People value music mainly for its abilities to induce emotions. Yet little is known about these experiences. The aim of this thesis was thus to investigate the nature and prevalence of emotional reactions to music, and what factors in the listener, the music, and the situation might contribute to such reactions. Study I explored the prevalence of musical emotions and possible factors influencing such experiences through the use of a questionnaire sent out to a random and nationally representative sample. The results indicated that a majority of the responders frequently reacted emotionally to music, and that their reactions included both basic and complex emotions. Prevalence correlated with personality, gender, age, and music education. Study II was designed to obtain a representative sample of situations where music induced emotions in listeners. The results showed that emotional reactions to music occurred in 24% of all episodes, and that the prevalence of specific emotions varied depending on the situation (e.g., other people present). However, causal inferences could not be drawn from Study I and II, so it was considered important to test predictions in a more controlled setting. Study III showed in an experiment that listeners experienced more intense emotions (a) to self-chosen music than to randomly selected music and (b) when listening with a close friend or partner than when listening alone. Moreover, Openness to experience correlated with emotion intensity. All three factors were linked to positive emotions. Overall, the thesis shows that (a) musical emotions are relatively common, (b) music can induce a variety of emotions, and (c) there are several features in the listener, the music, and the situation that may influence emotional reactions to music.

Public view removed at the authors request. 16/07/2006 / The daily experience of anorexia nervosa sufferers has not previously been studied and yet it is fundamental to understanding anorexia nervosa. This study examined and compared the daily experiences of anorexia nervosa patients and control participants in terms of sense of self, mood states and flow states. Flow is characterised by undivided concentration and interest in an activity for intrinsic benefits. Flow is not always desirable, as some ways of experiencing it may be harmful to the individual and society. Anorexia nervosa participants were recruited from hospitals and private practices of clinicians specialising in the treatment of anorexia nervosa. Exclusion criteria included male gender, chronic anorexia nervosa, drug abuse, and current participation in an inpatient program. Anorexia nervosa participants completed a series of questionnaires at baseline, 3-6 month follow-up and 7-12 month follow-up (stage one, two and three respectively). The questionnaires were designed to measure the severity of their eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa and control group participants completed Experience Sampling Forms (ESF) and a Repertory Grid at baseline and 3-6 months. The ESFs were completed each time a pager was activated. The pager was activated seven times a day, for four days at random times between 8.00am and 10.00pm. The pager signals were a minimum of two hours apart. The Repertory Grid consisted of 23 constructs and 13 elements provided to the participant. Thirty-one anorexia nervosa sufferers and thirty-two control participants completed stage one and eighteen anorexia nervosa sufferers and twenty-seven control group participants completed stage two of the study. Eighteen anorexia nervosa sufferers completed stage three of the study. Control participants were not required to participate in stage three. There was no difference in the severity of anorexia nervosa between completers and drop-outs The analysis of the ESFs at stage one indicated that the anorexia nervosa group participants did not spend more time alone at home or more time alone in any situation than the control group. For both groups, being alone had a negative influence on mood state, but had no effect on sense of self. The anorexia nervosa group felt lonelier and less sociable than the control group. The mood state and sense of self for the anorexia nervosa group was significantly lower over all the ESFs when compared to the control group. They were also more self-critical, experienced higher levels of guilt, were less able to live up to their own expectations, and were less satisfied with their performance in the activity they were doing. The anorexia nervosa group experienced less flow states than the control group at stage one. There was an improvement in mood state, sense of self and self-criticism for the anorexia nervosa group when they were in a flow state compared to when they were not in a flow state. There was an improvement in mood state, sense of self, guilt and self-criticism for the control group when they experienced flow, however these differences were not significant. The anorexia nervosa group had a more positive mood state and sense of self at stage two when compared to stage one. Correspondingly, there was a trend towards a reduced severity of the disorder indicated by a significant improvement on some of the psychological tests (EAT, REDS, BDI, DT). There was also a significant improvement in BMI. However, there was a significant decline in the amount of flow of anorexia nervosa participants experienced at stage two when compared to stage one. This result may be attributed to the significant decline in the response rate on ESFs in the second stage of the study for both the anorexia nervosa and control groups. Anorexia nervosa non-responders at stage two reported more severe symptoms of anorexia nervosa than anorexia nervosa responders, although this was a trend and reached significance only on minor indicators of eating disorder severity. The identification of a factor that predicted severity over a six-month period was not possible. The repertory grid analysis showed that the construct system of the anorexia nervosa participants was tighter and less complex than that of the control group. The anorexia nervosa group construed themselves as dissimilar from the way they would like to be in any context. The control group construed themselves as similar to the way they would like to be when they were alone, but as dissimilar from the way they would like to be when they were with other people. While the most salient element for both the anorexia nervosa and control groups was 'alone at home', it appears that the controls use this time for goal-directed activities. In contrast, this time was dominated by fear of losing control for the anorexia nervosa group. Although there was a trend towards a decrease in the amount of variance accounted for by the first component for the anorexia nervosa group at stage two compared to stage one, the interpretation of this result was complicated by mixed result of the control group. The anorexia nervosa groups' daily experience of life was bleak when compared to the daily experience of the control group, except for periods when the anorexia nervosa participants experienced a flow state. DeVries (1992) has documented the success of therapeutic interventions that involve the identification and replication of activities that resulted in a flow state. This investigation suggests that a similar result may be possible in the treatment of anorexia nervosa.

