Repression at encoding: Discrete appraisals of emotional stimuli.

In previous research, the emotions associated with repressors' memorial representations were found to be more discrete than those associated with nonrepressors'. In each of the 3 experiments reported here, repressive discreteness was apparent in repressors' appraisals of emotional stimuli at the time they were encoded. In 1 experiment, Ss appraised individual facial expressions of emotion. Repressors judged the dominant emotions in these faces as no less intense than did nonrepressors, but they appraised the blend of nondominant emotions as less intense than did nonrepressors. In the remaining 2 experiments, Ss appraised crowds of emotional faces as well as crowds of geometric shapes. In both crowd experiments, the repressive discreteness was evident in appraisals of crowds of emotional faces but not in appraisals of crowds of geometric shapes. The repressive discreteness effect did not appear to reflect a general repressor–nonrepressor difference in the appraisal of stimulus features. Rather, the results suggested that repressive discreteness may be constrained to appraisals of emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The 120-S minute: using analysis of work activity to prevent psychological distress among elementary school teachers

To avoid exposure to unpleasant or unwanted emotional material, some people may distract themselves by summoning up pleasant thoughts such as happy memories. Manipulation of negative affect might therefore result in heightened accessibility of pleasant thoughts and memories, contrary to hypotheses of mood-congruent recall. In Experiment 1, repressors were faster to recall happy memories after watching an unpleasant film than after watching a neutral film. Nonrepressors showed the opposite effect (i.e., mood-congruent memory). In Experiment 2, after an unpleasant film, repressors were faster to recall a happy memory than to recall a sad memory. In Experiment 3, repressors spontaneously generated pleasant thoughts after watching an unpleasant film, whereas nonrepressors did not. Thus, repressors apparently cope with exposure to negative affective material by accessing pleasant thoughts. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive defenses against emotional distress and the associative structure of repression.     

Repressive coping: Distraction using pleasant thoughts and memories.

To avoid exposure to unpleasant or unwanted emotional material, some people may distract themselves by summoning up pleasant thoughts such as happy memories. Manipulation of negative affect might therefore result in heightened accessibility of pleasant thoughts and memories, contrary to hypotheses of mood-congruent recall. In Experiment 1, repressors were faster to recall happy memories after watching an unpleasant film than after watching a neutral film. Nonrepressors showed the opposite effect (i.e., mood-congruent memory). In Experiment 2, after an unpleasant film, repressors were faster to recall a happy memory than to recall a sad memory. In Experiment 3, repressors spontaneously generated pleasant thoughts after watching an unpleasant film, whereas nonrepressors did not. Thus, repressors apparently cope with exposure to negative affective material by accessing pleasant thoughts. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive defenses against emotional distress and the associative structure of repression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall of early experience and the repressive coping style.

Investigated recall of early experience and the repressive coping style by testing hypotheses concerning restricted access to negative childhood memories and eliciting accounts of quality of parenting received. Ss were 37 undergraduate women (aged 18–38 yrs). Repressors free recalled fewer negative childhood memories than nonrepressors, and the age of 1st negative memory for repressors was older both in free recall and cued recall. Repressors also took longer to retrieve negative childhood memories but not positive memories. Repressors' accounts of their childhoods were more likely to be characterized by paternal antipathy and indifference, and they were less likely to report an emotionally or physically close relationship with their fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for a cyclic GMP-independent mechanism in the anti-platelet action of S-nitrosoglutathione

Using a directed forgetting task, the authors tested in 2 experiments the hypothesis that repressors would be superior to controls in forgetting negative experimental material. Consistent with previous studies, there was an overall directed forgetting effect, with significantly more to-be-remembered material recalled than to-be-forgotten (TBF) material. In both experiments, repressors forgot more negatively valenced words in the TBF set than did nonrepressors, suggesting that repressors have an enhanced capability for using retrieval inhibition. The data offer preliminary support for a cognitive account of repressors' deficits in recalling negative autobiographical memories.     

Repressive coping and the directed forgetting of emotional material.

Using a directed forgetting task, the authors tested in 2 experiments the hypothesis that repressors would be superior to controls in forgetting negative experimental material. Consistent with previous studies, there was an overall directed forgetting effect, with significantly more to-be-remembered material recalled than to-be-forgotten (TBF) material. In both experiments, repressors forgot more negatively valenced words in the TBF set than did nonrepressors, suggesting that repressors have an enhanced capability for using retrieval inhibition. The data offer preliminary support for a cognitive account of repressors' deficits in recalling negative autobiographical memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repressive emotional discreteness after failure.

The relationship between coping dispositions and emotional responses after failure in an anagram task was examined. Previous research indicated that only repressers' nondominant emotions were less intense compared to nonrepressers', whereas the dominant emotion was of equal intensity. Using an experimental design in which emotions were measured as they were actually felt, it was demonstrated that this effect, called repressive emotional discreteness, also is apparent during an emotional event. Compared to nonrepressers, repressers reported roughly the same amount of guilt, which was the dominant emotion after failure, but they showed lower self-rated fear, sadness, and hostility. No differential effects were observed regarding positive emotions after success, indicating that repressive discreteness is restricted to negative emotions. The implications of these findings for explaining the mechanism underlying repression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment styles and repressive defensiveness: The accessibility and architecture of affective memories.

One hundred and twenty Israeli students were classified into secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent attachment groups. They completed scales that tap the construct of repressive defensiveness and recalled early personal experiences of anger, anxiety, sadness, and happiness. Secure people reported moderate defensiveness and low anxiety and had easy access to negative memories without being overwhelmed by the spreading of the dominant emotional tone to nondominant emotions. Anxious ambivalent people were unable to repress negative affects, reported high anxiety, had easy access to negative memories, and could not inhibit emotional spreading. Avoidant people reported high levels of defensiveness and anxiety and showed low accessibility to negative memories. The discussion emphasizes the parallel between a person's interaction with the social world and the makeup of his or her inner world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical evidence for a compensatory relationship between dream content and repression.

The present study empirically examines the expression of 4 drive-related themes (feeding, aggression, avoidance, and sexual activity) in the manifest content of repressors' and nonrepressors' dreams. The results revealed that repressors generated more aggressive and less avoidant thematic dream content than nonrepressors. Given repressors' denial of aggression and their focus on an avoidant style of coping (D. Weinberger, 1990), the findings are discussed in terms of a compensatory relationship between repressors' waking and dreaming modes of adaptation. Examination of the manifest content of the dream narrative may add to understanding the motivational underpinnings of the repressive coping style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frontal brain activation in repressors and nonrepressors.

Assessed whether resting anterior asymmetry would discriminate individual differences in repressive-defensive coping styles. In 2 sessions, resting electroencephalogram was recorded from female adults during 8 60-sec baselines. Ss were classified as repressors or nonrepressors on the basis of scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). In midfrontal and lateral frontal sites, repressors demonstrated relative left hemisphere activation when compared with other groups. The MC, but not the STAI or the BDI, contributed unique variance to frontal asymmetry. Relative left frontal activation may be linked to a self-enhancing regulatory style that promotes lowered risk for psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more evocative than retrospection.

The results of 5 experiments indicate that people report more intense emotions during anticipation of, than during retrospection about, emotional events that were positive (Thanksgiving Day), negative (annoying noises, menstruation), routine (menstruation), and hypothetical (all-expenses-paid ski vacation). People's tendency to report more intense emotion during anticipation than during retrospection was associated with a slight, but only occasionally significant, tendency for people to expect future emotions to be more intense than they remembered past emotions having been. The greater evocativeness of anticipation than retrospection was also associated with and statistically mediated by participants' tendency to report mentally simulating future emotional events more extensively than they report mentally stimulating past emotional events. The conclusion that anticipation is more evocative than retrospection has implications for research methodology, clinical practice, decision making, and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing recollective experience in true and false autobiographical memories.

This study investigated whether true autobiographical memories are qualitatively distinct from false autobiographical memories using a variation of the interview method originally reported by E. F. Loftus and J. Pickrell (1995). Participants recalled events provided by parents on 3 separate occasions and were asked to imagine true and false unremembered events. True memories were rated by both participants and observers as more rich in recollective experience and were rated by participants as more important, more emotionally intense, as having clearer imagery, and as less typical than false memories. Rehearsal frequency was used as a covariate, eliminating these effects. Imagery in true memories was most often viewed from the field perspective, whereas imagery in false memories was most often viewed from the observer perspective. More information was communicated in true memories, and true memories contained more information concerning the consequences of described events. Results suggest repeated remembering can make false memories more rich in recollective experience and more like true memories. Differences between true and false memories suggest some potentially distinct characteristics of false memories and provide insight into the process of false memory creation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression and the inaccessibility of affective memories.

Examined 3 groups of Ss (repressors, low anxious, and high anxious) under 6 conditions of recall (general, happy, sad, anger, fear, and wonder). Ss were asked to recall personal experiences from childhood and to rate their current mood and the affective intensity of the memories. Repressors recalled significantly fewer negative memories than did low-anxious and high-anxious Ss and were substantially older at the time of the earliest negative memory recalled. Compared with low-anxious Ss, repressors also recalled fewer positive affective memories as well. This pattern of findings is consistent with the hypothesis that repression involves an inaccessibility to negative emotional memories and indicates further that repression is associated in some way with the suppression or inhibition of emotional experiences in general. The concept of repression as a process involving limited access to negative affective memories appears to be valid. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in autobiographical memory for childhood emotional experiences.

