Attentional bias to negative emotion as a function of approach and withdrawal anger styles: an ERP investigation.
Although models of emotion have focused on the relationship between anger and approach motivation associated with aggression, anger is also related to withdrawal motivation. Anger-out and anger-in styles are associated with psychopathology and may disrupt the control of attention within the context of negatively valenced information. The present study used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to examine whether anger styles uniquely predict attentional bias to negative stimuli during an emotion-word Stroop task. High anger-out predicted larger N200, P300, and N400 to negative words, suggesting that aggressive individuals exert more effort to override attention to negative information. In contrast, high anger-in predicted smaller N400 amplitude to negative words, indicating that negative information may be readily available (primed) for anger suppressors, requiring fewer resources. Individuals with an anger-out style might benefit from being directed away from provocative stimuli that might otherwise consume their attention and foster overt aggression. Findings indicating that anger-out and anger-in were associated with divergent patterns of brain activity provide support for distinguishing approach- and withdrawal-related anger styles.
Stewart
Jennifer L
JL
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. jlstewar@email.arizona.edu
Silton
Rebecca Levin
RL
Sass
Sarah M
SM
Fisher
Joscelyn E
JE
Edgar
J Christopher
JC
Heller
Wendy
W
Miller
Gregory A
GA
D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D019260:Expressed Emotion / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult