Extending Motivational Model for Gratitude Interventions - examination of physiological responses underlying gratitude experience and action

Wydział Psychologii i KognitywistykiMotywacyjny model pozytywnych interwencji opartych na wdzięczności wyjaśnia motywację do podejmowania ich w życiu codziennym. Celem pracy było rozszerzenie modelu o ocenę poznawczą wyzwania i zagrożenia oraz związane z nią wzorce fizjologiczne świadczące o mobilizacji do efektywnego działania. W badaniu wzięło udział 196 osób, które w warunkach laboratoryjnych wykonały pozytywną interwencję o charakterze interpersonalnym aktywizującą wdzięczność: wysłanie SMS-a z podziękowaniem do wybranej osoby, w trakcie której były przeprowadzone ciągłe pomiary parametrów sercowo-naczyniowych. Następnie uczestnicy zostali zaproszeni do wykonywania podobnej interwencji przez 3 tygodnie w warunkach życia codziennego. Badanie pozwoliło zreplikować model oraz uzupełnić go o ocenę poznawczą i wzorce fizjologiczne wyzwania i zagrożenia. Osoby o wyższym poziomie wdzięczności częściej oceniały interwencję jako wyzwanie a nie zagrożenie. Wskaźniki fizjologiczne wyzwania i zagrożenia były przewidywane przez różnice indywidualne: wzorzec wyzwania obserwowano u osób o wysokim poziomie wdzięczności jako cechy oraz słabym nasileniu symptomów depresyjnych, a wzorzec zagrożenia odwrotnie. Oznacza to, że pomimo psychologicznych i społecznych korzyści płynących z interwencji, proces ten może być obciążający szczególnie dla osób cechujących się wyższym poziomem depresyjności i niższym poziomem wdzięczności.The motivational model of positive intervention based on gratitude explains motivation to perform them in everyday life. The aim of this work was to extend the model with cognitive assessment of challenge and threat and related physiological patterns proving mobilization for effective action. A laboratory study was carried out, including continuous, non-invasive measurement of cardiovascular activity. 196 participants performed an interpersonal positive intervention based on gratitude in laboratory setting: sending an SMS with thanks to a selected person. Then they were invited to perform the intervention for the next 3 weeks in their everyday life. The research allowed to replicate the motivational model of positive interventions and complement it with cognitive assessments and physiological patterns of challenge and threat. People with a higher level of gratitude more often assessed the intervention as a challenge. Physiological indicators of the challenge and threat were predicted by individual differences: the challenge pattern was observed in people with a high level of gratitude as a trait and a low intensity of depressive symptoms, and the risk pattern vice versa. This means that despite the psychological and social benefits of positive interventions, the process might be cumbersome and threatening.Projekt sfinansowany przez Narodowe Centrum Nauki (2014/15/N/HS6/04151

Would You Be Happier If You Looked Better? A Focusing Illusion

Some people might believe that individuals who are more satisfied with their body are also happier. However, people tend to overrate the influence of some factors (e.g. money or health) on their happiness; a phenomenon termed the focusing illusion. Our aim was to examine the focusing illusion in relation to body satisfaction. We experimentally manipulated body satisfaction and life satisfaction focus by varying the order of relevant measurement scales. Volunteers (N = 97) completed two questionnaires placed in separate envelopes to control the order of scales administration. Participants either completed the Body Satisfaction Scale followed by the Satisfaction with Life Scale or vice versa. In line with the focusing illusion the association between body satisfaction and life satisfaction was significantly stronger when participants were asked about their body satisfaction first. Body satisfaction as a focusing illusion may need to be considered by scientist as well as lay people who try to look better and be happier

Subjective well-being as a mediator for curiosity and depression

Curiosity is a personality trait that is inversely related to depression and positively related to subjective wellbeing. However, the relationship between curiosity and these two outcomes is still unclear which hampers our general understanding of well-being. Based on research within positive psychology that showed character strengths such as curiosity can indirectly decrease depression, we hypothesized that the inverse relationship between curiosity and depression would be mediated by subjective well-being. Two hundred and fifty seven participants, between 18 and 64 years old (M = 24.50, SD = 8.33) completed a web-based survey comprising: The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory - II, Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression and the Steen Happiness Index. We found that well-being mediated the relationship between curiosity and depression. The results indicate that curious individuals tend to report higher levels of subjective well-being which, in turn, is associated with lower levels of depression. Our findings contribute to the understanding of positive results obtained from clinical samples that underwent positive psychotherapy of depression

POPANE DATASET - Psychophysiology Of Positive And Negative Emotions

Published as: Behnke, M., Buchwald, M., Bykowski, A. et al. Psychophysiology of positive and negative emotions, dataset of 1157 cases and 8 biosignals. Sci Data 9, 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01117-0 Subjective experience and physiological activity are fundamental components of emotion. There is an increasing interest in the link between experiental and physiological processes across different disciplines, e.g., psychology, economics, or computer science. However, the findings largely rely on sample sizes that have been modest at best (limiting the statistical power) and capture only some concurrent biosignals (e.g., making it problematic to seek specificity of some effects). We present a novel publicly available dataset of psychophysiological responses to positive and negative emotions that offers some improvement over other databases. This database involves recording of 1157 healthy participants, collected across seven studies, a continuous recordof self-reported affect along with several biosignals (electrocardiogram, impedance cardiogram, electrodermal activity, hemodynamic measures, e.g., blood pressure), respiration trace, and skin temperature. We experimentally elicited a wide range of positive and negative emotions, including amusement, anger, disgust, excitement, fear, gratitude, sadness, tenderness, and threat. Psychophysiology of positive and negative emotions (POPANE) database is currently the largest and the most comprehensive psychophysiological dataset on elicited emotions. Publication: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01117-0 Project website: https://data.psychosensing.psnc.pl/popane/index.html Cite as: Behnke, M., Buchwald, M., Bykowski, A. et al. Psychophysiology of positive and negative emotions, dataset of 1157 cases and 8 biosignals. Sci Data 9, 10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01117-