Individual differences in emotional reactions to bistable perception
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19281052 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephanie C Goodhew (0000-0002-5066-8303, School of Medicine and Psychology The Australian National University Canberra Australia, corresponding author), Mark Edwards (0000-0001-7457-4793, School of Medicine and Psychology The Australian National University Canberra Australia) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 957-967 |
| Publication date | 2024-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3506 • E-ISSN: 1467-6494 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/jopy.12861 |
| PMID | 37424142 |
| OpenAlex | W4383710242 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 46 |
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether there are individual differences in emotional reactions to bistable images, and if so, to identify some of the psychological factors that predict them. BACKGROUND: Bistable images - which have two competing perceptual interpretations - have long been used in the scientific study of consciousness. Here we applied a different lens and investigated emotional reactions to them. Method Participants were adult humans in a cross-sectional study. Participants were presented with three bistable images and rated their emotional reactions to experiencing bistability. They also completed measures of intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and negative affect. Results There were marked individual differences in these reactions, ranging from feeling highly negative to highly positive. These individual differences in emotional response to bistability were linked to a number of psychological processes: intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive empathy, and negative affect, but not affective empathy. Conclusions These finding have important implications because: (a) these emotional reactions could distort scientific investigations that use these stimuli to study non-emotional perceptual and cognitive processes; and (b) they highlight that this approach offers a useful window into how individuals react to these stimuli that demonstrate that there is not always a single viable interpretation of the world around us
Affect (linguistics) · Bistability · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Consciousness · Developmental psychology · Empathy · Feeling · Perception · Communication · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neuroscience · Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
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Increasingly certain about uncertainty
Attention and consciousness
On the interaction of social affect and cognition
Fearing the unknown
Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Dass) in clinical samples
The QCAE
The structure of negative emotional states
The short‐form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Dass‐21)
Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1
Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample.
Putting the Nonsocial Into Social Neuroscience
Both negative and positive task-irrelevant stimuli contract attentional breadth in individuals with high levels of negative affect
Attentional control both helps and harms empathy
Intolerance of Uncertainty and Mental Wellbeing
Two roads diverged
Motivational direction diverges from valence for sadness, anger, and amusement
Anxiety and working memory capacity
Studies of adults can inform accounts of theory of mind development
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |