Smiles as Signals of Lower Status in Football Players and Fashion Models: Evidence That Smiles are Associated With Lower Dominance and Lower Prestige

Across four studies, the current paper demonstrates that smiles are associated with lower social status. Moreover, the association between smiles and lower status appears in the psychology of observers and generalizes across two forms of status: prestige and dominance. In the first study, faces of fashion models representing less prestigious apparel brands were found to be more similar to a canonical smile display than the faces of models representing more prestigious apparel brands. In a second study, after being experimentally primed with either high or low prestige fashion narratives, participants in the low prestige condition were more likely to perceive smiles in a series of photographs depicting smiling and non-smiling faces. A third study of football player photographs revealed that the faces of less dominant (smaller) football players were more similar to the canonical smile display than the faces of their physically larger counterparts. Using the same football player photographs, a fourth study found that smiling was a more reliable indicator of perceived status-relevant personality traits than perceptions of the football players\u27 physical sizes inferred from the photographs

The role of positive and negative affect in cost/benefit perception: An evolutionary-psychological interpretation of prospect theory.

This paper provides empirical support for a three dimensional model of human affect. Three lines of evidence: (1) a critical literature review, (2) two psychometric studies, and (3) two experiments are reported that converge on the finding that positive, negative, and neutral feeling states emerge as three independent dimensions of the self-report affect circumplex. Initial support is then provided--in the form of two experiments--for an evolutionary psychological model of prospect-based affect systems which views the three affect dimensions as mental representations of fitness contingencies. This model is presented as an integration of Tooby and Cosmides (1990) evolutionary-psychological model of emotion and Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) Prospect Theory. Two hypotheses generated from this evolutionary psychological model of prospect-based affect systems are supported. As predicted, positive affect changed mainly as a function of perceived gains (but not losses); whereas, negative affect changed mainly as a function of perceived losses (but not gains). Moreover, the prediction that negative affect would change at a faster rate (as a function of losses) than would positive affect (as a function of gains) was supported. Limitations of the current findings as well as future directions for research concerning neutral feeling states are offered.Ph.D.PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/103620/1/9332103.pdfDescription of 9332103.pdf : Restricted to UM users only

El Papel Satisfaciente de las Emociones en la Toma de Decisiones

Las primeras especulaciones de Herbert Simon (1967) sobre las emociones y la selección de objetivos han inspirado varias líneas de investigación acerca del papel de las emociones en el procesamiento de la información. En este artículo se revisan investigaciones que han sido directa e indirectamente inspiradas en el modelo de Simon de las emociones como mecanismos de interrupción de objetivos. Una perspectiva particularmente promisoria en el estudio de las emociones y la regulación de los objetivos se centra en el modelo de Simon de las emociones como mecanismos rápidamente disponibles de selecci6n de objetivos.  Se discuten las implicancias de esta perspectiva para nuestra comprensión del ánimo, los afectos y las emociones

Extraversion, neuroticism and susceptibility to positive and negative mood induction procedures

Recent correlational research suggests that Extraversion is associated witha predisposition to experience positive affect, whereas Neuroticism is associated with a predisposition to experience negative affect. Using Gray's (A Model for Personality, pp. 246-276, 1981) terms, such results may be due to differential sensitivity to signals of reward and punishment on the part of Extraverts and Neurotics, respectively. Assuming that signals of reward generate positive affect and signals of punishment (or frustrative non-reward) generate negative affect, we hypothesized that the efficacy of a negative affect induction would be better predicted from Neuroticism than Extraversion scores, whereas the efficacy of a positive affect induction should be better predicted from Extraversion than Neuroticism scores. In the current study a laboratory mood induction technique (false feedback of success and failure) was used to induce positive and negative affect, and its effectiveness was assessed using standard mood adjective ratings. Results support the hypothesis that Extraverts (compared to Introverts) show heightened emotional reactivity to positive (but not negative) mood induction procedures, whereas Neurotics (compared to Stable individuals) show heightened emotional reactivity to negative (but not positive) mood induction procedures. Results are discussed in terms of an emotion-based approach to personality theory, and directions for future research are suggested.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28239/1/0000692.pd

Valor temporal del dinero y felicidad

Abstract: An important question in the well-being literature is how earning and spending money makes people happy. Some studies have shown that people are happier when earning money in constant payments, and spending money on significant others. However, some findings suggest that people with financial expertise may have different preferences based on the time value of money. The current study was designed to address this issue by asking both financial novices and financial experts if earning money at decreasing, constant or increasing rates would make them happier. By replicating and, more importantly, disambiguating previous findings, the results suggest that financial novices are happier when earning money in constant payments and spending money on debts, whereas financial experts are happier when earning money in decreasing payments and spending money on investments. These findings suggest that earning and spending money makes people happier in different ways depending on their financial expertise.Resumen: Una cuestión importante en la literatura sobre el bienestar es cómo ganar y gastar dinero hace feliz a la gente. Algunos estudios han demostrado que la gente es más feliz cuando gana dinero en pagos constantes y gasta dinero en personas significativas. Sin embargo, algunos hallazgos sugieren que la gente con experticia financiera puede tener diferentes preferencias basadas en el valor temporal del dinero. El estudio actual fue diseñado para abordar este asunto preguntando tanto a novatos financieros como a expertos financieros si ganar dinero a tasas decrecientes, constantes o crecientes los haría más felices. Al replicar y, más importante todavía, desambiguar hallazgos anteriores, los resultados sugieren que los novatos financieros son más felices cuando ganan dinero en pagos constantes y gastan dinero en deudas, mientras que los expertos financieros son más felices cuando ganan dinero en pagos decrecientes y gastan dinero en inversiones. Estos hallazgos sugieren que ganar y gastar dinero hace que la gente sea más feliz de diferentes maneras dependiendo de su experticia financiera