title: Relationship between coping styles and perceptual asymmetry.
abstract: This study examined the relationship between coping styles and hemispheric asymmetry, on the basis of prior evidence of reduced posterior right hemisphere (RH) activity in depression, and the relationship between ruminative coping and depression. Two samples of undergraduates (N = 170) completed chimeric faces tasks and 2 measures of coping styles, the self-report Responses Styles Questionnaire and a behavioral choice task. In women but not in men, self-reported rumination was associated with a decreased RH bias on the emotion-based chimeric task. In both genders, choosing to engage in an emotional task was associated with increased RH involvement. Results indicate that although brooding and dwelling on the negative may be associated with decreased RH involvement, openness to emotion may be associated with increased RH involvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Haverford College, Pennsylvania 19041, USA. rcompton@haverford.edu
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.forename: Lauren R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McKeown
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muñoz
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors