Cette thèse s’intéresse à la compréhension des mécanismes de partage d’émotions et de vécu affectif collectif en situation de consommation d’événement récréatif comme les festivals. L’émotion est étudiée d’un point de vue collectif et l’attention est focalisée sur les émotions positives, ce qui confère une double originalité à ce travail. Notre démarche relève d’un processus abductif articulé autour de phases successives d’immersions ethnographiques dans les rassemblements festifs des communautés glisse et psytrance et d’un recours à une littérature multidisciplinaire, significatif de notre inscription dans le courant de recherche de la théorie culturelle de la consommation (CCT).Il ressort que les transferts d’émotion sont centraux dans l’expérience de consommation événementielle. Les processus de partage d’émotion et de contagion émotionnelle sont omniprésents et contribuent à la création d’émotions collectives dont le vécu est recherché par le festivalier ou le spectateur. Ces dynamiques émotionnelles, qui sont en lien étroit avec la notion d’appartenance à la communauté, façonnent les logiques de consommation des festivaliers et influent sur leur rapport à l’expérience. L’ancrage socioculturel des dynamiques émotionnelles est aussi validé par nos résultats.Appréhender l’expérience par la dimension émotionnelle collective nous a permis de proposer une approche singulière de l’expérience et des cadres d’analyse spécifiques au contexte des festivals et des spectacles vivants. En outre, ce travail ouvre de nombreuses perspectives de recherche sur de nouvelles notions que notre analyse a permis de mettre à jour, comme celle de leader d’émotion, de style émotionnel et de densité émotionnelle. / This thesis focuses on the understanding of sharing emotions mechanisms and collective emotional experiences in recreational event consumption situation like festivals. The emotion is studied from a collective point of view and the attention is focused on positive emotions, giving this work a double originality. We adopted an abductive process that is articulated around successive phases of ethnographic immersions in festive gatherings of the action sport and the psytrance communities, and a use of multidisciplinary literature significant to to our registration in the Consumption Cultural Theory (CCT) research stream.Our results show that transfers of emotion are central in the event consumer experience. The process of emotional sharing and emotional contagion are ubiquitous and contribute to the creation of collective emotions that the experience is sought by the festival consumer or the event spectator. These emotional dynamics that are closely linked with the notion of belonging to the community, are shaping the consumption logics of the festival visitors, and are influencing their relation to the experience. The socio-cultural anchor of emotional dynamics is also confirmed by our results.Understanding the experience with the collective emotional dimension has allowed us to offer a unique approach to the experience and specific analytical frameworks to the context of festivals and live performances. In addition, this work opens many research perspectives on new concepts that our analysis was to update, such as emotional leader, emotional style and emotional density

This study explores the theory of emotional contagion and then offers insights as to how communication designers could practically apply aspects of this theory to a communication campaign. Schoenewolf (1990) describes emotional contagion as “a process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes” (p. 50). A significant aspect of this theory involves joint consumption. This suggests that an experience of an event differs when more than one person is involved. Ramanathan and McGill’s (2007) recent study suggests that a stronger positive or negative evaluation of a shared experience is achieved through the creation of emotional contagion. When considering this, an opportunity exists to establish recommendations for the design industry to employ in order to enhance an audience’s response. In order to be successful in constructing a pertinent strategy it is critical to consider the way in which people perceive experiences; central to this theme are the five senses. Research into the five senses which include sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, indicates the significant impact over an individuals’ emotions and decision making process. To date the human senses have been largely neglected within the design industry due to conventional use of mainstream media. Through using non-traditional media, participants could be connected on a more sensory level through means of interactive involvement. From a holistic perspective the overarching methodology will be that of research for design (Frayling, 1993, as cited in Downtown, 2003). The emphasis will therefore be on providing insights and ideas as to how the design industry could, through non-traditional media, embrace emotional contagion. Supporting methods will be a combination of the following: 1. Case studies. These will include an analysis of precedents 2. A self generated design campaign. The focus will be tourism. This has been chosen because of its experiential and shared nature.

This essay examines influencers’ framing of mental illness and how the framing could possibly affect the growing problem of mental illness among Swedish youth. Previous research concerning mental illness among youth, social media and social contagion is presented as a basic understanding of the problem at hand. Approximately 16 000 Instagram posts from Sweden’s most influential Instagram accounts were reviewed for content about mental illness. Posts containing descriptions of mental illness were extracted and analyzed using thematical analysis. The main finding from the thematical analysis was that influencers tended to use The Hero’s Journey dramaturgy in the framing of mental illness. The main conclusion made from the study was that influencer framing of mental health issues, consciously or unconsciously, tended to augment mental illness in a number of ways. The influencers seemed to have developed specializations in different forms of mental illness. The specialized influencer took upon him/herself the role of a mentor to followers experiencing symptoms of the same type of mental illness, leading them on for their own Hero’s Journey. Hence, the mechanisms of The Hero’s Journey were shown to, in themselves, have a tendency to increase the contagious effects of mental illness.

À travers une séries d'études de cas éclairées par l'apport de l'éthologie, l'histoire de l'art, la psychologie cognitive et les neurosciences, cette thèse tente de répondre au paradoxe apparent du cinéma d'animation qui rend les personnages stylisés et caricaturaux sont plus à même de faire oublier leurs artificialité que les personnages visant au plus grand réalisme. / Through a series of case studies, supported by reasearch in art history, ethology, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, this dissertation aims at explaining the strange animated film paradox that makes stylised and caricatural characters more efficient than characters tending towards strong realism at overcoming their artificialit / Doctorat en Information et communication / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Unresolved global problems, such as extreme poverty, ask for a better understanding of what predicts altruism and what does not. The aim of this thesis project was to address this topical and timely research question by studying the predictive role of compassion and empathy in understanding altruism. In past research on the relationship between altruism and empathy, distinct empathic processes (Perspective taking, Empathic concern, Personal distress, Emotional contagion, and Behavioral contagion) have been often lumped together and the context dependency of the relationship has been insufficiently taken into account, resulting in confusion and contradictory findings. Compassion overcomes these issues. The present web-based survey with previous or current university students (age 18-45; N=240) aimed to clarify relationships between components of empathy, compassion, and altruism. It was hypothesized that (1) compassion would predict altruism beyond all components of empathy; (2) Empathic concern would mediate the relationship between Perspective taking and altruism; (3) compassion would mediate the relationship between Empathic concern and altruism, and (4) higher levels of compassion would result in a reduced negative relationship between Personal distress and altruism. The results supported all hypotheses except for the final one. These findings are discussed in context of previous research and theory, considering the current study limitations and with focus on theoretical and practical implications. In sum, the findings suggest that efforts to motivate altruism should focus on invoking positive emotions of warmth, concern, and relatability. Care should be taken to avoid unnecessary Personal distress when invoking altruism, as this reduces its likelihood.

From 2011 to 2031, the Canadian population living with neurological conditions is expected to double, but the population able to give informal care is not keeping pace, leading to a greater care burden. One element of this increasing care burden is emotional care. However, the effects of giving emotional care on caregiver health outcomes have not been sufficiently explored in the caregiving literature, where the majority of studies focus on instrumental forms of care, or fail to differentiate between different aspects of caregiving. This problem is further complicated by findings from other contexts which indicate that emotional supporting and helping others actually benefits the supporter or helper. Informed by the stress process and other ancillary theories, I use data from the 2012 General Social Survey to test several hypotheses which may help us understand the mental health, functional health, and caregiver burden of caregivers of persons with neurological conditions who emotionally support their care receivers, and of caregivers who are the sole provider of emotional support. The results suggest that emotionally supporting a care receiver with a neurological condition is detrimental to caregiver mental health, and that being the sole emotional supporter is detrimental to caregiver mental health, functional health, and experience of burden. A significant interaction effect also exists between emotional supporting and caregiver gender for functional health. These findings have important implications for future research, for intervention planners, and for caregivers themselves. / Graduate / 2020-08-06

Thesis (Ph.D.(Psychology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2013. / The research entailed a comprehensive study of vicarious trauma in short-term insurance claims workers, compared to trauma counsellors and a control group of holiday booking consultants. A well-known, comprehensive model of compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, developed for therapists formed the basis of the study. The research attempted to determine whether this model can be applied more widely to include administrative populations exposed to traumatised clients on a regular basis. To this end, the model was deconstructed into its eleven constituent parts and each element was investigated in addition to other variables of interest to the study. This was done to determine the importance and applicability of each model element and other selected variables to the administrative context. A mixed methods approach was utilised, which combined quantitative and qualitative data. The results yielded by the study were collectively utilised to construct an etic and an emic voice from the research. At the same time, effects from vicarious trauma were considered from an overarching bio-psychosocial stance, systematically gauging effects on various levels of functioning. Scores from quantitative measures on secondary traumatic stress, negative cognitive schemas, empathy, social support and compassion satisfaction were statistically analysed, which revealed significant differences between the worker groups. Widely accepted relationships between the study variables were tested and found to hold true within and across groups. Regression analysis determined the roles of empathy, social support and compassion satisfaction in vicarious trauma, as measured by secondary traumatic stress and negative cognitive schemas. In addition, constructivist selfdevelopment theory was employed to interpret the negative cognitive effects from vicarious traumatisation. Qualitative data were utilised to further elucidate the role and nature of vicarious trauma in each of the worker groups. The themes of exposure to client suffering, detachment, level of empathic engagement, personal trauma history and difficult life demands were unearthed from the qualitative data, which illuminated the importance and role of each of these elements to claims workers. Other areas of interest, being utilisation of sick-leave as a means to cope, work-related illness, attitudes towards professional counselling, feelings evoked by traumatised clients, and the language utilised by workers in response to client traumata were investigated. Further effects on participants as well iv as effects that reach beyond the person were identified and examined. Effects on the social and work contexts were also elucidated. Finally, interesting themes that emerged spontaneously from the data were considered. The consideration of the various model elements and other areas of interest systematically revealed that administrative workers dealing with traumatised clients are also affected by the process of vicarious trauma. Furthermore, the model was found to be largely suitable to the context of claims workers. However, the model was expanded to augment its usability within the more general administrative domain. Finally, the overarching aim was to enrich, contextualise and elaborate on the experiences of claims workers within their unique work context, to facilitate insight and a deeper understanding of vicarious trauma in more administrative populations that have largely been overlooked in research.

Les intervenants seraient parmi les professionnels les plus à risque d'épuisement professionnel. Il est attendu des professionnels en relation d'aide qu'ils montrent de l'empathie envers leurs clients, qui sont souvent en difficultés. Cette empathie pourrait dans certains cas constituer un facteur de risque d'épuisement. Un individu ayant de bonnes capacités d'empathie serait plus enclin à être contaminé par le stress des autres. Cette contagion émotionnelle peut être bénéfique si celui qui la reçoit sait comment gérer cette émotion. Lorsqu’un intervenant perd le contrôle de la contagion émotionnelle, il en résulte une détresse empathique. Le développement de la précision interpersonnelle émotionnelle (PIÉ), c'est-à-dire la capacité à identifier les émotions des autres avec exactitude à partir de leur non verbal, pourrait être un moyen de freiner la détresse empathique. Le but de ce projet est la création et l'évaluation, avec un devis expérimental, d'un programme d'amélioration de la PIÉ auprès d'une cinquantaine d'étudiantes et étudiants en psychoéducation à l'Université de Montréal. Les objectifs de l’étude étaient d’évaluer si le programme permettait une amélioration de la PIÉ, tout en augmentant l’empathie et en diminuant le stress. Les participants ont été répartis dans l’un des trois groupes expérimentaux, l’un passant le programme AVATAR, l’autre le programme TERA et le troisième étant un groupe contrôle. Les résultats indiquent que seul le programme TERA montre une amélioration de la PIÉ, uniquement pour un des instruments utilisés. Il n’y a pas eu d’effets significatifs pour les autres variables à l’étude, soit l’empathie et le stress. Les résultats doivent cependant être pris avec prudence considérant le faible nombre de participants et la nature des programmes d’entraînement. / Social workers are among the professionals who are the most at risk of burnout. They are expected to show empathy towards their clients, who are in need. But empathy could, in some cases, be a risk factor for emotional exhaustion. Indeed, persons with high levels of empathy are more likely to be contaminated by the stress of others. Emotional contagion can be beneficial if the one who receives the emotion knows how to handle it. When social workers lose control of emotional contagion, it can cause empathic distress. Training people to be interpersonally accurate, the ability to judge emotions based on the person’s nonverbal behaviour, could be a way to reduce empathic distress. The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate a new emotions recognition training program. Fifty-two students in psychoeducation from the University of Montreal participated to the study. Aims were to assess whether the program could improve interpersonal accuracy but also empathy and the regulation of stress. Two programs (TERA and AVATAR) were tested in comparison with a control group. Results showed that only the TERA program showed improvement in a specific measure of interpersonal accuracy. No other improvement was observed neither in the two other complementary measures of interpersonal accuracy nor in the other constructs such as empathy or stress management. These results should be put in perspective with the low number of participants and the nature of the training programs.

