The social consequences of expressive suppression.

At times, people keep their emotions from showing during social interactions. The authors' analysis suggests that such expressive suppression should disrupt communication and increase stress levels. To test this hypothesis, the authors conducted 2 studies in which unacquainted pairs of women discussed an upsetting topic. In Study 1, one member of each pair was randomly assigned to (a) suppress her emotional behavior, (b) respond naturally, or (c) cognitively reappraise in a way that reduced emotional responding. Suppression alone disrupted communication and magnified blood pressure responses in the suppressors' partners. In Study 2, suppression had a negative impact on the regulators' emotional experience and increased blood pressure in both regulators and their partners. Suppression also reduced rapport and inhibited relationship formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"What is in a word? No versus Yes differentially engage the lateral orbitofrontal cortex": Correction.

Reports an error in "What is in a word? No versus Yes differentially engage the lateral orbitofrontal cortex" by Nelly Alia-Klein, Rita Z. Goldstein, Dardo Tomasi, Lei Zhang, Stephanie Fagin-Jones, Frank Telang, Gene-Jack Wang, Joanna S. Fowler and Nora D. Volkow (Emotion, 2007[Aug], Vol 7[3], 649-659). The supplemental materials link should appear as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.3.649.supp. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-11660-018.) The words "No" and "Yes" are involved in conditioning to prohibit or encourage behavior, respectively. The authors, therefore, hypothesized that these words would be attributed to endogenous valence, activating neuronal circuits involved with valence and emotional control. Functional MRI (fMRI) at 4 Tesla was used to record regional brain activity while participants were exposed to emphatic vocalizations of the words. Results showed that No and Yes were associated with opposite brain-behavior responses; while No was negatively valenced, produced slower response times, and evoked a negative signal in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), Yes was positively valenced, produced faster response times, and evoked a positive signal in a contiguous region of the OFC. Attribution of negative valence to No and trait anger control were associated with increased responsivity of the OFC to No. Inasmuch as sensitivity to the prohibitive command No develops during childhood through interaction with primary caregivers as the first social objects, our findings may implicate the lateral OFC in the neurobiology of emotion regulation and subsequent social development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Emotion-focused therapy: Coaching clients to work through their feelings.

Reviews the book, Emotion-focused therapy: Coaching clients to work through their feelings by Leslie S. Greenberg (see record 2002-00066-000). This book was written for both novice therapists who have had little experience working with emotions in treatment, as well as for experienced therapists looking to systematize their understanding of how emotional change works. The book is divided into four parts. Part I examines the nature and function of emotions. Part II examines the first part of emotional coaching--arriving at emotion. Part III examines the second part of emotional coaching--leaving emotion. Finally, Part IV examines the application of emotion-focused therapy to the problems of living, in the context of individuals, couples therapy, and parenting. This book offers a wealth of therapeutic techniques and theoretical principles about the process of change. As such, it is an important and natural companion to seminal works in cognitive behaviour therapy and interpersonal therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intensive filial therapy with child witnesses of domestic violence: A comparison with individual and sibling group play therapy.

The rationale for utilizing filial therapy as a treatment intervention with child witnesses of domestic violence while residing with their mothers in a shelter facility is explored and the effectiveness of an intensive 12-session filial therapy parent training group, conducted within 2-3 weeks, is described (n=11; aged 4-10 yrs). Results of analysis of covariance revealed that child witnesses in the experimental group significantly reduced behavior problems prevalent in child witnesses and significantly increased their self-concept as compared to child witnesses in the non-treatment comparison group. In addition, t-test results showed that mothers who facilitated treatment of the experimental group scored significantly higher after training on both their attitudes of acceptance and their empathic behavior. Comparative analysis revealed that intensive filial therapy as facilitated by the children's mothers was as effective in reducing behavior problems as was intensive individual play therapy and intensive sibling group play therapy as facilitated by professionally trained therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapists' reactions to treatment of survivors of political torture.

