Anger is an emotion sorely in need of an improved public profile. Its association with overt violent aggression has masked its original purpose, namely, to be a useful and motivating force to engineer our survival. An emotion designed to serve us well in the face of injustice and threat has become the means by which injustice is perpetuated by the strong and powerful, against the weak and vulnerable. The expression of anger is often misguided, dysfunctional and misplaced with terrible consequences for society, including road rage. Yet there is increasing evidence that the suppression of anger is associated with negative health-related conditions including heart disease, cancer, mental illness, substance abuse and eating disorders. Evidence suggests that anger has a three-stage structure of socialised reactivity, biological anger generation and environmentally acquired action and expression. As a result of this six-year research study, ten key principles of anger expression have emerged, suggesting that anger can be learned in both informal and formal institutional education by both children and adults. These principles were incorporated into a pilot program aimed to educate rather than eliminate anger expression, in a health promotion program involving 25 self-selected Canberra women. This program formed part of a wider study of acquired anger management experiences through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Results from the study are presented as a core of learned and learnable knowledge about anger, as modules of information. These modules can be adapted and modified for any learning forum, including schools, adult education, career-related education and inservice training. Suggestions for the packaging of these component parts are provided, together with guidelines for reaching target groups. This thesis contends that each individual has the right to know and utilise this information and can use anger to achieve beneficial outcomes for themselves. If anger expression is inappropriate and dysfunctional, so will be its effects. If anger expression is appropriate and functional, then it can have a positive and beneficial outcome.

Within the framework of the Story Model of juror decision making, using an actual personal injury automobile accident case, this thesis investigated the influence of mock jurors??? emotional response to an injured plaintiff on decisions about defendant liability and the plaintiff???s contributory negligence as well as the efficacy of procedural legal safeguards to control any such biases. Study One validated the Story Model of juror decision making in individual decisions, and revealed that mock jurors failed to consider the requisite legal elements in rendering a verdict. Study Two ascertained participants??? affective response to a mock trial in which evidence relevant to liability was held constant and the severity of the plaintiff???s injuries differed. A multiple mediator model revealed that sympathy for the plaintiff and anger toward the defendant mediated the relation between injury severity and determinations of the relative culpability of the parties. Study Three demonstrated that mock jurors exposed to emotionally evocative damages evidence constructed stories about the defendant???s liability and the plaintiff???s contributory negligence that differed from those constructed in response to emotionally neutral evidence. Study Four showed that the process of group deliberation failed to correct the misuse of evidence relevant to damages in liability decisions. However, Study Five demonstrated that judicial admonitions both acknowledging mock jurors??? emotional response to the evidence and explaining why this response was irrelevant to judgments of liability moderated the influence of emotional states on decisions about liability and contributory negligence. Study Six indicated that jury-eligible citizens??? conceptions of negligence law closely matched the normative model of negligence law, and that their mental models of negligence cases that ended successfully for the plaintiff featured more severely injured plaintiffs than those that ended unsuccessfully for the plaintiff. These studies addressed analytical and methodological weaknesses in previous research, resolved conflicting findings on fusion of liability and damages, provided direct empirical support for the central premise of the Story Model of juror decision making, and advanced knowledge on the influence of emotion on decisions in civil legal cases.

<p>Denna uppsats belyser empati ur ett troligen helt nytt perspektiv genom att likna empatiprocessen vid den suggestibla som ”den andres” förmedlande av stimu¬lus, vilket av målpersonen mottages, processas och därefter ofta resulterar i en, hos målpersonen, genuint upplevd känsla eller uppfattning. I uppsatsen förslås vidare att empati och suggestibilitet skiljer sig ifrån övrig form av var¬seblivning genom det radikala internaliserandet av stimulus som de ofta ska¬par hos målpersonen. Studiens syfte var att, baserat på detta förslag, utreda om det finns ett samband mellan empati och suggesti¬bilitet. En studie utförd med 42 per¬soner påvisade en tendens till samband mellan suggestibilitet och empati samt att kvinnor var signifikant mer suggestibla än män. Framtida forskning bör fortsatt testa om suggestibilitet kan förklara empati.</p>