La contagion émotionnelle se définit comme la tendance à imiter automatiquement les expressions non verbales avec celles des autres pour ainsi converger émotionnellement. Cette convergence peut être bénéfique si celui qui la reçoit sait comment la gérer en réalisant qu’il s’agit de l’émotion de l’autre, et non de la sienne. Toutefois, lorsqu’un intervenant perd le contrôle des effets de la contagion émotionnelle, il peut en résulter une détresse empathique. En travaillant auprès d’une clientèle en détresse, les intervenants représentent alors, eux aussi, un groupe à risque de vivre ces états émotionnels. Ainsi, connaitre sa vulnérabilité à la contagion émotionnelle serait un atout essentiel pour le travail et la santé psychologique des intervenants. La contagion émotionnelle se mesure à partir d’un questionnaire autorapporté : le Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS). Cet outil présuppose que les personnes qui le remplissent connaissent bien leur réactivité émotionnelle aux émotions des autres. Cependant, ce n’est pas toujours le cas, puisque des travaux ont montré que les personnes peu conscientes de leurs émotions étaient plus à risque de difficultés à réguler leurs émotions. Ainsi, il nous apparait essentiel de développer un outil complémentaire et quantitatif afin de contourner les biais liés aux questionnaires autorapportés. Le but de ce projet est de créer et d’évaluer un outil permettant une mesure comportementale de la contagion émotionnelle chez des étudiants universitaires en psychoéducation. Pour ce faire, nous avons mesuré automatiquement les réactions faciales des participants pendant qu’ils visionnaient un ensemble de stimuli vidéo suscitant diverses réactions émotionnelles. Les résultats indiquent que les deux instruments de contagion émotionnelle (quantitatif et autorapporté), ne semblent pas mesurer les mêmes construits psychosociaux, mais demeurent complémentaires. Aussi, le nouvel outil quantitatif de contagion émotionnelle permet de prédire le risque de présenter des symptômes dépressifs ainsi que de vivre certaines formes de stress chronique et d’épuisement professionnel chez les participants de l’étude. Les implications pour la recherche et la pratique sont discutées. / Emotional contagion is defined as the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures and movements with those of another person’s and, consequently, to converge emotionally. This emotional convergence can be beneficial if one knows how to deal with it and realizes that it’s another person’s emotion, instead of his/her own. However, when one loses control over the effects of emotional contagion, it can cause empathic distress. By working with a clientele in distress, social workers are among the professionals who are the most at risk of experiencing emotional contagion. Thus, being aware of their own susceptibility to emotional contagion would be a way to prevent empathic distress, and to improve their professional work and personal well-being. Emotional contagion is usually measured by a self-report questionnaire: The Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS). The ECS relies on the fact that people who use it are conscious of their emotional reactivity. However, it is not always the case. Previous research has shown that people who are unaware of their emotions are at risk of having problems with regulating their emotions. Therefore, it seems important to develop a complementary and quantitative measure of emotional contagion to counterbalance bias related to subjective measures. The goal of this study is to develop and validate a behavioral measure of emotional contagion in a sample of psychoeducation students from the University of Montreal. To do so, we used a facial coding tool to automatically measure participants’ facial expressions as they watched emotion-eliciting film excerpts. Results indicate that both instruments of emotional contagion (quantitative and self-report) do not measure the same psychosocial constructs but remain complementary. Also, the new quantitative measure of emotional contagion seems to predict the risk of developing depressive symptoms and different forms of chronic stress and burnout among participants of this study. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

No description available.