Preference for negative emotions.

This research demonstrates that preference for emotions sometimes cannot be equated with a positive-negative valence dimension. Participants were asked to make choices between pairs of affect-inducing options opposite in valence but equal in activation. The results showed that in absence of contextual cues or situational constraints, choices followed a pleasure-maximizing principle. However, when information was provided about a context cueing appropriateness of certain emotions over others, a preference reversal was observed so that negative emotions were preferred over positive emotions. These results are discussed in relation to current theories of pleasure-maximizing choice and behavior.

[1]  Paul Slovic,et al.  The affect heuristic , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[2]  K. Scherer,et al.  Handbook of affective sciences. , 2003 .

[3]  P. Salovey,et al.  The wisdom in feeling: psychological processes in emotional intelligence , 2002 .

[4]  C. Gohm.  Mood regulation and emotional intelligence: individual differences. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[5]  W. Parrott.  Implications of dysfunctional emotions for understanding how emotions function. , 2001 .

[6]  James W. Pennebaker,et al.  The Handbook of Mental Control , 1992 .

[7]  C. Whissell,et al.  A Dictionary of Affect in Language: II. Word Inclusion and Additional Validation , 1985 .

[8]  I. Brocas,et al.  The psychology of economic decisions , 2003 .

[9]  Michel Cabanac,et al.  Pleasure in decision-making situations , 2002, BMC psychiatry.

[10]  B. Mellers.  Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. , 2000, Psychological bulletin.

[11]  Robert C. Solomon,et al.  On “Positive” and “Negative” Emotions , 2002 .

[12]  J. Russell.  Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. , 2003, Psychological review.

[13]  John Sabini,et al.  Mood and memory under natural conditions: Evidence for mood incongruent recall. , 1990 .

[14]  Tommy Gärling,et al.  The measurement of core affect: a Swedish self-report measure derived from the affect circumplex. , 2002, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[15]  Ellen Peters,et al.  The Construction of Preference: The Functions of Affect in the Construction of Preferences , 2006 .

[16]  E. Peters,et al.  THE FUNCTIONS OF AFFECT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PREFERENCES ( 2006 , 2008 .

[17]  T. Gärling,et al.  Does It Make You Happy Feeling This Way? A Core Affect Account of Preference for Current Mood , 2001 .

[18]  M. Cabanac.  Pleasure: the common currency. , 1992, Journal of theoretical biology.

[19]  D. Wegner,et al.  On being cool and collected: Mood regulation in anticipation of social interaction. , 1996 .

[20]  Michael D. Robinson,et al.  Knowing good from bad: the paradox of neuroticism, negative affect, and evaluative processing. , 2004, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[21]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Mental contamination and mental correction: unwanted influences on judgments and evaluations. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[22]  G. Loewenstein,et al.  The role of affect in decision making. , 2003 .

[23]  J. Bentham.  An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation , 1945, Princeton Readings in Political Thought.

[24]  P. Slovic.  The Construction of Preference , 1995 .

[25]  T. Gärling,et al.  The dimensionality of anticipated affective reactions to risky and certain decision outcomes. , 2002, Experimental psychology.

[26]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Back to Bentham? Explorations of experience utility , 1997 .

[27]  M. Manis.  Cognitive Social Psychology , 1977 .

[28]  J. Gross.  Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences. , 2002, Psychophysiology.

[29]  W. Parrott.  The functional utility of negative emotions. , 2002 .

[30]  W. Gerrod Parrott,et al.  Beyond hedonism: Motives for inhibiting good moods and for maintaining bad moods. , 1993 .

[31]  Christopher K. Hsee,et al.  Risk as Feelings , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Affective Forecasting , 2005 .

[33]  J. Payne,et al.  Measuring Constructed Preferences: Towards a Building Code , 1999 .

[34]  Leonard L. Martin,et al.  Beyond Hedonism and Associationism: A Configural View of the Role of Affect in Evaluation, Processing, and Self-Regulation , 1998 .