While the study of emotions is of universal interest because of its central role in the social sciences and humanities, emotions are of special interest for South Africa for both theoretical and applied reasons. South Africa, with its eleven official languages, is a true multicultural society with extreme differences in terms of culture, acculturation, and socio-economic status. Cultural frameworks differ substantially between ethno-cultural groups, and clarification of the differences between cultural frameworks can counter interpretation biases that could result in daily frictions and major conflicts. Additional fundamental cross-cultural research on emotional differences between cultural groups, together with the generation of a mutual understanding of the different cultural frameworks, makes these frameworks explicit and facilitates the incorporation of these frameworks into daily communication and interaction processes. The objectives of this research were to determine what the emotion structure of the Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda languages groups within a sample of Sepedi-, Xitsonga- and Tshivenda-speaking participants is, and how it compares with the European Emotion Structure. Furthermore this research aimed to establish the emotion structure and the relevant and representative features for each emotion component (such as appraisals, action tendencies, and subjective experiences) that have been encoded in a sample of Sepedi-, Xitsonga- and Tshivenda-speaking participants. Like\vise it was deemed necessary to verify (a) the extent to which the emotion words refer to specific positions on each of the emotion features of these language groups and (b) the extent of similarity or dissimilarity between emotion experiences of the Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda groups in the SAPS, as well as to compare the meaning structure between a "bottom-up" and a "top-down" (as conducted in Nicholls' research in 2008) approach between Sepedi-, Xitsonga- and Tshivenda-speaking participants. A survey design with convenience sampling was used to achieve the research objectives. The study population (n=390) consisted of Sepedi-, Xitsonga- and Tshivenda-speaking entry-level police applicants from the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda GRlD questionnaires were administered. Statistical methods and procedures (multidimensional scaling and descriptive statistics) were used and Cronbachrs alpha coefficients were determined to analyse the results. Results of this study on the Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda cultural groups indicated the extraction of a two-factor model within the Sepedi group. Due to the extremely low reliability analyses of the Xitsonga and Tshivenda language groups' data, a reliable scale analysis and the meaning structures of these two groups could not be determined. The low reliabilities could be attributed to the direct language translation of the questionnaire and the assessment may not have captured the full understanding of the items in the GRlD instrument. Results of this study for the Sepedi language group corresponded well with the results found in the study for the Sepedi group conducted by Nicholls (2008) on the emotion lexicon on the Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda language groups in South Africa. The Nicholls study (2008) indicated the extraction of a three-dimensional structure (evaluation, arousal, dominance) and a four-factor loading (positive emotion, sadness, fear, anger) for the Sepedi-speaking language group. In comparison, this research presented the extraction of a two-dimensional structure (evaluation and arousal) and a two-factor loading (positive emotion and sadness). Emotion concepts of the Sepedi group indicated that basic emotion concepts (love, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and surprise) readily came to mind in both Nicholls' (2008) and this study. Emotion concepts listed by the Sepedi group could be interpreted as emotion words associated with social, personality or environmental aspects and may be related to negative evaluation, dominance and/or aggression. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

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Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most studied psychological disorders in psychology, and it is also one of the most detrimental to the individual. Research on BPD has consistently found that those with the disorder often experience volatile interpersonal interactions, and several areas of research have been dedicated to the understanding of the mechanisms behind these interpersonal struggles. One of the most common theories is that emotion dysregulation and affective instability, two core traits of BPD, may impact these interpersonal interactions in a negative manner. Several researchers have attempted to identify how those with BPD perceive the emotional states of others, but have obtained mixed results. The purpose of the current study was to examine emotion perception in those with borderline personality features using a paradigm which has not been used in any of the existing literature, as well as to explore the differences between the effects of mood state and personality traits on emotion perception, as those with BPD experience high levels of negative mood. A modified version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task was utilized in combination with a mood induction method and a measure of borderline personality to determine the roles of both affective state and personality traits in emotion perception. Results indicated that although mood was unable to be effectively manipulated in the current sample, several findings emerged which offer support to various theories of the potential mechanisms behind emotion perception in BPD, including evidence for impulsivity as a potential influencing factor in accurate emotion perception. In addition, the current study highlights key areas of future research which may provide a greater understanding of how both affect and personality traits influence the interpersonal experiences of those with BPD. An examination of the results, potential mechanisms behind study findings, and future directions are discussed.