<p>Svenska elevers resultat i matematik har försämrats det senaste årtiondet. Forskning på området indikerar att undervisningen i matematik ofta byggs upp kring ett läromedel, som eleverna kan har svårt att ta till sig och förstå. Vidare visar forskningen att elevers emotioner vid matematikundervisning skapar ångest, vilket negativt påverkar deras förmåga att lära. Undersökningen syftar till att granska hur elevers läromedel, deras emotioner och deras lärande samspelar. Undersökningsmaterialet består av djupintervjuer med fem elever som förra året läste matematik A på gymnasial nivå. Resultatet indikerar att elever har djupa känslomässiga reaktioner på olika aspekter av sitt läromedel, såsom språkbruket, bilderna, färgvalet och kompositionen. De mest framträdande emotionerna hos eleverna var skamkänslan och känslan av stress och oro. Dessa emotioner påverkade elevernas lärande negativt. Slutsatsen är att elevernas motivation till att lära matematik skulle kunna öka om deras emotioner i förhållande till läromedlet beaktas, varför läromedlets utformning med fördel skulle kunna ändras. Att lämna idén med ett läromedel som ska passa alla till förmån för idén att skapa fler läromedel som på olika sätt appellerar till olika elever kan också vara en väg att gå för att optimera lärandet i matematik hos elever i den svenska skolan idag</p>

Although schizophrenia is a biologically-based disorder, environmental stress (including stress within familial relationships) plays a major role in the onset and maintenance of symptoms. This study examined family variables that have implications for psychotherapeutic treatment of schizophrenia. Previous research has found Communication Deviance (CD), Expressed Emotion (EE), and family cohesion (FC) to be related to symptom severity. However, the exact nature of the relationship between these constructs is unclear. The current study tested a model whereby the tone and content of family member’s communication (EE) and the sense of family unity (FC) are hypothesized to mediate the relationship between CD and psychiatric symptoms. This model stems from the theory that high CD is likely to be experienced as frustrating because it hinders relatives’ communication goals. Thus, relatives may resort to more critical and hostile methods of expressing their thoughts (High EE). Simultaneously, inability to share experiences in a clear manner may lead patients and family members to feel more disconnected (low FC). High EE and low FC in turn were hypothesized to lead to increased symptoms. This study did not find support for the above model. Communication Deviance was not related to severity of psychiatric symptoms, and Expressed Emotion and family cohesion were also unrelated to communication deviance and psychiatric symptoms in the larger model. Higher family cohesion was related to fewer psychiatric symptoms when looking at individual correlations, but this relationship disappeared once other variables were included in analyses. The largely null study findings may be due to limited variance in many of our primary study variables (e.g., CD, family cohesion). Other explanations are also entertained.

Research has found that positive affect broadens attention. However, the type of positive affect previously manipulated has been low in approach motivation. High approach-motivated positive affect should reduce the breadth of attention, as organisms shut out irrelevant perceptions and cognitions while they approach and attempt to acquire desired objects. Three studies examined the attentional consequences of approach-motivated positive affect states. Consistent with predictions, participants showed less global attentional focus after viewing approach-motivating positive pictures as compared to neutral pictures (Studies 1 and 2). Specifically, Study 1 used approach-motivating pictures of appetitive desserts, while Study 2 used pictures of cute animals. Neutral pictures were of varying neutral objects. Study 3 manipulated both affect and approach motivation. Less global focus was found for participants who viewed the approach-motivating pictures and had the expectancy to obtain the items as compared to other participant groups. The results indicate that high approach-motivated positive affect reduces the breadth of attentional focus, in contrast to the broadening of attentional focus that has been found with low approach-motivated positive affect.

Även om närhet är ett fenomen som flitigt studerats i tidigare forskning, har relativt lite fokus legat på dess egentliga innebörd för människor. Med hjälp av ett fenomenologiskt angreppssätt intervjuadess sex personer, med anknytning till det nutida svenska samhället, om vad närhet innebär och hur det upplevs för dem. Resultatet visade att närhet främst är ett emotionellt tillstånd som kännetecknas av ett ömsesidigt genuint intresse mellan de inblandade parterna vad gäller dessas personlighet såväl som välmående. Även om ett behov av närhet tycks finnas universellt hos människor, påverkar sociala och samhälleliga villkor hur detta behov kan ges utlopp och uttryck. Jämförelser görs till Rollo Mays existentialistiska teori om det mänskliga varats grundpelare, samt till Anthony Giddens' sociohistoriska analys av mänskliga relationer.

