Symposia Abstracts
Genetic Contributions to Affect
Chaired by Turhan Canli
A Neural Model of Gene-Environment Interaction in Affective Processing
Turhan Canli, Stony Brook University
Neuroticism, a risk factor for depression, is associated with a repeat length variation in the transcriptional control region of the serotonin transporter gene, which renders carriers of the short variant vulnerable for depression when exposed to life stress. The neural basis of this association is unknown. We investigated the underlying neural mechanisms of these epigenetic processes in individuals with no history of psychopathology, using magnetic resonance-based imaging, genotyping, and self-reported life stress and rumination. Based on fMRI and perfusion data, we found support for a model by which life stress interacts with the effect of serotonin transporter genotype on amygdala and hippocampal resting activation, two regions involved in depression and stress. Life stress also differentially affected, as a function of serotonin transporter genotype, individuals’ level of rumination. We conclude that individual differences in vulnerability towards, or resilience against, mood disorders may be mediated by a gene x environment interaction. Neural correlates of these interactions are seen in brain regions previously associated with affective processing and brain response to stress, and may serve as biological vulnerability/resilience markers in future longitudinal studies.
Genetic Contributions to Emotional Disorders: Stress Reactivity and Emotion Regulation in Children at High Risk for Depression
Jutta Joormann, University of Miami, & Ian Gotlib, Stanford University
Recent research emphasizes the importance of integrating psychological and biological factors to gain a broader understanding of the onset and maintenance of mood and anxiety disorders. Important developments in this area include advances in molecular genetics and brain imaging. We investigated how a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene is related to neural correlates of emotion regulation and neuroendocrine responses to stressful situations. In a sample of girls at high risk for depression, a common variation in this gene was found to be related to increased cortisol response to a laboratory stressor and increased neural activation in response to a mood induction and during instructions to regulate the ensuing mood state. Furthermore, this polymorphism was related to cognitive biases in attention and memory that have been implicated in depression. These findings suggest an important role for the integration of genetic factors into our models of emotional disorders.
Nature and Nurture in the Cycle of Violence
Julia Kim-Cohen, Yale University
Children who have been physically maltreated show a wide variability in mental health outcomes. Although some maltreated children develop aggressive behavior problems, others are resilient and develop relatively fewer mental health concerns. Accumulating evidence suggests that a gene-environment interaction involving a polymorphism in the MAOA gene helps explain variability in outcomes among maltreated children. In this presentation, I will review the latest evidence regarding the role of MAOA and early emotional experiences in the cycle of violence, and discuss how genetic differences in the MAOA gene may set the stage for atypical patterns of emotion processing in development.
Genetic Variation in Monoamine Oxidase A and Aggressive Disposition: What Does the Gene Contribute?
Stephen B. Manuck, University of Pittsburgh, Janine D. Flory, Queens College-CUNY, Robert E. Ferrell, & Ahmad R. Hariri, University of Pittsburgh
To determine whether genetic variation in monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) affects motivational components of aggressive disposition, we assessed lifetime aggression histories (by semi-structured interview), trait hostility (Cook Medley Hostility Inventory [CMHI]), and a functional 30-bp VNTR in the regulatory region of the MAO-A gene among a community sample of 495 mid-life European-American men. Adjusted for cognitive and socioeconomic covariates, the 3- repeat variant of this length polymorphism predicted modestly elevated lifetime aggression scores, relative to a more common 4-repeat MAO-A allele (p<0.04). Although affective, attitudinal, and behavioral dimensions of hostility did not differ between men carrying the 3- and 4-repeat alleles, subjects' levels of lifetime aggression could be predicted from the interaction of MAO-A genotype with both total hostility (p<0.05) and the CMHI "aggressive hostility" subscale (p<0.005). Specifically, the 3-repeat allele (which reduces transcriptional efficiency of the MAO-A gene) was found associated with heightened aggressiveness among men who endorse attitudes licensing interpersonal confrontation and the exploitation of others, but not in men lacking such beliefs. These findings suggest that variation in the MAO-A gene may be more directly associated with the disinhibited expression of an antagonistic motivation than with the aggressive motivation itself.