No description available.

The BarOn EQ-i model of emotional intelligence and Factor 1 of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Screening Version were used to assess emotional literacy and callous-unemotional traits in sixty female offenders. Findings suggest that female offenders show significant emotional literacy deficits compared to the normal population especially in areas of empathy, social responsibility and interpersonal relationships. This association was examined further in relation to criminal history variables; seriousness and chronicity. Emotional literacy was predictive of criminal history, but not offender type. Contrary to expectations, callous-unemotional traits only showed a few relations to emotional literacy namely, significant correlations between PCL: SV Factor 1 score and aspects of problem solving. Violent offenders with high callous-unemotional traits showed significantly more emotional literacy deficits than non-violent offenders with high callous-unemotional traits, especially in interpersonal and adaptability emotional literacy areas. Interestingly those that demonstrated suicidal ideation regardless of offence type showed the poorest emotional literacy abilities and were more likely to show higher levels of callous-unemotional traits. The implications and recommendations for future research as well as the limitations of the study are discussed.

Doctor of Clinical Neuropsychology/Master of Science / Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is known to cause detrimental effects to motor function and cognition. The motor effects of the disease in turn impact emotion expression in patients with PD. There is conflicting evidence in research, however, as to whether PD also affects emotion comprehension, and if so, what emotions in particular are affected and across what modalities. This study aimed to investigate the effects of PD on a broad range of skills involved in basic and complex emotion comprehension. Whether these effects extend into other areas associated with emotion processing, such as social cognition and autobiographical memory, was also explored. Methods: Sixteen patients with PD participated in the study along with sixteen control subjects who were matched for age, gender, education level and estimated premorbid intelligence. The PD participants, on average, were in the moderate phase of the disease and taking PD medication, including dopamine. Participants were tested on a range of recognition measures including prototypical and morphed facial expressions with reduced intensity (40 and 80%), emotion prosody, written emotion vignettes, emotional imagery, pictures of emotion, social cognition, and a cued autobiographical memory task. A mood inventory was given, and disease severity and duration were noted. Results: The PD group did not show pervasive deficits in emotion recognition overall. Deficits were demonstrated in prosody recognition, specifically with fearful tones, and in an incongruent prosody task, specifically with angry and neutral tones. The PD group was not able to recognise facial expressions of disgust (mixed intensities) as well as controls, with the result showing a trend toward significance. PD participants were also significantly worse in Theory of Mind (TOM) reasoning but not at another social cognition measure involving recognising social emotions through expressions from the eyes only. There were no differences between the groups across all other tests. Discussion: PD is thought to cause subtle deficits in emotion comprehension which are only elucidated through complex tasks. The effects of PD on complex processing also impact TOM performance, which relies on skills involved in complex emotion recognition. Effects of mood and disease factors on performance were circumscribed. Evidence suggested that the basal ganglia and fronto-striatal connections play a role in emotion comprehension.

In this thesis I propose that emotions and rationality are integrated, and jointly constitute our moral agency. I argue against the influential ‘sentimentalist’ claim that emotions are the only constituents of the moral reasons for which we act, by showing that emotions are inextricably bound up with our sensory and conceptual capacities. In contrast, I propose we act for moral reasons when we act in light of the narratives we create and understand. Narrative understanding here is the capacity to inhabit a chain of events. It is embodied and action-­‐ orientated, and is co-­‐constituted through our emotional, conceptual and sensory capacities.

abstract: Emotion recognition through facial expression plays a critical role in communication. Review of studies investigating individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and emotion recognition indicates significantly poorer performance compared to controls. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of different media presentation on emotion recognition in individuals with TBI, and if results differ depending on severity of TBI. Adults with and without TBI participated in the study and were assessed using the The Awareness of Social Inferences Test: Emotion Evaluation Test (TASIT:EET) and the Facial Expressions of Emotion-Stimuli and Tests (FEEST) The Ekman 60 Faces Test (E-60-FT). Results indicated that individuals with TBI perform significantly more poorly on emotion recognition tasks compared to age and education matched controls. Additionally, emotion recognition abilities greatly differ between mild and severe TBI groups, and TBI participants performed better with the static presentation compared to dynamic presentation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Speech and Hearing Science 2011

