The principal aim of this research programme was to examine multiple components of competitive tennis players’ emotional responses to pre-performance music. To this end, four objectives were defined: First, to develop a grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) of players’ use of music to manipulate emotional state; second, to examine the impact of altering music tempo and intensity on players’ affective and behavioural responses; third, to identify neural origins for these phenomena; and fourth, to elucidate the role of motoneuron excitability in behavioural responses observed. These objectives were realised in four interrelated studies. First, 14 players provided quantitative and qualitative interview, questionnaire, and diary data to detail their use of personally emotive music; a grounded theory and associated model were consequently developed to facilitate future research and practice. Participants used music to attain five broad emotional states, including psyched-up; this was associated with faster tempi and louder intensities (volumes). Study 2 was conceived to examine the effects of manipulating these variables on 54 players’ affective and behavioural states, using measures based on Russell’s (1980) affective circumplex and reaction times (RTs). Faster tempi elicited higher valence and arousal, loud intensity yielded higher arousal and shorter RTs; and higher arousal was associated with shorter RTs. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was utilised in Study 3 to identify neural bases for 12 participants’ emotional responses to the same music manipulations; emotion-processing, visuomotor and sensorimotor structures were activated under high-arousal conditions. Transcranial magnetic stimulation and electromyography were used in Study 4 to investigate changes in 10 participants’ corticospinal excitability as a result of listening to purposively selected music; optimised music elicited higher arousal and reduced corticospinal response latencies. The foremost contribution of this thesis is to show that music variables may be carefully selected and/or manipulated to maximise performance-facilitating emotional responses to music in tennis.

This study examines the effects that individual personality traits have on technology acceptance. Previous research on technology acceptance focuses primarily on exogenous variables such as trustor’s perceptions, attitudes, computer anxiety, positive or negative affect, age, and experience. This research seeks to improve our understanding of technology acceptance by examining user interpersonal traits as the underpinnings of user perceptions of technology and disposition to trust. A general theory of personality, the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model, is used here as a framework to explain IT-users’ computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, and perceptions about- and trust in technology. The interpersonal circumplex model is well established and provides a strong foundation for understanding interaction styles and interpersonal trust. Based on the interpersonal circumplex model, I develop predictions about how various personality types will interact with technology acceptance model (TAM) related variables: that is, I predict how individuals with different interpersonal traits will rate the following: their computer selfefficacy, computer anxiety, and perceptions of an information system’s performance; the system’s trustworthiness, ease of use, usefulness; as well as the user’s behavioral intention to use the system in the future. In general, I hypothesize that a computer user’s blend of the primary interpersonal dimensions of Control and Affiliation influences his or her responses to computer usage related questions. In this study, student-participants completed an on-line assessment of their interpersonal dispositions, using the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (CSIV; Locke, 2000); subsequently the studentparticipants reported their perceptions of- and trust in a computer-based learning system that they used as part of their class. In particular, this research suggests that the Communality (Affiliation) dimension of personality, as measured by the CSIV, indicates particular and significant correlations to user’s computer anxiety, perceived system performance, perceived usefulness (of the technology), and behavioral intent to use (IT) in the future. The Interpersonal Circumplex demonstrates improved acuity in detecting personality differences that may impact the way users respond to, perceive, and evaluate technology. As a new tool for information systems research, the IPC shows potential to provide further insight into IS theory by building a bridge between interpersonal theory and technology acceptance models.

No description available.

<p>Interpersonal researchers have primarily assessed interpersonal behaviors using self-ratings of one’s own behaviors and third-person ratings of dyadic interactions. Only a limited number of researches have studied how individuals perceive others’ interpersonal behaviors in social situations. Using a sample of 470 undergraduate students, we examined patterns of liking and being bothered by others’ interpersonal behaviors as well as influences of these patterns on individuals’ psychological functioning. Our findings showed that people tend to like interpersonal behaviors that are the most similar to their own and get bothered by behaviors that are the least similar to their own. Such pattern is more characteristic on the warmth dimension than the dominance dimension and is consistent across different levels of intimacy between the evaluator and the subject being evaluated. We also found small but significant effects of interpersonal preference on social support, interpersonal problems, negative affect, and detachment, above and beyond effects of individuals’ own interpersonal traits. Findings suggest that perception of others’ interpersonal behaviors relates specifically to one’s own interpersonal traits, and these patterns of interpersonal perception have unique associations with one’s own affective and interpersonal experiences. Such findings highlight the importance of including perception of other’s in investigating interpersonal dynamics.</p>

