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Rahrig H, Beloboradova P, Castro C, Sabet K, Johnson M, Pearce O, Brown KW. Managing emotions in the age of political polarization: A randomized controlled trial comparing mindfulness to cognitive reappraisal. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-3947259. [PMID: 38586010 PMCID: PMC10996818 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3947259/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Emotional appraisals of political stimuli (e.g., videos) have been shown to drive shared neural encoding, which correspond to shared, yet divisive, interpretations of such stimuli. However, mindfulness practice may entrain a form of emotion regulation that de-automatizes social biases, possibly through alteration of such neural mechanisms. The present study combined a naturalistic neuroimaging paradigm and a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of short-term mindfulness training (MT) (n = 35) vs structurally equivalent Cognitive Reappraisal training (CT) (n = 37) on politically-situated emotions while evaluating the mechanistic role of prefrontal cortical neural synchrony. Participants underwent functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recording while viewing inflammatory partisan news clips and continuously rating their momentary discrete emotions. MT participants were more likely to respond with extreme levels of anger (odds ratio = 0.12, p < .001) and disgust (odds ratio = 0.08, p < .001) relative to CT participants. Neural synchrony-based analyses suggested that participants with extreme emotion reactions exhibited greater prefrontal cortical neural synchrony, but that this pattern was less prominent in participants receiving MT relative to CT (CT > MT; channel 1 ISC = .040, p = .030).
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadley Rahrig
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53703, United States of America
| | - Polina Beloboradova
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
| | - Christina Castro
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
| | - Kayla Sabet
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
| | - Melina Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
| | - Orion Pearce
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
| | - Kirk Warren Brown
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, United States of America
- Health and Human Performance Lab, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States of America
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Abstract
There is always room for moral improvement. However, very few prior reviews have focused on the phenomenon of moral improvement of self, social relations, or society. We first consider prevailing notions of the self-concept by highlighting the niche of theory and research that identifies an improving self as a possible identity and basis of motivation to act better and to be better. Second, we discuss moral improvement in the context of social relations, especially the close interpersonal relations that should most facilitate moral improvement. Third, we examine the moral improvement of society, focusing on the factors that facilitate or inhibit caring about potential immorality despite the fact that issues such as inequality, discrimination, and the climate crisis seem to be morally distant and impersonal. Finally, we discuss future directions for theory, research, and application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Wayne Leach
- Departments of Psychology and Africana Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA;
- Department of Psychology and Institute for Research in African American Studies and Data Science Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Aarti Iyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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Wilson-Mendenhall CD, Holmes KJ. Lab Meets World: the Case for Use-Inspired Basic Research in Affective Science. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2023; 4:591-599. [PMID: 37744977 PMCID: PMC10514004 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-023-00200-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
We join others in envisioning a future for affective science that addresses society's most pressing needs. To move toward this vision, we consider a research paradigm that emerged in other disciplines: use-inspired basic research. This paradigm transcends the traditional basic-applied dichotomy, which pits the basic goal of fundamental scientific understanding against the applied goal of use in solving social problems. In reality, these goals are complementary, and use-inspired basic research advances them simultaneously. Here, we build a case for use-inspired basic research-how it differs from traditional basic science and why affective scientists should engage in it. We first examine how use-inspired basic research challenges problematic assumptions of a strict basic-applied dichotomy. We then discuss how it is consistent with advances in affective science that recognize context specificity as the norm and consider ethical issues of use being a complementary goal. Following this theoretical discussion, we differentiate the implementation of use-inspired basic research from that of traditional basic science. We draw on examples from recent research to illustrate differences: social problems as a starting point, stakeholder and community engagement, and integration of research and service. In conclusion, we invite affective scientists to embrace the "lab meets world" perspective of use-inspired basic research as a promising pathway to real-world impact.
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