Ostracism arouses negative affect. However, little is known about variables that
influence the intensity of these negative affective responses. Two studies seek to fill this
void by incorporating work on approach- and withdrawal-related emotional states and
their associated cortical activations. Study 1 found that following ostracism, anger
related directly to relative left frontal cortical activation. Study 2 used unilateral hand
contractions to manipulate frontal cortical activity prior to an ostracizing event. Righthand
contractions, compared to left-hand contractions, caused greater relative left frontal
cortical activation during the hand contractions as well as during ostracism. Also, righthand
contractions caused more self-reported anger in response to being ostracized.
Within-condition correlations revealed patterns of associations between ostracisminduced
frontal asymmetry and emotive responses to ostracism consistent with Study 1.
Taken together, these results suggest that asymmetrical frontal cortical activity affects
angry responses to ostracism, with greater relative left frontal cortical activity being
associated with increased anger.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-12-7361 |
| Date | 2009 December 1900 |
| Creators | Peterson, Carly Kathryn |
| Contributors | Harmon-Jones, Eddie |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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