Working with survivors of political torture and war trauma can trigger strong emotional responses in the therapist. As more survivors seek treatment, it is essential to identify and develop robust support systems for therapists who help their clients confront nearly unspeakable experiences. The emotional reactions of 6 psychotherapists who worked with traumatized survivors in a refugee treatment center were explored. The psychotherapists' reactions were compared with those of therapists who worked in different treatment settings with other presenting problems. The results of the study show that the strong level of responsibility therapists feel for their traumatized clients may hide an emotional strain and may lead to burnout. Suggestions are offered for supporting therapists in this difficult but important work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamique motivationnelle de l'epuisement et du bien-etre chez des enseignants africains.

This study examines the links between antecedents and consequences of Gabonese teachers' (N= 152) work motivation. The theoretical underpinnings are based on the Motivational Model of Job Burnout (MMJB) which is grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and states that the more supervisors satisfy an employee's need for self-determination, competence, and relatedness, the more self-determined is the latter's work motivation. The level of self-determined motivation has an impact on job satisfaction, which in turn determines life satisfaction. Higher levels of self-determined motivation also buffer emotional exhaustion and psychological distress. The model was confirmed via structural equation modeling and provides support for the validity and generalizability of the MMJB and SDT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The confounded nature of angry men and happy women.

Findings of 7 studies suggested that decisions about the sex of a face and the emotional expressions of anger or happiness are not independent: Participants were faster and more accurate at detecting angry expressions on male faces and at detecting happy expressions on female faces. These findings were robust across different stimulus sets and judgment tasks and indicated bottom-up perceptual processes rather than just top-down conceptually driven ones. Results from additional studies in which neutrally expressive faces were used suggested that the connections between masculine features and angry expressions and between feminine features and happy expressions might be a property of the sexual dimorphism of the face itself and not merely a result of gender stereotypes biasing the perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Closer Examination of the Structured Written Disclosure Procedure.

The current study examined psychological and physical health outcomes of the written disclosure paradigm and the hypothesis that the principles of therapeutic exposure account for the beneficial effects of the paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either a written disclosure condition or a control condition. Reactivity to the writing sessions was examined using both subjective and physiological measures. Measures of psychological and physical health were completed before and 1 month after the sessions. Participants assigned to the disclosure condition reported fewer psychological and physical symptoms at follow-up compared with control participants, though reductions were clinically significant for only 1 outcome measure. Physiological activation to the 1st disclosure session was associated with reduced psychological symptoms at follow-up for disclosure participants. Subjective reports of emotional responding corresponded with physiological reactivity. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Benefits of a "Sidelong" Approach to Self-Esteem Need Satisfaction: Comment on Crocker and Park (2004).

J. Crocker and L. E. Park (2004) have achieved an admirable integration of the self-esteem literature with their claim that self-esteem is better conceived of as a dynamic human striving, rather than as a passive state or personality characteristic. However, the costs of self-esteem striving may be overstated--these costs may arise only in certain constrained cases. Also, although Crocker and Park suggested that self-esteem is not a true psychological need, there is evidence that humans in all cultures need to feel a positive sense of self-worth (K. M. Sheldon, in press). Problems may arise only when people strive too directly for this feeling, rather than deriving it as a natural concomitant of non-self-focused goals. A "sidelong" approach to self-esteem need satisfaction is advocated in this commentary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life task appraisals, spouse involvement in strategies, and daily affect among short- and long-term married couples.

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors and consequences of spouses' involvement in each others' strategies for pursuing important personal goals called life tasks. Husbands and wives within 39 short- and long-term marriages described five life tasks and provided appraisals of whether each was shared with their spouse. Participants later completed 14 consecutive diary entries recording daily life task pursuit strategies, the extent of spouse involvement in each, and measures of positive and negative affect. Results indicated that interdependence in life task appraisals prospectively predicted greater spouse involvement, and greater spouse involvement was associated with more positive affect for that day. Life task appraisals may provide avenues for understanding couples' strategies for dealing with goals or stressors and how those strategies affect mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)