Emotions PDF

Emotions 191 Most of us know someone like Maria, but what is it that makes these people stand out from the crowd? By now it should be clear that the kinds of emotions we experience (affectivity) and the strength of our emotions (intensity) represent important aspects of our emotional lives. Yet wh...

Emotions 191 Most of us know someone like Maria, but what is it that makes these people stand out from the crowd? By now it should be clear that the kinds of emotions we experience (affectivity) and the strength of our emotions (intensity) represent important aspects of our emotional lives. Yet when we identify someone as an “emotional” person, we probably aren’t referring exactly to either of these individual differences. Rather, I suspect what distinguishes these people from most of us is that they are high in what researchers call emotional expressiveness. Emotional expressiveness refers to a person’s outward display of emotions. Some people tend to be particularly expressive of their feelings. We say these individuals “wear their emotions on their sleeves” or that we can “read them like a book.” If they’re feeling a little sad today, it shows. They move slowly, their shoulders sag, and they wear sad faces. And if these same people have just received good news or simply feel good about what they’re doing, we can tell in a minute. They bounce when they walk; they grin. We hear the enthusiasm in their voices. When highly expressive women in one study were told they had answered some difficult problems correctly, they could not keep themselves from smiling (Friedman & Miller-Herringer, 1991). As with affectivity and intensity, researchers find relatively stable differences in the extent to which we express our emotions (Friedman, Prince, Riggio, & ­DiMatteo, 1980; Gohm & Clore, 2000; Kring et al., 1994). Like other personality traits, we can place people along a continuum ranging from those who are highly expressive to those who show few outward signs of how they are feeling. Consistent with common observations, researchers find that women tend to be more expressive of their emotions than men (Fischer & LaFrance, 2015; Gross & John, 1998; Kring & Gordon, 1998; Lavee & Ben-Ari, 2004; Timmers, Fischer, & Manstead, 1998). Interestingly, women also tend to be better than men at reading the emotions in other people’s faces (McClure, 2000). How well we express our feelings has important implications for how we get along with others, although these effects may not be found in all cultures (Hwang & Matsumoto, 2012). In particular, the more people express their emotions, the fewer problems they have in romantic relationships (Cordova, Gee, & Warren, 2005; Lavee & Ben-Ari, 2004; Noller, 1984). Communication is aided when partners understand what the other person is feeling, and good communication almost always contributes to harmony and satisfaction in relationships. Moreover, people who express their emotions freely tend to experience less confusion when trying to read another person’s emotions (King, 1998). Expressing emotions also seems to be good for our psychological health (Barr, Kahm, & Schneider, 2008). Participants in one study completed a series of well-­being measures and kept daily records of their moods for 21 consecutive days (King & Emmons, 1990). Participants identified as highly expressive were happier and experienced less anxiety and guilt than those who were low in expressiveness. Other researchers using similar procedures find that expressive people are less prone to depression (Katz & Campbell, 1994). Highly expressive people also tend to be higher in self-­ esteem than those on the other end of this trait dimension (Friedman et al., 1980). In short, emotional expressiveness is good for us. In Chapter 12 we’ll return to some of the reasons for this relation between well-being and expressing one’s emotions. Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 192 Chapter 8 / The Trait Approach Assessing Your Own Personality Emotional Expressiveness Indicate the extent to which each of the following statements describes you. Indicate your response using a 6-point scale with 1 = Never true and 6 = Always true. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. I think of myself as emotionally expressive. People think of me as an unemotional person.* I keep my feelings to myself.* I am often considered indifferent by others.* People can read my emotions. I display my emotions to other people. I don’t like to let other people see how I’m feeling.* I am able to cry in front of other people. Even if I am feeling very emotional, I don’t let others see my feelings.* Other people aren’t easily able to observe what I’m feeling.* I am not very emotionally expressive.* Even when I’m experiencing strong feelings, I don’t express them outwardly.* I can’t hide the way I’m feeling. Other people believe me to be very emotional. I don’t express my emotions to other people.* The way I feel is different from how others think I feel.* I hold my feelings in.* To calculate your score, first reverse the answer values for the items with asterisks. That is, for these items only, 6 = 1, 5 = 2, 4 = 3, 3 = 4, 2 = 5, 1 = 6. Then add all 17 answer values. The higher your score, the more expressive you tend to be. When the test developers gave this scale to a group of undergraduates, they came up with the following norms: Mean Standard Deviation Females 66.60 12.71 Males 61.15 12.69 Total Sample 64.67 12.97 Scale: The Emotional Expressivity Scale Source: Kring, A. M., Smith, D. A., & Neale, J. M. (1994). Individual differences in dispositional expressiveness: Development and validation of the Emotional Expressivity Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 934–949. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.934. No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the American Psychological Association. Copyright © 1998 by the American Psychological Association. Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Optimism and Pessimism 193 Optimism and Pessimism W inston Churchill once noted, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every ­opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Consistent with this observation, psychologists find that a positive outlook is often associated with high achievement and a positive mood (Taylor, 1989). People who approach an upcoming event believing they will do well tend to perform better and feel better about themselves than those who enter the situation thinking things will likely turn out poorly. Similarly, when people face a specific problem, those who believe they will beat the odds tend to do better and feel better than those who think the odds will beat them. Heart transplant patients in one study were asked about their expectations prior to the surgery (Leedham, Meyerowitz, Muirhead, & Frist, 1995). Those with positive expectations did a much better job of adjusting to life after the surgery than those with a more pessimistic outlook. But optimism and pessimism aren’t simply tied to specific events or problems. Rather, like the other traits reviewed in this chapter, psychologists can identify individual differences in the manner in which we typically approach life’s challenges (Scheier & Carver, 1985). We can place people on a continuum ranging from those who look at life in the most optimistic light to those who view the world through the most pessimistic lenses. Because people are relatively consistent in the extent to which they adopt these viewpoints, psychologists sometimes refer to this personality variable as dispositional optimism. When researchers compare people high in dispositional optimism with those who are not, they usually find clear advantages for the optimists. People who take an optimistic approach to life tend to achieve more than those who don’t (Crane & Crane, 2007; Brown & Marshall, 2001; Segerstrom, 2007). Optimists set their goals higher, effectively prioritize their goals, and believe they can reach those goals (Geers, ­Wellman, & Lassiter, 2009). Optimistic college students tend to achieve higher grades and are less likely to drop out of college than pessimistic students (Richardson et al., 2012; Solberg Nes, Evans, & Segerstrom, 2009). Just like the moral of so many stories, researchers find that having confidence in one’s abilities is often the key to success. In particular, optimists are less likely to allow setbacks and temporary failures to get them down (Gibbons, Blanton, Gerrard, Buunk, & Eggleston, 2000). One team of researchers looked at how new life insurance agents reacted to the inevitable rejections they face when selling policies (Seligman & Schulman, 1986). They found the pessimists were more than twice as likely as the optimists to quit within the first year. When the going got tough, many of the pessimists decided it was never going to get any better. Meanwhile, the undiscouraged and persistent optimists sold more insurance policies than their pessimistic colleagues. As with many other personality variables, researchers find optimism and pessimism are related to culture (Chang, 2001; Fischer & Chalmers, 2008). Much of this research has compared people in individualistic cultures with those from collectivist cultures (Chapter 1). One study asked Canadian and Japanese students to estimate the likelihood that certain events (e.g., live a long life or develop skin cancer) would happen to them (Heine & Lehman, 1995). The Japanese students consistently expressed Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 194 Chapter 8 / The Trait Approach a more pessimistic outlook than the Canadians. Other investigators find that Asians typically have lower scores on dispositional optimism measures than participants from individualistic cultures (Chang, 1996; Lee & Seligman, 1997; You, Fung, & ­Isaacowitz, 2009). Because, as we will see, optimism and pessimism are related to coping, well-­being, and health, these cultural differences have important implications for ­counselors working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds (Chang, 2001). Dealing with Adversity Differences between optimists and pessimists are likely to surface when people encounter stressful events (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010; Nes & Segerstrom, 2006; Jobin, Wrosch, & Scheier, 2014). Consider the stress experienced by Israeli citizens in a study conducted during the Persian Gulf War (Zeidner & Hammer, 1992). The researchers looked at coping and adjustment among residents of Haifa, an area repeatedly threatened with SCUD missile attacks during the time the study was conducted. The investigators found that dispositional optimists living in this region experienced less anxiety and less depression than those identified as pessimists. Similar reactions are found in people dealing with less acute sources of stress. One team of researchers looked at adjustment levels in men and women who had spent at least one year caring for a spouse diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (Hooker, Monahan, Shifren, & Hutchinson, 1992). The spouses who generally approached life with an optimistic outlook experienced less stress and less depression than the pessimistic caregivers. Another pair of researchers examined adolescents’ reaction to their parents separating (Tetzner & Becker, 2015). Optimistic students were less likely than pessimistic students to experience the drop in academic performance and the loss of self-esteem often found in teenagers in these circumstances. Much of the research