Mixed Emotions
Chaired by Jennifer Lerner
Overview
The last two decades witnessed great advancement in our understanding of emotion elicitation. Studies demonstrated that emotions can arise without cognition, and they can arise through extensive cognition. Of particular interest here, appraisal theories of emotion have elucidated mechanisms of emotion elicitation. Specifically, appraisal theories posit that emotions do not arise unconditionally in response to certain types of events or situations (for review, Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003). Rather, an individual's subjective interpretation or evaluation of important events or situations shapes the emotion. Thus, similar situations can provoke a range of emotions in different individuals, or even the same individuals at different times.
There are, however, fundamental questions about emotion elicitation that have yet to be answered. Research to date has focused on the elicitation of an emotion from a neutral starting point. However, in real life, emotion-inducing events are rarely experienced in an emotional vacuum. Individuals experience a sequence of events throughout their day. Thus, in many cases, interactions between previous situations and a current situation may occur, thus modifying interpretations of the current event as well as emotions arising from it.
Neumann (2001) observed that, depending on the type of appraisals primed at the moment, the same situation evoked either anger or guilt in individuals. Building on the appraisal-tendency framework (Lerner and Keltner, 2001), which states that emotion appraisals carry over to subsequent situations, Page, Han, & Lerner (2007) found that anger inhibits the subsequent experience of sadness and vice versa. These findings are consistent with speculations by appraisal theorists (e.g., Ellsworth, 1991), who proposed that transitions between some emotions may be easier than transitions between other emotions, depending on the similarity of appraisals.
Now That I'm Sad, It's Hard to be Mad: Examining Emotion-State Transitions
Karen P. Winterich, Texas A&M University, Seunghee Han, Carnegie Mellon University, & Jennifer S. Lerner, Harvard University (presenter)
Building on the appraisal-tendency framework (Lerner & Keltner, 2000) and on cognitive appraisal theories of emotion (e.g., Smith & Ellsworth, 1985), we hypothesized that the experience of a sad state (as opposed to a neutral state) would inhibit the subsequent experience of anger. The rationale is that sadness and anger differ on the cognitive appraisal dimension of control - core appraisal for each emotion. Whereas sadness is associated with appraisals of situational control, anger is associated with appraisals of individual control (Smith & Ellsworth, 1985). We tested these ideas in two studies, each randomly assigning participants to emotion conditions at Time 1 (neutral or sad) and then examining responses to an anger induction at Time 2. Consistent with the hypothesis, results revealed that - compared to individuals in a neutral-emotion condition at Time 1 -- individuals in a sad-emotion condition at Time 1 -- were less likely to subsequently experience anger. The reverse sequence also held. Implications of these results for understanding the emotional milieu of daily life are discussed.
The Case for Mixed Emotions
Jeff T. Larsen, Texas Tech University & A. Peter McGraw, University of Colorado
Whereas the circumplex model contends that happiness and sadness are mutually exclusive, the evaluative space model allows for their co-occurrence. In an initial test of this hypothesis, Larsen, McGraw, and Cacioppo (2001) found that many moviegoers reported feeling both happy and sad after the tragicomic film Life Is Beautiful. We report several experiments designed to test alternative interpretations for this finding. Participants watched a control clip from Life is Beautiful or one containing ostensibly bittersweet scenes. One possibility is that Larsen et al.'s participants summarized their experience over time rather than reporting their current affective state. To examine this hypothesis, we asked Experiment 1's participants to press one button whenever they felt happy and another button whenever they felt sad as they watched the film. Participants who watched the bittersweet clip spent more time pressing both buttons at the same time than participants who watched the control clip. Another possibility is that participants in prior studies reported mixed emotions only because they were asked whether they felt happy and sad. To examine this hypothesis, in Experiment 2 we merely asked participants to describe their feelings immediately after the clip. Participants were more likely to spontaneously report mixed emotions after the bittersweet clip. Results of both studies provide further evidence that people can feel happy and sad at the same time.