Although borderline personality is characterized by a variety of interpersonal antecedents and consequences, interpersonal theory has yet to develop an adequate model of the disorder. It was hypothesized that considerations of non-interpersonal features that influence interpersonal behavior can inform the description of the interpersonal process associated with borderline personality. Specifically, it was proposed that borderline personality is not adequately conceptualized as characterized by rigid and extreme traits. Instead identity diffusion, or under-developed personality organization, characterizes the disorder, as do notable problems with perception and behavioral impulsivity. Three samples of dyads interacting in a collaborative task were compared using structural equation models of their traits and situational behavior from the perspectives of multiple raters. Two samples included dyads without a borderline interactant and one dyad had one person with and another without borderline personality features. It was hypothesized that dyads including borderline participants would manifest behavior that deviates from normative interpersonal processes. Results were consistent with hypotheses in suggesting that dyads without an individual who has borderline characteristics demonstrate very similar interpersonal patterns, whereas dyads with a borderline interactant deviate from normative interpersonal process. Specifically, borderline individuals appear to be hyper-perceptive of others’ efforts to control (dominate or submit to) them. With regard to affiliation (warmth vs. coldness), borderline individuals appear to have very different perceptions of their own interpersonal style than do individuals who know them, and unlike nonborderline individuals, these styles exert minimal influence on their behavior in interpersonal situations. These results suggest practical implications that vary across interpersonal dimensions. Data imply that clinicians should take seriously suggestions by borderline patients that they feel controlled. With regard to affiliation, data are consistent with the theory of identity diffusion in suggesting that borderline personality features are associated with a lack of stable interpersonal traits that influence behavior across situations, and the development of such a style is an important therapeutic target.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Recreation Management and Youth Leadership, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-88).

I denna uppsats undersöker jag harmonikens betydelse för känslouttrycket av fyra instrumentala verk som re-harmoniserats utifrån låten ”Wake Me Up” av Avicii. Uttryck inom musik har länge intresserat kompositörer och musikpsykologer och gamla synsätt har lagts åt sidan medan nya tagit vid. Musik som är ett abstrakt ämne har försökts att teoretiseras med hjälp av konkreta förklaringsmodeller och frågan om musik i sig har en inneboende känsla kommer i denna studie att undersökas. Syftet med studien är att utforska harmonikens möjligheter och begränsningar när det kommer till att gestalta känslor. Jag har med hjälp av re-harmonisering gestaltat fyra verk med utgångspunkt från ”the affective circumplex” där jag tar hjälp av termerna spänning, valens och affekt. Jag kommer att redogöra för vilka beslut som togs under gestaltningens gång och analysera varför. Avslutningsvis presenterar jag insikter samt reflektioner kopplat till relevant litteratur. Sammanfattningsvis har jag med denna studie kommit till insikt att harmonik är ett väldigt effektivt verktyg för att gestalta känslouttryck i musik, i synnerhet valens. De insikter jag tar med mig från projektet är att olika tonförråd kan behöva nyttjas beroende på relevant känslouttryck, att kontrast i det harmoniska innehållet kan skapa tydlighet i gestaltningen, att register i samband med harmonik är en stark kombination samt att jag upplever att rytmiserande av det harmoniska innehållet i viss mån påverkar graden av spänning (arousal) men enbart marginellt. Jag kom i studien fram till att harmonik tveklöst påverkar valens men att spänning generellt mer är kopplat till det rytmiska innehållet och verkets tempo. Jag ansåg att det här var ett relevant område att undersöka för mig då jag kommer att ha fortsatt användning av insikterna från projektet i min framtida profession som musikproducent, låtskrivare och musiker samt att på sikt eventuellt undervisa i ämnet.

