Several existing theories of emotion and motivation assume that positive emotion is consistently associated with approach motivation (the urge to move toward the environment) and that negative emotion is consistently associated with withdrawal motivation (the urge to move away from the environment). Recent research on the negative emotion of anger has revealed that it is associated with approach rather than withdrawal motivation, highlighting the importance of considering motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) as a separate dimension from valence (positive vs. negative). This suggests the possibility that anger, although negative, may have important associations with certain types of positive emotions, because of their underlying associations with approach motivation. The proposed research will investigate how anger and approach-oriented positive emotion influence each other, and specifically test the novel, counterintuitive hypothesis that positive emotion high in approach motivation may increase anger responses. Experiments will be conducted to examine the effect of positive emotions that differ in approach motivational intensity on anger responses. Additional experiments will examine facial/body expressions of approach-oriented positive emotions and how they relate to facial/body expressions of anger. In the proposed experiments, emotions will be evoked in the laboratory and multiple system measurements of the physiological, behavioral, and subjective features of emotion will be taken. Â The research will extend the understanding of the structure and function of emotions, and provide a more detailed understanding of the interplay between emotion, cognition, and behavior. The results of the proposed research will yield a more complete understanding of how certain positive emotions may increase anger and aggression, whereas other positive emotions may decrease anger and aggression. The increased understanding gained by the proposed research will assist in what therapists, educators, and educated lay persons learn and advise or use when applying research on positive emotions to life tasks and relationships.
Intellectual Merit: Many conceptualizations of emotion and motivation posit that positive affect is always associated with the motivational urge to go toward things (approach) and that negative affect is always associated with the motivational urge to go away from things (withdraw). Recent research on the negative affect of anger has revealed that it is associated with approach rather than withdrawal motivation. This research points out the importance of considering motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) as a separate dimension from affective valence (positive vs. negative). Consideration of these results also suggests the possibility that anger, although negative, may have important associations with certain types of positive affects, because of their underlying associations with approach motivation. The research supported by this grant investigated the relationships between anger and approach-oriented positive affect. Experiments revealed that a prototypic approach-oriented positive emotional facial expression, determination, was perceptually confused with the facial expression of anger. In contrast, the positive facial expression of joy was never confused with the anger facial expression. Another experiment revealed that non-invasively stimulating the left frontal cortex, a brain region involved in approach motivation, led to the subjective experience of anger being more predictive of behavioral aggression. Finally, experiments revealed that participants induced to think broadly (something that happens during the experience of low approach positive affect) became less angry, as compared to when they are induced to think narrowly. Broader Impacts: Understanding how positive affects of differing approach motivational intensities relate to anger responses will assist in what therapists, educators, and educated laypersons learn and advise or use when applying research on positive affects to life tasks and relationships. Emotional expressions often determine how words and other actions are interpreted. These expressions can also trigger emotional responses in other people, which further influence the interpretations and reactions to the other person. Empirical understanding of the expressions of certain forms of positive affect and their relationships with anger will aid individuals in their quest to identify and then manage their own and others’ emotional reactions and relationships. Accurate interpretations of others’ emotional expressions are important in relationships between doctors and patients, co-workers, and parents and children. For example, the facial expression of the positive affect "determination" was found to be perceptually confused with anger. Knowing that determination looks like anger will assist in coaching individuals to control their hostile biases. Also, knowledge of how facial expressions affect other emotion variables (physiology, behavior) may be useful in treating clinical conditions associated with over- or under-activation of approach motivation. Because anger is a potential contributor to cardiovascular disease, the research suggests ways of reducing cardiovascular disease. Also, the research assists in understanding disorders associated with approach motivation, such as bipolar disorder and interpersonal violence. The research also aids in our understanding of clinical disorders such as mania, a psychological disorder associated with periods of intense approach affects, both positive (euphoria) and negative (irritability). In addition to these impacts, the research promoted teaching, training, and learning, as undergraduate and graduate students participated in all portions of the research. The PI worked closely with students from both underrepresented and well-represented groups. The results of the research have been and will continue to be disseminated widely in addresses at conferences, in peer-reviewed publications, in edited books, and on the internet.