The purpose of the present study was to develop a measure of the Emotional Antecedents of Alcohol Use (EAAU) and investigate its psychometric properties. Focus groups and three pilot studies were conducted to develop and define the construct of alcohol consumption as a means of emotion regulation. Items were written based upon focus group results, existing published instruments, and a review of the literature. Independent raters evaluated the initial item pool for face validity and the initial EAAU was given to small pilot samples (N=64, N=39) to investigate initial internal consistency and content validity. Results of pilot studies suggested that the EAAU is a valid measure of alcohol consumption and positively associated with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; r = 0.445, p < .001; r = 0.607, p < .001). The EAAU was then administered to a larger sample (N=301) to investigate the structure of the instrument. Exploratory factor analysis results implied that a 14-factor model was the best fitting and most parsimonious and sufficient factor solution to represent the structure of the EAAU scores produced by the current sample. These 14 distinct emotional domains were interpreted as representing the following: (1) Relaxation, (2) Fear/Worry, (3) Reservation, (4) Negative High Arousal, (5) Shock, (6) Sedation, (7) Sadness, (8) Fatigue, (9) Anger, (10) Happiness, (11) Alertness, (12) Annoyance, (13) Serenity, and (14) Positive High Arousal. Results suggested the EAAU demonstrates convergent validity as small to moderate positive relationships were noted between the EAAU and measures of alcohol expectancies (r = 0.374, p < .001) and alcohol-related problems (r = 0.292, p < .001). Results supported marginal discriminant validity of the EAAU as negligible to small negative relationships were noted between the EAAU and a measure of self-esteem (r = -0.157, p = .007). Additionally, the EAAU demonstrated initial evidence of predictive validity as EAAU subscale scores were found to be predictive of difficulties in emotion regulation (R2 = .128, F(14, 286) = 2.991, p < .001) and alcohol consumption (R2 = .111, F(14, 286) = 2.539, p = .002). Lastly, gender and drinker status differences in EAAU scores were found. Males (M=267.74, SD=80.07) were found to obtain higher EAAU scores (t(290) = -2.59, p = .010) in comparison to women (M=244.47, SD=73.26), while problem drinkers (M=281.21, SD=69.81) were found to obtain higher EAAU scores (t(299) = 7.459, p < .001) in comparison to social drinkers (M=218.87, SD=74.61). Study limitations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.

abstract: Psychological theories often reduce descriptions of people’s emotional experiences to a small number of underlying dimensions that capture most of the variation in their responses. These underlying dimensions are typically uncovered by comparing the self-reported emotions of many individuals at one specific time point, to infer a single underlying structure of emotion for all people. However, theoretical work suggests that underlying dimensions uncovered in this way may not hold when modeling how people change over time. Individuals may differ not just in their typical score on a given dimension of emotion, but in what dimensions best characterize their patterns of emotional experience over time. In this study, participants described two emotional events per day for 35 days, and analyses compared individualized structures of emotion to those generated from many people at one point in time. Analyses using R-technique factor analysis, which compares many people at one time point, most often uncovered a two-factor solution corresponding to positivity and negativity dimensions - a solution well-established in the literature. However, analyses using P-technique factor analysis, which compares many emotional events for one person, uncovered a broader diversity of underlying dimensions. Individuals needed anywhere from one to five factors to best capture their self-reported emotions. Further, dimensions specifically related to romantic relationships were much more common when examining the experiences of individuals over time. This suggests that external factors, such as pursuing or being in a romantic relationship, might lead to a qualitative shift in how emotions are experienced. Research attempting to characterize emotion dynamics, including those attempting to help people shift or regulate their emotions, cannot assume that typical two dimensional structures of emotional experience apply to all people. Instead we must account for how individuals describe their own emotional experiences. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2017