Standard methods of assessment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involve retrospective report of symptoms over a prior period of interest (e.g., a week, a month, etc.). However, such accounts may be subject to recall biases, leading to inaccurate assessments of symptoms. Recall biases present in two domains of symptom severity (distress and interference) were examined. The following study applied experience-sampling methods (ESM) to OCD symptom assessment. Using a modified form of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, twenty-one adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD rated distress and interference of their principle obsession and compulsion four times daily for approximately one week. At the end of the experience-sampling period, participants provided retrospective estimates of distress and interference of principle obsessions and compulsions experienced during the course of the ESM period. Results found that participants retrospectively overestimated OCD ratings, compared to their real-time ratings. Two proposed reasons for such overestimates (peak-end evaluation and symptom variability) were examined though not supported based on current study results. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Social dysfunction is a hallmark of schizophrenia and leads to significant disability and distress. Decreased positive and increased negative affect predict poorer social functioning in those with schizophrenia. Social functioning and affect have traditionally been measured in the laboratory; yet, these methods are limited. Experience sampling methods (ESM) offer more immediate, ecologically valid assessments of these constructs. The purpose of this study was to examine social functioning and affect in schizophrenia using a novel form of ESM that passively collects audio data. The two primary hypotheses were: 1) clinical status (schizophrenia versus control) will predict social functioning, level of positive affect, and level of negative affect; and 2) the relationship between clinical status and affect will be moderated by context (social versus non-social). Additional exploratory aims tested the convergent validity between traditional, laboratory-based assessments of social functioning and this novel ESM. Data was collected from 38 people with schizophrenia and 36 control participants; Results partially supported the hypotheses. As expected, laboratory measures of social functioning revealed that those with schizophrenia performed worse than controls. ESM measures of social functioning found that the schizophrenia group interacted with others at the same rate as the control group but did not exhibit as much social engagement. ESM measures of affect revealed the schizophrenia group reported more negative affect than controls, but no differences in positive affect were found. Social context did not moderate the relationship between clinical status and affect. Lastly, correlations between laboratory measures and ESM measures of social functioning were significant for the schizophrenia group but not the control group. Results further our understanding of social functioning and affect in those with schizophrenia and yield important implications for future work.

No description available.

