The proposed research examines the utility of an integration of appraisal and motivation theories in understanding the organization of the physiological activity in emotions. Of particular interest is the construct of task engagement, and its motivational antecedents. Toward this end, there are three specific aims: (1) to refine the heretofore unidimensional construct of task engagement to reflect its separate components of attention and effort, and to explore the degree to which these separate components correspond to different parameters of autonomic activity, i.e., cardiovascular (CV) vs. skin conductance (SC) activity; (2) to examine the extent to which an integrated appraisal/motivational position can account for variability in task engagement and its associated autonomic activity; and, (3) to test whether this integrated perspective can provide a better account of the autonomic activity associated with emotion than a more traditional discrete emotions perspective. Two experiments will address these specific aims. In Experiment 1, the attentional and effort-related components of engagement will be isolated and their independent relations to SC and CV activity will be documented. In Experiment 2, motivation will be manipulated and appraisal assessed in order to model the specific relations between them; in addition, this unified model will be tested against a discrete emotions approach.
| Wright, Rex A; Kirby, Leslie D (2003) Cardiovascular correlates of challenge and threat appraisals: a critical examination of the biopsychosocial analysis. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 7:216-33 |