on dispositional optimism looks at how people react to health problems and medical procedures. In one study, optimistic women who had surgery for breast cancer reported less distress during the year following the surgery and showed higher levels of adjustment several years later than pessimistic women going through the same experience (Carver et al., 1993, 2005). In another investigation, rheumatoid arthritis patients high in dispositional optimism scored higher on measures of psychological adjustment than did pessimistic patients (Long & Sangster, 1993). In yet another study, men recovering from coronary artery bypass surgery were compared for general mood and quality of life 6 months after the surgery (Scheier et al., 1989). As in the other investigations, the dispositionally optimistic men looked much better after their surgery than did the pessimists. The results of these studies clearly demonstrate that optimists deal with adverse situations better than pessimists. But the benefits of optimism are not limited to extreme situations like war and surgery. For example, investigators find that optimism affects how well students adjust to the challenges that come with the transition to college life. Freshman students with an optimistic outlook have a significantly easier time adjusting to the demands of their first quarter than do pessimistic students (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Condren & Greenglass, 2011). Clearly, dispositional optimists do a better job of handling stressful situations than pessimists. But why is this the case? What is it about optimists that helps them come through life’s crises and challenges so well? One answer is that optimists and Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Optimism and Pessimism 195 pessimists use different strategies to cope with their problems (Carver et al., 2010; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 2001). Optimists believe they can get things done, and so they are more likely to deal with their problems head-on—that is, to use active coping strategies (Chapter 6). On the other hand, pessimists are more likely to distract themselves or resort to denial when faced with a difficult problem. Consider an investigation that compared the coping strategies optimistic and pessimistic college students used when facing a big exam (Chang, 1998). As shown in Figure 8.5, the optimists dealt with the stress of the upcoming exam by using direct problem solving, such as preparing for the test and talking with other students about their experience. In contrast, the pessimists dealt with their anxiety by relying on wishful thinking and withdrawing from others. Another team of investigators looked at how newlyweds dealt with relationship issues (Neff & Geers, 2013). Compared to pessimistic spouses, optimists engaged in more problem-solving behaviors when the inevitable conflicts arose and had generally healthier relationships during their first year of marriage. Researchers find a similar pattern when examining optimists and pessimists facing other types of stressors. Optimistic cancer patients in one study were more likely than pessimists to use active coping strategies (Friedman et al., 1992). The optimistic patients did what they could to deal with their cancer and talked to other people about their feelings. The pessimistic patients avoided thinking about their situation and kept their feelings to themselves. The optimistic women in the breast cancer study mentioned earlier were more likely than the pessimists to make plans early in the course 35 Strategy Use Score 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Problem Cognitive Express Solving Restructuring Emotions Social Support Active Strategies Problem Wishful Avoidance Thinking SelfSocial Criticism Withdrawal Avoidance Strategies Optimists Pessimists Figure 8.5 Use of Coping Strategies Source: From Chang, E. C. (1998). Dispositional optimism and primary and secondary appraisal of a stressor. Journal of Personality and Social ­Psychology, 74, 1109–1120. Copyright © 1998 by the American Psychological Association. Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 196 Chapter 8 / The Trait Approach of the disease and to rely on such positive coping strategies as humor (Carver et al., 1993). The pessimistic patients were more likely to use denial. A similar pattern was found for the men recovering from bypass surgery (Scheier et al., 1989). Even the freshman students dealing with the stresses of entering college showed this different use of coping strategies. The optimistic students dealt with the stress of new classes, new friends, and new social pressures by trying to do something about these problems directly. The pessimistic students were more likely to pretend the problems did not exist or simply avoided dealing with them for as long as possible. Optimism and Health Researchers also find that optimism may be good for your health. Optimists are typically in better physical health than pessimists (Baker, 2007; Chopik, Kim, & Smith, 2015; Conway, Magai, Springer, & Jones, 2008; Rasmussen, Scheier, & Greenhouse, 2009; Segerstrom, 2007). In one study, researchers used essays written years earlier to determine how optimistic or pessimistic a group of men had been when they were 25 (Peterson, Seligman, & Vaillant, 1988). The investigators found that the ­optimists were in better health at ages 45 through 60 than were the pessimists. Another study examined individuals who experienced the death or severe illness of a loved one (­Kivimaki et al., 2005). Optimistic participants had fewer health problems in the 18 months following the event than those low in optimism. Why are optimists healthier than pessimists? The relationship between optimism and health appears to be