Svenska elevers resultat i matematik har försämrats det senaste årtiondet. Forskning på området indikerar att undervisningen i matematik ofta byggs upp kring ett läromedel, som eleverna kan har svårt att ta till sig och förstå. Vidare visar forskningen att elevers emotioner vid matematikundervisning skapar ångest, vilket negativt påverkar deras förmåga att lära. Undersökningen syftar till att granska hur elevers läromedel, deras emotioner och deras lärande samspelar. Undersökningsmaterialet består av djupintervjuer med fem elever som förra året läste matematik A på gymnasial nivå. Resultatet indikerar att elever har djupa känslomässiga reaktioner på olika aspekter av sitt läromedel, såsom språkbruket, bilderna, färgvalet och kompositionen. De mest framträdande emotionerna hos eleverna var skamkänslan och känslan av stress och oro. Dessa emotioner påverkade elevernas lärande negativt. Slutsatsen är att elevernas motivation till att lära matematik skulle kunna öka om deras emotioner i förhållande till läromedlet beaktas, varför läromedlets utformning med fördel skulle kunna ändras. Att lämna idén med ett läromedel som ska passa alla till förmån för idén att skapa fler läromedel som på olika sätt appellerar till olika elever kan också vara en väg att gå för att optimera lärandet i matematik hos elever i den svenska skolan idag

The emotion hypothesis of startle eyeblink modification posits that potentiated eyeblinks are observed in response to fear/disgust (aversive) pictures and eyeblink inhibition occurs in response to pleasant (appetitive) pictures due to the degree to which the stimuli match with the aversive startle probe. Stimuli high in arousal elicit exaggerated responses. Four studies sought to investigate the effect of angering pictures on the startle eyeblink response. Three potential hypotheses were posed: 1) given anger's high levels of arousal and negativity, eyeblinks will be potentiated like those to fear/disgust pictures; 2) given anger's arousing and appetitive qualities, eyeblinks will be inhibited like those to pleasant pictures; 3) anger's arousal, negativity, and approach qualities will balance each other out causing eyeblinks resembling those in response to neutral pictures. Study 1 supported the third hypothesis in that eyeblinks to angering and neutral pictures did not differ, despite angering pictures being rated higher on arousal and anger and lower in valence. These results replicated in Study 2 with a different set of angering pictures. Also, Study 2 demonstrated that dysphoric participants exhibited potentiated eyeblinks during angering pictures much like eyeblinks during fear/disgust stimuli, whereas non-dysphoric participants did not. Ratings of pictures on arousal, valence, and anger did not differ between groups. Constructive patriotism related to inhibited eyeblinks during angering pictures. Study 3 found that dysphoric participants rated angering pictures higher in fear than did non-dysophoric participants, suggesting that the potentiated eyeblinks observed in Study 2 were a result of greater perceived fear. Study 4 again showed that eyeblinks during angering and neutral pictures did not differ, and that constructive patriotism related to inhibited eyeblinks. Taken together, results are consistent with the third hypothesis and suggest that angering stimuli elicit eyeblinks much like those to neutral stimuli due to the competing influences of arousal, valence, and motivation on the startle eyeblink reflex.

When people interact with each other, they not only listen to what the other says, they react to facial expressions, gaze direction, and head movement. Human-computer interaction would be enhanced in a friendly and non-intrusive way if computers could understand and respond to users’ body language in the same way. This thesis aims to investigate new methods for human computer interaction by combining information from the body language of the head to recognize the emotional and cognitive states. We concentrated on the integration of facial expression, eye gaze and head movement using soft computing techniques. The whole procedure is done in two-stage. The first stage focuses on the extraction of explicit information from the modalities of facial expression, head movement, and eye gaze. In the second stage, all these information are fused by soft computing techniques to infer the implicit emotional states. In this thesis, the frequency of head movement (high frequency movement or low frequency movement) is taken into consideration as well as head nods and head shakes. A very high frequency head movement may show much more arousal and active property than the low frequency head movement which differs on the emotion dimensional space. The head movement frequency is acquired by analyzing the tracking results of the coordinates from the detected nostril points. Eye gaze also plays an important role in emotion detection. An eye gaze detector was proposed to analyze whether the subject's gaze direction was direct or averted. We proposed a geometrical relationship of human organs between nostrils and two pupils to achieve this task. Four parameters are defined according to the changes in angles and the changes in the proportion of length of the four feature points to distinguish avert gaze from direct gaze. The sum of these parameters is considered as an evaluation parameter that can be analyzed to quantify gaze level. The multimodal fusion is done by hybridizing the decision level fusion and the soft computing techniques for classification. This could avoid the disadvantages of the decision level fusion technique, while retaining its advantages of adaptation and flexibility. We introduced fuzzification strategies which can successfully quantify the extracted parameters of each modality into a fuzzified value between 0 and 1. These fuzzified values are the inputs for the fuzzy inference systems which map the fuzzy values into emotional states.