Categorical Theories, Componential Theories, and Unusual Emotions
Phoebe C. Ellsworth, University of Michigan
I first describe research that compares categorical and componential (specifically appraisal) theories of anger, and of self-anger, which is more "unusual" in that is not included on anyone's list of basic emotions. According to appraisal theories, anger involves a negative event, usually the blocking of a goal, caused by another person. Critics argue that other-agency is unnecessary, since people can be angry at themselves, and thus that the appraisal theory account of anger is wrong. In two studies, we compared anger, self-anger, shame, and guilt, and found that self-anger shared some appraisals, action tendencies, and associated emotions with anger, others with shame and guilt. Self-anger was not simply anger with a different agency appraisal, but involved a more differentiated combination of components. From a componential point of view, the question of what is really anger and what is not makes no sense - emotions are fluid and dynamic, and the emotional experience changes whenever one of the component processes changes. If I have time, I will also describe some research on an emotion which is supposedly culturally unique - the Japanese emotion of amae - and discuss the ability of people in cultures which have no name for this feeling to experience it. I will conclude by discussing the incompatibility of componential and appraisal theories with any strict categorical view of emotions, and the inadequacy of emotion words to capture emotional experience.
Discussion of Mixed Emotions and Future Directions
Lisa Feldman Barrett, Boston College
Context Insensitivity in Emotion Responding and its Role in Psychopathology
Chaired by George Bonanno
Does Diminished Emotional Reactivity Predict a More Pernicious Course of Depression?
Jonathan Rottenberg, University of South Florida
Functionalist theories predict that aberrations in emotional responding have etiological significance for predicting the course of psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD). More specifically, it has been proposed that diminished emotional reactivity to both positive and negative emotional elicitors will predict a poorer course of MDD among those who are depressed. In this talk, I will first review prospective studies that used laboratory assessments of emotional reactivity to predict depression course. Second, I will present data from a study that used a non-laboratory assessment of emotional reactivity (the experience sampling method) to predict depression course. With some consistency, diminished emotional reactivity in both laboratory and in everyday life settings predicts a more pernicious course of MDD. I will close with a discussion of the implications of these findings for emotion theory and clinical application and comment on unresolved issues.
Context Insensitivity, Depression, and Recovery from Bereavement
George A. Bonanno & Karin G. Coifman, Teachers College, Columbia University
Historically, theories of bereavement emphasized working through the emotional pain of a loss. However, empirical studies show that greater negative emotion predicts a more prolonged grief course while positive emotions predict a more favorable grief course. In this talk we propose that emotion promotes recovery from loss, but only when it is context sensitive. We examined this hypothesis by measuring naturally occurring expressions of positive and negative emotion as bereaved participants described recent negative and positive memories. Consistent with the context insensitivity idea, bereaved people who were depressed at 4 months of bereavement remained depressed at 18 months if they (a) expressed less negative emotion while talking about a negative memory, (b) expressed less positive emotion while talking about a positive memory, and (c) felt less positive affect and more negative affect while talking about a positive memory.
Emotion in Asperger's Syndrome and Mania: Lessons from the Boundaries of Adaptation
Dacher Keltner, June Gruber, & Christopher Oveis, University of California, Berkeley
In this talk I outline the conceptual benefits for testing specific hypotheses concerning relations between psychological disorders and emotional processes. The benefits are that such research informs functional claims about emotion and leads to more precise conceptions of different disorders. To illustrate these two points, I then present data showing that Asperger's children show deficits only in emotions related to theory of mind (embarrassment, amusement) and that individuals prone to mania show elevated vagal tone, an Autonomic marker of pro-social emotion.
Timing is Everything: Unpacking the Nature of Emotion Deficits in Psychopathology
Ann Kring, University of California, Berkeley
Drawing from basic science research on emotion, we have argued that the time course of emotional responding is important for understanding emotion deficits in psychopathology. In this talk, I will illustrate the importance of emotion time course in schizophrenia and depression. First, I will present data from experience sampling, self-report, startle modulation, and fMRI studies to support the contention that schizophrenia patients have intact in-the-moment positive emotion experience when directly engaged in an enjoyable activity, or consummatory pleasure, but exhibit deficits in the experience of pleasure related to future activities, or anticipatory pleasure. Next, I will present self-report and startle modulation data on the time course of emotional responding in depression, showing that both consummatory and anticipatory processes are disrupted but that emotion changes over the course of treatment for depression.