Research to date has paid remarkably little heed to gender differences in autobiographical memory. To redress this, the author examined memory for childhood events in adult men and women remembering back to childhood, and in children themselves. Five studies were conducted, and results revealed that females consistently recalled more childhood memories than males did and were generally faster in accessing the memories recalled. Furthermore, the gender difference observed was specific to memories of events associated with emotion and was apparent across a diverse range of emotions experienced by both the self and others. The overall pattern of findings obtained is consistent with the proposition that gender-differentiated socialization processes influence the content and complexity of representations of autobiographical emotional events in memory. To some extent, then, autobiographical memory appears to be a socially constructed phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming a better person: Temporal remoteness biases autobiographical memories for moral events.

Our autobiographical self depends on the differential recollection of our personal past, notably including memories of morally laden events. Whereas both emotion and temporal recency are well known to influence memory, very little is known about how we remember moral events, and in particular about the distribution in time of memories for events that were blameworthy or praiseworthy. To investigate this issue in detail, we collected a novel database of 758 confidential, autobiographical narratives for personal moral events from 100 well-characterized healthy adults. Negatively valenced moral memories were significantly more remote than positively valenced memories, both as measured by the valence of the cue word that evoked the memory as well as by the content of the memory itself. The effect was independent of chronological age, ethnicity, gender or personality, arguing for a general emotional bias in how we construct our moral autobiography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MRI-radiofrequency tissue tagging in patients with aortic insufficiency before and after operation

We examined the relation between language dominance and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP). A previous report limited to three patients suggested that dominant rather than nondominant hemisphere IAP may have a differential effect on rCBF. Behavioral assessment during the IAP also suggests that dominant hemisphere injection results in a differential effect on memory and affective symptoms rather than nondominant injection. Thirteen patients were assessed using single-photon emission CT (SPECT) brain imaging during both left and right IAP. The SPECTs were coregistered with the individual's MRI. Changes in rCBF during each IAP were compared with the patient's baseline SPECT. Nine patients had left hemisphere dominance, two were right dominant, and two had bilateral speech representation. In the left dominant subjects, left-hemisphere injection had a consistently greater effect on rCBF than right-hemisphere injection in the anterior (p < 0.005) and posterior (p < 0.01) temporal neocortex. There was also a trend for greater hypoperfusion in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. rCBF in the ipsilateral hippocampus was not significantly different after each injection (p > 0.05). In the two patients with right hemisphere speech, the reverse pattern was seen, with greater hypoperfusion after right (dominant) hemisphere injection. There was no consistent asymmetry in the two patients with bilateral speech. Dominant hemisphere IAP results in significantly greater hypoperfusion than does nondominant injection. These data provide a physiologic basis for behavioral differences noted after dominant versus nondominant IAP.     

When the future feels worse than the past: A temporal inconsistency in moral judgment.

Logically, an unethical behavior performed yesterday should also be unethical if performed tomorrow. However, the present studies suggest that the timing of a transgression has a systematic effect on people's beliefs about its moral acceptability. Because people's emotional reactions tend to be more extreme for future events than for past events, and because such emotional reactions often guide moral intuitions, judgments of moral behavior may be more extreme in prospect than in retrospect. In 7 studies, participants judged future bad deeds more negatively, and future good deeds more positively, than equivalent behavior in the equidistant past. In addition, participants thought that future unfair actions deserved more punishment than past unfair actions, and were more willing to sacrifice their own financial gain to be treated fairly in the future compared with in the past. These patterns were explained in part by the stronger emotions that were evoked by thoughts of future events than by thoughts of past events. Taken together, the results suggest that permission for actions with ethical connotations may be harder to get than forgiveness for those same actions, and demonstrate a systematic way in which moral judgments of the same action are inconsistent across time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental Changes in Facial Expressions of Emotions in the Strange Situation During the Second Year of Life.

Infants' expressions of discrete emotions were coded during the more stressful episodes (4 through 8) of the Strange Situation at 13 and 18 months. The data showed a significant decrease in full-face expressions (more complex configurations of movements) and a significant increase in component expressions (simpler and more constrained patterns of movements). The authors interpreted this trend as a developmental change toward more regulated and less intense emotions. Consistent with this view, the aggregate index of infants' full-face negative emotion expressions, interpreted as reflecting relatively unregulated intense emotions, correlated significantly with maternal ratings of difficult temperament. The authors discuss alternative interpretations of the findings in terms of changes in reactivity/arousability and the emerging capacity for self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in the memory representation of emotional episodes: Exploring the cognitive processes in repression.

Two studies investigated the influence of a repressive coping style on the availability and accessibility of emotion memories. In Study 1 participants rated the presence and intensity of emotions in several scenarios and then estimated the frequency of emotions in the scenarios. Repressors did not process the scenarios more superficially. Repressors indicated the presence of unpleasant emotions in the scenarios less frequently, but not less intensely. The frequency differences accounted for most of the repression effects in the latter frequency judgments. In Study 2 participants judged the frequency of emotions twice a day for 2 weeks and then judged the frequency of emotions for the 1st and 2nd week. Repression effects in the frequency judgments did not increase with longer retention intervals. The results indicate that a repressive coping style influences mainly the experience of emotions but not so much the accessibility of emotion memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)