The blues broaden, but the nasty narrows: attentional consequences of negative affects low and high in motivational intensity.
Positive and negative affects high in motivational intensity cause a narrowing of attentional focus. In contrast, positive affects low in motivational intensity cause a broadening of attentional focus. The attentional consequences of negative affects low in motivational intensity have not been experimentally investigated. Experiment 1 compared the attentional consequences of negative affect low in motivational intensity (sadness) relative to a neutral affective state. Results indicated that low-motivation negative affect caused attentional broadening. Experiment 2 found that disgust, a high-motivation negative affect not previously investigated in attentional studies, narrowed attentional focus. These experiments support the conceptual model linking high-motivation affective states to narrowed attention and low-motivation affective states to broadened attention.
Gable
Philip
P
Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. pagable@gmail.com
Harmon-Jones
Eddie
E
D000339:Affect; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012858:Size Perception