This research examines the effects of consumer motivation during an interpersonal sales encounter. The research proposes that a consumer's motivational mind-set affects the consumer's cognitive appraisal of the salesperson and the consumer's subsequent emotional response. Of primary interest is the interaction between a consumer's motivation and a salesperson's behavior. A main thesis of this research is that a congruency mechanism operates between the consumer and the salesperson during a sales encounter. Depending on the consumer's mind-set and the behavioral orientation of the salesperson either a congruent or an incongruent situation will be perceived by the consumer. Based on the congruency mechanism it is proposed that cognitive appraisals concerning goal facilitation will arise that will subsequently trigger specific emotional responses and behavioral outcomes. / Ph. D.

Recent research on the neuropsychology of emotion and pain has indicated that emotion and pain are complex processes that may substantially influence each other. Disorders of negative emotion and pain are known to co-occur (Delgado, 2004); however, it is not clear whether negative emotional conditions lead to pain or whether increased pain experiences lead to negative emotion. Further, certain negative emotions, such as hostility or anger, may produce differential effects on the experience of pain, such that they may lead to an increase in pain or a decrease in pain. An increase or decrease in pain perception may lead to altered behavioral, cognitive, and neuropsychological effects in high hostility. In order to more clearly examine the aforementioned relationships, the current experiment examined auditory emotion perception before and after cold pressor pain in high and low hostile men. Additionally, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was used to measure changes in cerebral activation as a result of auditory emotion perception and cold pressor pain. Results indicated that identification of emotion post-cold pressor differed as a function of hostility level and ear. The high hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the right ear after cold pressor exposure, while the low hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the left ear after cold pressor exposure. Primary QEEG findings indicated increased left temporal activation after cold pressor exposure and increased reactivity to cold pressor pain in the high hostile group. Low hostile men had a bilateral increase in high beta magnitude at the temporal lobes and a bilateral increase in delta magnitude at the frontal lobes after the cold pressor. Results suggest decreased cerebral laterality and left hemisphere activation for emotional and pain processing in high hostile men. / Ph. D.

This investigation examined the effects of emotion and lateralized presentation of a list of affective words on the learning of that list. This investigation also attempted to assess the separate influences of emotion and arousal on verbal performance. Experiment I was a 2x2 factorial design: two types of pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), negative or neutral and two gender conditions, male and female. Experiment I was used to verify that the IAPS results in an emotional response. Heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured during IAPS presentation. Emotion was assessed after IAPS presentation. Results showed the negative IAPS condition elicited significantly greater increases in SCL and decreases in HR, less self-reported of pleasantness and more self-reported activation than the neutral IAPS condition. Women had significantly lower SCL and higher HR than men; men and women did not differ in reported emotion. Experiment I verified that the negative IAPS elicit changes in SCL and negative emotion in men and women. Experiment II was a 2 x 2 x 2 mixed factorial design: two types of IAPS (negative or neutral), two AAVL conditions (positive and neutral AAVL words or negative and neutral AAVL words) and two presentation conditions (AAVL presented to the left ear (LE) or right ear (RE)). The measure of performance on the AAVL was the number of correct responses. HR and SCL were measured during presentation of the IAPS and of the AAVL. In the negative IAPS condition, performance on negative AAVL was significantly better than that for the positive AAVL; for presentation of the AAVL to the RE, performance on the negative AAVL was significantly better than that for the positive and neutral AAVLs. IAPS condition or ear of presentation alone did not significantly impact on AVVL performance or on SCL and HR during the recitation of the AAVL. Evidence showed that the effect of emotion on performance is a function of mood congruent processing and possibly the allocation of hemispheric resources. / Ph. D.

Sixteen couples in which one of the partners met criteria for Somatoform Disorder or Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder as determined by the SOMS and who scored less than or equal to 101 on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale participated in this study. These couples were randomly assigned to 8 sessions of emotionally focused therapy or to a 12-week wait list condition. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of emotion focused therapy as a treatment of somatoform disorders. Results suggest that the intervention of emotion focused couples therapy (EFT) was not effective in the treatment of somatoform disorders. A significant effect (.023) was found in the increased reporting of symptoms at posttest. Implications for EFT and marriage and family therapy are discussed. / Ph. D.

The primary goal of the present study was to assess linkages between parents' beliefs about children's emotions, parent-child discourse, and children's independent and interdependent self-construals with sixty 7th and 8th grade children. Children were interviewed with the Self-Guide Questionnaire (Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1985) and completed an independent and interdependent reaction time measure (Watson & Quatman, 2005). Children's self-guide responses were coded for independent and interdependent traits and behaviors. Parents completed the Parents' Beliefs about Children's Emotions Questionnaire (Halberstadt et al., 2008) to assess their beliefs about the danger of emotions and parents' and children's roles in emotion socialization. Parents' elaborative reminiscing style and both parent and child emotion labeling were measured through a cooperative game designed to elicit emotion-related discourse. Results showed that girls responded faster to interdependent traits and included more interdependent and connected self attributes than did boys, whereas boys included more independent and unique self attributes than did girls. Parents who believe children can guide their own emotion socialization elaborated less about their children's independent and interdependent memories. Their children who responded more slowly to both independent and interdependent traits, with a stronger effect for independent compared with interdependent traits. The interaction between parents' beliefs about the danger of emotions and about their guidance of their child's emotions was related to girls', but not boys', balance of independent and interdependent traits in their self-construal. Results have implications for identifying beneficial developmental trajectories of positive adjustment and mental health. / Ph. D.

This study proposed an experimental test of theoretical models related to emotion and space representation in the brain. Previous research has established that emotion is represented, processed, expressed, and regulated largely by the right hemisphere. Furthermore, there is evidence from experimental paradigms and clinical case reports to suggest that the same hemisphere plays a dominant role in the processing of external space. A conceptual difficulty of clinical and neural network overlap arises when right hemisphere disorders of emotion are compared with those of spatial representation. The current experiment tested some of these hypotheses about emotion regulation and spatial representation in the right hemisphere using nonclinical subjects under a cortical stress paradigm designed to mimic the conditions of cortical duress. An additional goal was an extension of a previous study that examined emotional influence on spatial orientation. Results did not support our initial hypotheses. Subsequent analyses did provide some evidentiary support for some theories related to emotion and brain function. Additionally, patterns of subject performance were observed that support traditionally held theories of differential hemispheric function with regard to emotion and spatial behavior. These findings are discussed within the context of theories of emotion, spatial function, and disorders secondary to right hemisphere damage. / Doctor of Philosophy / This is a study examining the role of emotion and stress on the allocation of attention in the individual’s external environment. Further examined was the role that brain systems involved in attention, emotion, and spatial representation and the correlation with brain damage and syndromes that result in disruption to these systems. Conceptual difficulties regarding overlapping brain areas that contribute to different functions serve as the foundation for understanding both how these systems work and the behavioral manifestations of their dysfunction. Finally, further elucidating the role of these neural systems in contributing to self-awareness, emotion regulation, and the representation of external space was the ultimate objective of this study.

Adverse experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, peer victimization) have long-term consequences for emotion regulation (ER) development. Adolescents may be particularly susceptible to these effects due to heightened sensitivity to environmental influences as well as the protracted development of the prefrontal cortex, which includes regions responsible for regulatory efforts. Previous research has indicated that difficulties with ER can be both a precursor to and consequence of adverse experiences, such as child maltreatment and peer victimization. As such, the present study evaluated reciprocal relations between dynamic longitudinal changes within repeated measures of peer victimization and ER across adolescence and into young adulthood and to determine how child maltreatment may predispose youths to these issues. The sample included 167 adolescents (53% male, Mage = 14.07 years at Time 1) who participated in a longitudinal study across five time points, with approximately one year between each assessment. First, we used confirmatory factor analyses to test latent factors of child maltreatment (abuse and neglect), peer victimization, and ER. Then, we used latent change score modeling to examine reciprocal relations between peer victimization and ER. Finally, we added child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) as a preceding predictor of reciprocal relations between peer victimization and ER. Our results offer insights toward developmentally informed longitudinal, transactional models linking child maltreatment and developmental changes in peer victimization and ER in adolescence. Findings of associations between peer victimization and ER support social information processing theory (Dodge and Crick, 1990) by suggesting that adolescent difficulties with ER may confer risk for experiences of peer victimization. Finally, child neglect effects on relational peer victimization in adolescence underscore how early contextual environments may impact later social development, with child neglect predicting developmental change in relational peer victimization during adolescence. / Doctor of Philosophy / Adverse experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, peer victimization) have long-term consequences for emotion regulation (ER) development. Adolescents may be particularly at risk to experiencing negative consequences on ER development given their continued brain development. Previous research has indicated that difficulties with ER can be both a precursor to and consequence of adverse experiences, such as child maltreatment and peer victimization. As such, the purpose of the proposed study was to evaluate how peer victimization and ER are associated across adolescence and into young adulthood and to determine how earlier child maltreatment may predict these associations. The sample included 167 adolescents (53% male, Mage = 14.07 years at Time 1) who participated in a longitudinal study across five time points, with approximately one year between each assessment. Results suggest that both child neglect (maltreatment) and adolescent difficulties with ER may confer risk for experiences of peer victimization during adolescence.

