Personality and emotions

Terminology

    
        –     Affect Valence
        –     Emotion Anger, sadness, joy…
        –     Stress response Basic fear
        –     Emotional episode Break-up, bar fight
        –     Mood Euphoria, depression

Dimensional approach

  • Broad dimensions of experience
    • Unpleasant vs. pleasant
    • Sleepy vs. aroused
  • Positive and negative affectivity

Discrete approach

–     Primary and distinct emotions

 E.g., anger, joy, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise.

Emotions are based on different criteria

  • Distinct facial expression that is cross-culturally recognized (Ekman)
  • It has unique motivational properties (Frijda; Izard)
  • Lights up in the brain (Gray; Tomkins)
  • It is unlearned or involves very little cognition (Mower; Oatley & Johnson-Laird)
  • Many more

States vs. Traits (Analogy: Weather vs. Climate)

Stdtes

  • Momentary
  • Situational

Trdits

  • Enduring
  • Tendencies

Measuring emotions

  • Dimensional
    • PANAS (Positive and negative affect schedule)
  • Discrete
    • Specific emotion ratings

Measuring emotions via behavior –      Nonverbal

 Facial expressions and body posture.

  • Verbal
    • Content
    • Intonation (Prosody)
  • Physiology
    • Heart rate
    • Cortisol levels
    • Skin temperature

Personality measures for well-being

  • High E  Positive emotions
  • High N  Negative emotions

Experiential purchasing and happiness

  • Experiential purchasing made with intention of acquiring a life experience.
  • Relatively buffered against adaptations.
    • Gives you something to look forward to
    • Social interactions likely
    • Memories and relationships  identity

Content vs. Style of emotional life

  • Content = The kind of emotions someone experiences.
  • Style = How emotions are experienced.
    • Intensity
    • Variability

Summary:

  • Knowing about how and why people differ in their emotional reactivity is important for understanding personality
  • Two major ways to study emotions are the dimensional and discrete approaches
  • Emotional states are fleeting, traits are enduring (remember weather vs. climate)
  • Emotions are mostly assessed via self-report, but actual behavior can also be measured Emotional traits offer a more specific way of looking at personality
  • When we talk about style of emotional life we are referring to how variable and intense people’s emotional experiences are