Interessen werden meist aus einer Trait- oder State-Perspektive beforscht. Erst kürzlich wurden die beiden Perspektiven in einem theoretischen Modell integriert (Su et al., 2019), das postuliert, dass sich Interesse-Traits als intraindividuell variierende States manifestieren. Aufbauend auf dieses Modell untersucht die vorgelegte Dissertation Interessen anhand der wichtigsten Taxonomie für Interesse-Traits—Hollands (1997) Taxonomie beruflicher Interessen. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist zu untersuchen, ob und wie sich Berufsinteresse-Traits als States im Alltag manifestieren. Kernstück dieser Arbeit bilden zwei präregistrierte Experience Sampling Studien. Sie werden mit einem Literaturüberblick zu Interesse-Traits und -States eingeleitet sowie der Identifizierung von zwei Forschungszielen: Die Untersuchung (1) der Natur alltäglicher Manifestationen von Interesse-Traits und (2) der Korrelate von Interesse-States. Beide Studien verfolgten diese zwei Forschungsziele. Zentrale Ergebnisse waren, dass (1) Personen systematisch in ihren Interesse-States im Alltag variieren; (2) ein spezifisches Variabilitätsmuster in Interesse-States die Natur von Interesse-States von derjenigen von Persönlichkeit-States zu unterscheiden scheint; (3) Interesse-States systematisch mit spezifischen situations- und personenbezogenen Variablen assoziiert sind. Die Dissertation schließt mit einer Zusammenfassung, wie die beiden Studien zu den identifizierten Forschungszielen beitragen und einer Diskussion der allgemeinen Stärken, Limitationen und Anregungen für künftige Forschung. Theoretische Implikationen werden vorgestellt und in das integrative Modell (Su, et al., 2019) eingebettet. Insgesamt beleuchtet die vorgestellte Forschung die Natur und Korrelate momentaner Manifestationen von Berufsinteressen im täglichen Leben und kann künftige Forschung dazu anregen, stärker eine State-Perspektive auf Interessen zu berücksichtigen. / Research on interests is typically conducted with a trait or state perspective. Only recently, the two perspectives have been integrated within a theoretical model (Su et al., 2019), proposing that interest traits manifest as intraindividually varying states. Based on this model, this dissertation examines interests as conceptualized with the most prominent interest trait taxonomy—Holland’s (1997) taxonomy of vocational interests. With this dissertation, I sought to explore whether and how vocational interest traits manifest as states in daily life. Two preregistered experience sampling studies are this dissertation’s core. They are introduced with a literature overview on interest traits and states and an identification of two research goals: Exploring (1) the nature of interest trait manifestations in daily life and (2) correlates of interest states. While the first study provided first empirical answers on the nature and correlates of vocational interest states in daily life, the second study sought to refine these insights. The key findings of the two studies are that (1) persons systematically vary in their vocational interest states in daily life; (2) a distinctive pattern of interest state variability seems to set the nature of vocational interest states apart from the nature of Big Five personality states; (3) vocational interest states are systematically associated with specific situation- and person-related variables. The dissertation concludes with a summary of how the two studies contribute to the identified research goals and a discussion of the studies’ general strengths, limitations, and suggestions for further research. Theoretical implications are presented and associated with the integrative model of interests (Su, et al., 2019). Altogether, shedding light on the nature and correlates of vocational interest states in daily life, the presented research may encourage future work to consider a state perspective in research on vocational interests.

Social functioning impairments are a core, debilitating, and treatment refractory feature of schizophrenia. The mechanisms contributing to these impairments are unknown. Cognitive control mechanisms, mediated by the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), are known to influence response to interpersonal stressors in healthy individuals, thus impairments in these processes may contribute to social deficits. Deficits in cognitive control and lateral prefrontal abnormalities are well-documented in schizophrenia, but the relationship between these deficits and social interactions has received limited attention in the literature. The current dissertation presents a systematic examination of the contribution of the behavioral and neural mechanisms of cognitive control to social functioning impairments in schizophrenia. Three papers are presented. / Psychology