Dichos and consejos, the messages passed on intergenerationally within Latino communities, are an influential aspect of Latino culture. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between ethnic identity and Latina mothers' interpretations of dichos/ consejos. I also investigated if and how ethnic identity and/ or interpretations of dichos and consejos predicted Latina mothers' emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors. Further, I explored whether maternal education was associated with ethnic identity, interpretations of dichos/consejos, and emotion socialization. Forty Latina mothers of daughters aged 4 – 12 years participated by completing questionnaires on their demographics, ethnic identity, and emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors. Mothers also engaged in a 15-minute interview to assess their interpretations of dichos and consejos. Correlations showed that ethnic identity was not significantly related to interpretations of dichos/consejos. Both ethnic identity and traditionality in helpful dichos were associated with stronger belief that emotions can be dangerous, which in turn was related to both supportive and non-supportive reactions to daughters' negative emotions. Mothers with less education reported stronger beliefs that emotions can be dangerous, more supportive and non-supportive reactions to daughters' negative emotions, and greater likelihood of using more traditional non-helpful dichos to advise other mothers. Regression analyses demonstrated that ethnic identity predicted mothers' belief that emotions can be dangerous even after controlling for maternal education and number of children in the family. After controlling for maternal education, there was a trend for mothers who passed on more traditional non-helpful dichos to their daughters to react in less supportive ways to their daughters' negative emotions. Results suggest that understanding Latina women's ethnic identity and social location will be helpful for researchers and educators seeking to assess and promote culturally sensitive emotion socialization practices. / Ph. D.

The negativity bias is a phenomenon that is characterized by infants being more influenced by, attending more to, and responding to more negative emotion information from the environment than positive emotion information. This study used a Tobii© T60 eye-tracking system to examine differences in 8- to 12-month-old infants' latencies to disengage from a centrally-presented face for three different emotion conditions-happy, sad, and fear. The events also varied by motion type-static versus dynamic. Additionally, infants' locomotor experience and parental affect served as two additional measures of experience, and assessed for their contributions to the infants' negativity bias. It was expected that infants would show longer latencies to disengage from the negative emotion events (fear or sad) compared to the positive emotion event (happy), but also that the latencies would be augmented by event type (dynamic > static), locomotion experience (high > low), and parental affect (higher negativity > lower negativity). Although infants showed more attention to dynamic than static emotion displays (especially on the speaker's mouth), and more attention to happy and sad compared to fear displays, no consistent effect of emotion type was found on infants' attention disengagement. Thus, no evidence for a negativity bias was seen. The results are interpreted with respect to possible contributions of the bimodal nature of emotion expression in the current study as well as age-related attentional differences in responding to a wide range of emotion cues. / Master of Science

Previous research has shown peer victimization during adolescence to have strong lasting effects on mental health. Religiousness and forgiveness are two factors that are positively related to mental health and the current study proposes that they may have a protective influence against the negative effects of peer victimization. Additionally, religiousness and forgiveness may be related in that forgiveness may be a link in the religiousness/health relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among religiousness, forgiveness and mental health in the context of peer victimization during adolescence. Mental health was measured by internalizing symptomatology and emotion regulation. Analyses were conducted using Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate that forgiveness may indeed be a link in the religiousness/health relationship but only when examining private religious practices. Results further show that religiousness may not be a strong protective factor in the context of peer victimization and that certain dimensions of forgiveness (specifically benevolence motivations) may actually exacerbate the effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology rather than act as a protective factor. / Master of Science