focused on trait mindfulness while neglecting its state-level momentary regulatory effects on daily stress. This preregistered study investigated the effects of state mindfulness on participants' momentary mood and physiological arousal in cohorts sampled between 2021 and 2024. Using the experience sampling method, 100 cohabiting couples (N = 200) completed five daily surveys for 16 days, and reported on their experiences of stressors (adverse events), state mindfulness levels, positive mood, and negative mood, while wearing Fitbit devices to monitor their heart rate. The registered analyses mainly demonstrated main effects (but no buffering effects) for state mindfulness. Specifically, state mindfulness predicted higher positive mood and lower heart rate among women. No association was found with negative mood, and state mindfulness did not moderate the relationship between stressors and stress response (mood and heart rate). However, secondary registered analyses, using a State Mindfulness Scale with more items, showed support for the mindfulness buffering effect, and indicated that negative events were associated with men's heart rate when mindfulness was low. Overall, these results underscore the importance of studying state-level mindfulness and pave the way for future research on how momentary mindfulness can enhance emotion regulation, which in turn may help promote well-being in daily life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Global crises necessitate collective action but confront people with the threat of negative future consequences, which can make them anxious and inactive. Based on the assumption that being moved is a collective approach emotion, we predicted that the threat of negative future consequences, as well as a positive future vision, motivates collective action through feelings of being moved. In four experimental studies (N_total = 718, conducted between 2021 and 2022 in Central Europe), we tested the moving potential of different threatening and visionary scenarios related to global crises, such as climate change and gender inequality, on collective action. While testing being moved as an underlying emotional process, we accounted for anxiety and anger as parallel processes. The results show that experimentally confronting participants with the threatening negative future consequences of the gender data gap (S1a and 1b) or climate change (S3) increased feelings of being moved that were linked to collective action. Shifting the cognitive focus from threat to a positive future vision (S2 and S3), where collective goals for equality and sustainability will be achieved, also increased feelings of being moved, predicting collective action as well. However, the total effect of global crisis salience on collective action was only positive in Studies 1a and 2, whereas Studies 1b and 3 revealed a null effect. Together, the findings connect threat and future vision salience effects on collective action through an affective-motivational process of being moved. The present findings may generalize to the target population of well-educated Western industrialized countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Most research on the development of emotion recognition has focused on facial expressions, leaving a relative gap in our understanding of how children interpret emotions through body movements. This study examined developmental changes in the ability to recognize basic emotions (joy, anger, fear, and sadness) from human biological motion presented in point-light displays (HBM-PLDs), with particular attention to how these changes vary depending on the type of emotion and age. One hundred twenty-eight preschool and primary school children aged 4-12 years participated in two experimental tasks involving the explicit recognition of emotions from HBM-PLDs. The results highlight a clear developmental progression in the recognition of emotions from HBM-PLDs with increasing age. This developmental change appears to follow a curvilinear trajectory, with an inflection point around 8.5 years of age (100 months). However, the study further reveals that this inflection point differs depending on the specific discrete emotion considered. Joy seems to be recognized as early as age 4, followed by anger between ages 5 and 6, sadness between ages 6 and 7.5, and finally fear after age 9-10. This represents an important contribution, demonstrating that the improvement in emotion recognition from body movement is not homogeneous but modulated according to the discrete emotion. These findings support the idea that the development of discrete emotion recognition is independent of the modality of presentation (facial expressions, body movements, vocal cues, etc.) and suggest that emotion recognition may rely on a modality-independent and unified developmental process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).