本研究旨在探討不同背景變項的大專生之獨處狀態及其與身心健康之關係。採用經驗採樣法以自我報告的方式針對國內80位大專生進行為期一星期的生活紀錄，研究者每天以手機傳簡訊3-4次，受試者在接到簡訊後立即在「獨處生活紀錄」小冊子上填答當時的狀態，並以「獨處生活紀錄」小冊子及「研究同意書」、「個人基本資料」、「一般健康量表」、「時間表」編製成「大專生獨處狀態研究問卷」以及「研究回饋單」為研究工具。調查所得資料以描述統計、獨立樣本t考驗、相依樣本t考驗、皮爾森積差相關顯著性考驗、曲線相關顯著性考驗、一元二次曲線迴歸、多元線性逐步迴歸等統計方法進行處理。研究主要發現如下： 一、大專生獨處與非獨處（與他人在一起）時之主觀經驗及動機上有差異。 二、不同性別、年齡的大專生在獨處狀態（時間比例、主觀經驗、類型、動機）上沒有差異。 三、不同獨處動機的大專生在獨處狀態（時間比例、主觀經驗、類型）上有差異。 （一）獨處動機愈高的大專生獨處的時間比例愈長。 （二）獨處動機愈高的大專生獨處的主觀經驗愈正向 （三）獨處動機愈高的大專生處於「隱匿的」獨處類型比例愈高；獨處動機愈低的大專生處於「問題解決」、「寂寞的」、「自我發現的」獨處類比例愈高。 四、大專生不同的獨處類型比例與獨處狀態（時間比例、主觀經驗）有關係。 五、大專生獨處時間比例與一般身心健康呈曲線相關。 六、獨處狀態各變項對於大專生之身心健康具有預測效果。 另外，在研究方法上，由於本研究是國內首次運用連續自我報告一星期的經驗採樣法做為資料收集的方法，因此本研究將針對此一研究方法做進一步分析與探討。最後根據本研究的發現與討論，提出對大專生、學校及輔導人員以及未來相關研究之建議。

Psychological research regarding mental imagery is heterogeneous in nature owing to its internal nature. Mental imagery involving music is most simply defined as hearing music in the mind’s ear. Musical imagery (MI) is an understudied phenomenon particularly by means of non-experimental methods. This study investigated four dimensions of everyday MI: namely it’s content, nature, constancy and associated corporeal manifestations (for instance, foot-tapping, humming and so forth), via experience-sampling methods. Stage one of data collection involved a cross-sectional survey (n = 87) whereby participants provided retrospective self-reports concerning MI, pertinent demographic information, and particulars concerning their musical history. Stage two – implemented subsequent to piloting – utilised iterative sampling to illuminate the dimensions and descriptive facets of MI during everyday activities. Each participant (n = 16; 8 musicians; 8 non-musicians) was selected based on specific inclusion criteria, following stage one participation, and were invited to complete 21 questionnaires over seven days, receiving three SMS prompts per day. In terms of prevalence, MI was consistently experienced by participants, regardless of their musical background although musicians reported higher rates of MI occurrences. There was a statistically significant association between MI and musical training/experience (χ² = 6.35; d.f. = 1; p = .012). Furthermore, odds ratios suggested that the musicians demonstrated an 85% likelihood of experiencing MI as compared to the non-musicians (OR 1.85; CI 1.14 – 2.99). Daily exposure to music appeared to be an equally significant factor relating to every day MI incidences, particularly given the finding that the majority of participant’s MI episodes were familiar and recently heard.

Suicide is a complex phenomenon that occurs on a continuum with thoughts of suicide, plans and attempts that can eventually result in death. Suicide is one of the top ten reasons for death in most countries. Governments are challenging healthcare systems to reduce suicide through preventative healthcare. The first paper explores psychological interventions for people with suicidal thoughts and behaviours delivered through technology. It explores the evidence-base for internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, telephone based interventions, CD-ROMs and other Internet-based therapies. Nineteen papers were identified with four papers of good quality evidence supporting Internet-based cognitive behavioural interventions. The second paper is a feasibility and acceptability study which explores a diary and intervention delivered through a mobile phone. Twenty participants were recruited through adult secondary care community mental health teams in the North West of England. High completion rates and low dropout rates were found. Participants rated the technology and interventions high in terms of practicality, ease of use and overall satisfaction with the programme and reported that it was moderately helpful. Preliminary data on effectiveness suggests reactivity to the method in the short term but a reduction in symptoms overall. These results and ESM methodology must be treated with caution for people with suicidal thoughts due to the increase in symptoms found following the intervention. The third paper offers a critical reflection on the first and second papers.