complex, but investigators have identified several possible links (Peterson & Bossio, 2001). First, optimists are more likely than pessimists to develop wide social networks and to turn to friends in times of crisis (Brissette, Scheier, & Carver, 2002; Schollgen, Huxhold, Schuz, & Tesch-Romer, 2011; Smith, Ruiz, Cundiff, Baron, & Nealey-Moore, 2013). Numerous studies find that social support and a broad social network often contribute to better health (Rook, 2015). In contrast, one study found pessimistic women diagnosed with breast cancer tended to reduce contact with friends (Carver, Lehman, & Antoni, 2003). Second, optimism and pessimism can lead to physiological changes that affect one’s health. One team of researchers examined optimism among students during their first year of law school (Segerstrom & Sephton, 2010). Changes in optimism were related to changes in the strength of the students’ immune systems. When the law students felt more optimistic, they had stronger immune systems than when they were feeling more pessimistic. Another team of researchers found that pessimists, who tend to experience negative emotions more often than optimists, also tend to have higher blood pressure (Raikkonen & Matthews, 2008). Third, and perhaps the most likely reason optimists are healthier than pessimists, an optimistic outlook leads to the kinds of attitudes and behaviors that contribute to good health. One team of researchers looked at patients in a cardiac rehabilitation program (Shepperd, Maroto, & Pbert, 1996). Each participant entered the program after suffering a heart attack or having been diagnosed with some other cardiovascular problem. Compared to the pessimists in the program, the optimistic patients were more successful in reducing saturated fat from their diet, decreasing body fat, and increasing their aerobic capacity. These optimistic patients apparently decided they Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Summary 197 could reach their rehabilitation goals and did what it took to succeed. Other studies find that optimists pay more attention to relevant health information than do pessimists (Aspinwall & Brunhart, 1996), are more physically active, eat healthier foods (Geers, Wellman, Seligman, Wuyek, & Neff, 2010; Giltay, Geleijnse, Zitman, Buijsse, & Kromhout, 2007), and are less prone to health-destructive habits, such as substance abuse (Carvajal, Clair, Nash, & Evans, 1998). Finally, the fatalistic view taken by pessimists may prevent them from practicing reasonable safety and health precautions, such as wearing a seat belt or using a designated driver. One team of investigators found pessimists—particularly those who expect bad events to occur in a wide range of situations—were more likely than optimists to be involved in fatal accidents (Peterson, Seligman, Yurko, Martin, & Friedman, 1998). In sum, when people expect good or bad health outcomes, they act in ways that make those outcomes more likely to occur. Summary 1. Achievement motivation has been an important research topic for several decades. Much of the early work in this area was based on Henry Murray’s description of people high in need for Achievement. More recent investigations look at the effects of attributions and achievement goals on achievement behavior. Researchers find that mastery goals often lead to more achievement than performance goals. 2. Research on the Type A behavior pattern developed out of observations by medical professionals about people who suffer heart attacks. Although early researchers found a strong link between Type A behavior and cardiovascular problems, later studies did not always replicate these findings. Researchers now know that one Type A component— hostility—is responsible for the increase in cardiovascular problems found in the earlier studies. 3. Research on socially anxious people finds a number of characteristic behaviors that interfere with the shy person’s ability to interact effectively with others. Shy people tend to be self-conscious during social encounters, are reluctant to ask others for help, and often interpret feedback from their conversation partners as rejection. Research suggests that socially anxious people suffer from evaluation apprehension. Shy people avoid negative evaluation from others by limiting their social interactions or by keeping these interactions short and pleasant. The socially anxious persons’ lack of confidence makes initiating conversations especially difficult for them. 4. Although emotions fluctuate considerably over time and across situations, researchers have identified three ways our emotions can be examined in terms of relatively stable individual differences. Researchers place our emotions along two major dimensions, which they identify as positive affect and negative affect. Personality researchers also look at emotional intensity and at individual differences in the extent to which people express their emotions. Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 198 Chapter 8 / The Trait Approach 5. People can be identified along a continuum from dispositionally ­optimistic to dispositionally pessimistic. Researchers find optimists typically deal more effectively with adversity, probably because they use more active and direct coping strategies than pessimists. Optimists also tend to be in better health than pessimists. Among the reasons for this difference is that optimists are more likely to act in ways that lead to better health outcomes. Key Terms achievement goals (p. 171) emotional affectivity (p. 186) need for Achievement (p. 166) affect intensity (p. 188) emotional expressiveness (p. 191) social anxiety (p. 180) dispositional optimism (p. 193) evaluation apprehension (p. 183) Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.