Traditionnellement, le construit de la phobie sociale a été défini selon une vision intrapersonnelle, en tant que trouble de l’anxiété. Une autre conception se propose de la définir d’un point de vue interpersonnel, comme un pattern global d’autoprotection. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est de tester des hypothèses tirées du modèle interpersonnel de la phobie sociale. Deux études, présentées sous forme d’articles, ont permis d’examiner si des patterns spécifiques d’autoprotection, tels que l’impuissance et la soumission, caractérisent le mode de fonctionnement des phobiques sociaux. Les études ont également évalué si l’autoprotection et l’anxiété sont interreliées. Pour la première étude, les patterns interpersonnels de 132 phobiques sociaux, évalués à l’aide d’une mesure dérivée du Circumplex interpersonnel, ont été comparés à ceux de 85 individus célibataires ayant une dysfonction sexuelle et 105 sujets normaux. La relation entre les patterns d’autoprotection, l’anxiété sociale, la détresse générale et le fonctionnement social a également été examinée chez les phobiques sociaux. La seconde étude a permis d’examiner l’évolution des patterns d’autoprotection ainsi que de l’anxiété sociale, de la détresse générale et du fonctionnement social, chez 85 phobiques sociaux à quatre moments : avant et après un traitement d’approche interpersonnelle, ainsi qu’aux relances de six mois et d’un an. L’étude a également comparé les participants en rémission et ceux satisfaisant les critères de la phobie sociale un an suivant la fin du traitement. Les résultats suggèrent que les patterns d’impuissance et de soumission sont caractéristiques de la phobie sociale. Plus précisément, ces patterns décrivent davantage les comportements des phobiques sociaux plutôt que ceux des groupes de comparaison. De plus, une réduction significative de l’autoprotection a été notée au post-traitement et maintenue jusqu’au suivi d’un an, surtout chez les participants en rémission.En outre, une relation entre l’autoprotection, l’anxiété sociale et la détresse générale a été mise en évidence chez les phobiques sociaux. Une amélioration de l’anxiété, de la détresse subjective et du fonctionnement social cohérente avec la dissolution des patterns d’autoprotection a également été obtenue au post-traitement. En conclusion, les résultats des deux études appuient une conception interpersonnelle de la phobie sociale. / Traditionally, the construct of social phobia has been viewed intra-personally, as a disorder of anxiety. In recent years, an alternative interpersonal account of the concept has been proposed, whereby social phobia is characterized as an overall self-protective pattern of specific fearfully self-protective patterns of interpersonal behaviour. The main objective of this dissertation was to test hypotheses drawn from this interpersonal approach. Two studies, presented in the form of research articles, were devised to examine whether specific self-protective interpersonal patterns of powerlessness and submissiveness are characteristic of the overall socially phobic pattern. The studies also examined whether self-protectiveness is interrelated with anxiousness. The first study compared the interpersonal patterns, assessed using an Interpersonal Circumplex measure, of 132 socially phobic individuals to those of 85 single sexually dysfunctional and 105 normal control participants. The relationship between self-protective patterns and social anxiety, general distress, and social functioning were also examined in the socially phobic group. The second study examined the evolution of self-protectiveness, as well as social anxiety, general distress, and social functioning, in 85 socially phobic individuals at four time-points: Prior to being treated by an interpersonal approach, post-treatment, as well as at a six-month and one-year follow-up. Remitted and non-remitted participants at the one-year follow-up were also compared. Results support the hypothesis that social phobia is characterized by self-protective patterns of powerlessness and submissiveness. Specifically, these interpersonal patterns were found to characterize the socially phobic group to a larger extent than either of the two contrast groups. They were also shown to improve meaningfully after treatment, especially in participants who achieved remission one year later.In addition, a relationship between the self-protective patterns and increased levels of social anxiety and subjective distress was found in the socially phobic group. Results also showed an improvement in anxiety, general distress, and social functioning consistent with the shrinking in self-protectiveness after treatment. In conclusion, the findings are consistent with predictions drawn from an interpersonal approach and provide support for this alternative conceptualization of social phobia.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Timothy A. Duket / I studied whether or not people can feel happy and sad at the same moment in time. Participants used a computerized procedure to continuously rate their feelings as they viewed backwardly masked faces designed to elicit pleasant, unpleasant, or mixed feelings. The backward masking procedure and grid were poorly calibrated as participants found all conditions to be unpleasant. Evidence is presented that participants did not perceive the mask faces as neutral. Directions for future studies are discussed. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.