dc.contributor.author
Citron, Francesca M. M.
dc.contributor.author
Abugaber, David
dc.contributor.author
Herbert, Cornelia
dc.date.accessioned
2018-06-08T03:49:46Z
dc.date.available
2016-02-01T09:34:54.896Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/16005
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-20191
dc.description.abstract
The affective dimensions of emotional valence and emotional arousal affect
processing of verbal and pictorial stimuli. Traditional emotional theories
assume a linear relationship between these dimensions, with valence
determining the direction of a behavior (approach vs. withdrawal) and arousal
its intensity or strength. In contrast, according to the valence-arousal
conflict theory, both dimensions are interactively related: positive valence
and low arousal (PL) are associated with an implicit tendency to approach a
stimulus, whereas negative valence and high arousal (NH) are associated with
withdrawal. Hence, positive, high-arousal (PH) and negative, low-arousal (NL)
stimuli elicit conflicting action tendencies. By extending previous research
that used several tasks and methods, the present study investigated whether
and how emotional valence and arousal affect subjective approach vs.
withdrawal tendencies toward emotional words during two novel tasks. In Study
1, participants had to decide whether they would approach or withdraw from
concepts expressed by written words. In Studies 2 and 3 participants had to
respond to each word by pressing one of two keys labeled with an arrow
pointing upward or downward. Across experiments, positive and negative words,
high or low in arousal, were presented. In Study 1 (explicit task), in line
with the valence-arousal conflict theory, PH and NL words were responded to
more slowly than PL and NH words. In addition, participants decided to
approach positive words more often than negative words. In Studies 2 and 3,
participants responded faster to positive than negative words, irrespective of
their level of arousal. Furthermore, positive words were significantly more
often associated with “up” responses than negative words, thus supporting the
existence of implicit associations between stimulus valence and response
coding (positive is up and negative is down). Hence, in contexts in which
participants' spontaneous responses are based on implicit associations between
stimulus valence and response, there is no influence of arousal. In line with
the valence-arousal conflict theory, arousal seems to affect participants'
approach-withdrawal tendencies only when such tendencies are made explicit by
the task, and a minimal degree of processing depth is required.
en
dc.rights.uri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject
polarity effects
dc.subject.ddc
100 Philosophie und Psychologie::150 Psychologie
dc.title
Approach and Withdrawal Tendencies during Written Word Processing
dc.type
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
dcterms.bibliographicCitation
Front. Psychol. - 6 (2016), Artikel Nr. 1935
dc.title.subtitle
Effects of Task, Emotional Valence, and Emotional Arousal
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01935
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01935
refubium.affiliation
Erziehungswissenschaft und Psychologie
de
refubium.mycore.fudocsId
FUDOCS_document_000000023834
refubium.note.author
Der Artikel wurde in einer Open-Access-Zeitschrift publiziert.
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
refubium.mycore.derivateId
FUDOCS_derivate_000000005935
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access