Chapter 2 - Reading Flashcards
Acting and personality
Acting on stage and in real life is about conveying emotion
Goffman (1959) described life as a series of performances (in the presentation of self in everyday life)
Actors enact a routine; pre established pattern of action which unfolds during a performance and which may be performed on other occasions (eg lunch with mom)
Each routine has room for improvisation, actors personalize their performances
Each brings a style of acting like a personal font: clothes, accent, facial expressions, hair etc
Includes aspects with which people recognize their character
We all do this
Font=personality
The art of personality is the unique style of emotional performance
Mothers and babies as social actors
There is NO PERIOD where we are not social actors
Babies are social actors before they realize they are
Because we, the social audience perceive them as so
Mothers say 1 month olds show interest, surprise, anger and fear
Labs and babies socially acting
In labs we see - general distress, contentment, interest and disgust with one month olds
Between 2-7 months: joy, surprise, anger, sadness and fear are notable
The first scripts for acting are facial
All born with this
Autists struggle to do this and have difficulty socially as they avoid eye contact
Expressions of emotions are…
Adaptive: Disgust might be cos food is bas
The main organ for emotional display
Child patterns of face
face
Cross culturally, people know the pattern for fear, sadness, joy, interest anger and disgust (Eckman, 2003)
Care givers respond to this with emotional displays of their own and children react to this
In lab studies, still, emotionless displays distress kids
Depressed moms have blunted reactions and their babies eventually stop trying to engage them leading to developmental issues
Attachement
2 moths old, social smiling
6-7 months - biggest smiles for primary caregiver
Fear face with strangers: Stranger anxiety
Will be scared and angry on separation - separation anxiety
Protects infants and keeps them close to caregivers
1 year old understands that caregivers are safe bases to explore the world from and safe havens in emotional distress
Internalized working model
in the second year, kids have memories of significant attachment events
Internalized working model of attachment
This reflects infants emotional history of attachment and sets expecations going forward (for love and trust)
Kids under 2 gather this information without thinking and have a lot of XP with socioemotional stuff
Self-Awareness
Kids recognize themselves after 18 months old in mirrors
Start using words like me and mine
Pride and embarrassment too therefore must experience self as an actor whos performances are evaluated by others
I am, I exist
Jennifer stickerhead
William James said happens near the end of the 2nd year
Child takes note of their social actions and the reactions to those actions
Over time, learns a lot about themselves by observing how they act and how others respond to them based on their observations of my performances
Starts inconsistently
Jennifer sees video of herself with a sticker on her head"its Jennifer” Why is she wearing my shirt?
At 3 will take the sticker off of her head if it is live
Not until 4 do they use I not Jennifer\Only after 4, we are consistently us over time
Performing positive emotion
Some babies are naturally happy/some less so
Differences called TEMPERAMENT
Most noticeable is the performance of emotion, how kids express and regulate their feelings
Same babies feel good all the time, others do not\Observers can detect positive emotionality temperamental disposition. People with this are cheerful and show high RESPONSE TO REWARD
Expression of positive emotion reflects their eagerness to approach potentially rewarding situations
STUDY
Babies at 4 months old that show positive emotion to pictures and sounds in the lab were more likely to show +ve approach behaviour months later, in response to a novel situation
Kids with positive emotionality seek out and enjoy social interaction more than low scorers. People say they are enthusiastic and others, lethargic
These kids seek out social rewards and when there are none, express anger. The children who express the most anger when frustrated are seen as more outgoing and sociable at grade school.
The same brain processes involved with positive emotion are also involved with sociality so there may be a connection between feeling good and being social
Anger across lifespan
Plays a role, makes people energized to fix something and get social rewards
Behavioral Approach System (BAS)
Distributed across brain
Motivates people to approach potentially rewarding situations (often social)
Also allows the experience of positive emotions associated with the pursuit or attainment of rewards
Usually via dopamine
Don’t have to achieve, the anticipation is enough
Drugs with increase dopamine, like coke, increase reward seeking behaviour but not spikes in pleasure on achievement of the goal
Might work with the opioid systems this releases neuropeptides like beta-endorphin when rewards are received
BAS = wanting rewards and so seeking them. Opioid = liking the reward when you have it
BAS = wanting a socially rewarding thing and being frustrated when it isn’t possible. Opioid when you get it.
BAS vs Opioid
BAS = wanting rewards and so seeking them. Opioid = liking the reward when you have it BAS = wanting a socially rewarding thing and being frustrated when it isn't possible. Opioid when you get it.
Consequences of high BAS system and Opioids in children?
Kids with high BAS/Opioid might become high E
Not clear, not a 1-1 link between temperament and personality but it definitely nudges it
Extraversion -Introversion spectrum (E)
Move vs less social
In some lives, early temperament might expand into the super trait E
E is normally distributed
Measure E
Revised neo ( 6 things)
Self questionnaires Revised NEO peronality inventory 1 excitement seeking 2 activity 3 assertiveness 4 gregariousness 5 positive emotions 6 warmth
Together measure E and account for the tings which appear on other measures for E
1-3 are approach to reward
4-6 is enjoyment of your rewards
High E people experience
More positive emotions when presented with scenarios that detailed the pursuit of reward
Emotionally pleasant scenarios don’t do the same thing (Though in some studies they do)
Lucas & Denver, 2001
How much +ve emotion do yo experience with a range of pleasant and unpleasant scenarios?
High E people showed higher +ve emotion for pleasant social & non-social things vs low E people
High E people have important differences in (4 things)
(1) social
(2) emotional regulation
(3) learning and memory
(4) vocational interests
Overall is it better to be high or low E?
High
Being low does not make you sad but better to be high
Negative aspects of E
So not take -ve feedback into account therefore, do not learn from xp
Associated with gambling and drinking
When psychopathological = externalizing (aggression, narcissism and substance abuse)
Extraverts prime function is to
Ashton
attract and hold the attention of others
Helps people of all ages to be noticed and not ignored
George W. Bush
Extravert
Family clown, made people happy by being outrageous
Innocently aggressive (socially dominant plus positive emotionality)
“moves towards conviviality like a heat seeking missile”
Class clown
Always popular, gave nicknames t friends
Went to Andover, many friends. Not good academically or athletically but amazing with groups
Yale (lol)
Very popular, good at remembering names
Abused drink (popular with high E)
Cold turkey at 40
Was a social thing and made it more fun but stopped
As president, amazingly optimistic but reckless and immune to negative feedback
Bob Bullock - kiss me/fuck me story
Negative emotionality temperament
As newborns - distress and disgust
6 months on = anger, fear and sadness
2 on = shame, embaressement, guilt
Aome experience this more than others, even to the same stimuli
Negative emotionality = temperament
Higher here = more easily upset and harder to sooth
Is negative emotionality the same as the opposite to positive empotionality?
No
Someone with less positive does not have to have more negative
Less negative people are calmer. less fearful/moody and stressed
More resilient
(not the same as having positive emotionality)
Negative emotionality divides into two types
(1) Emotional fearfulness & behavioral inhibition
Great timidity in the face of new people and events
By age 2, don’t want to play with an unfamiliar toy
Increased heart rate and pupil dilation in stressful social situations
More morning blood cortisol (everyone has this before waking, these kids have more)
Negative emotionality divides into two types
(2) Irritability & strong response to frustration
Express agitation/hostility when their social plans do not work
Operative emotion is anger
In the case of these people, anger is not energizing in a positive way - hostility, fear, anxiety and frustration are hallmarks
Negative emotionality in kids id called X in adults
Neuroticism (N)
NI is a risk for mental health issues
Low N = stable and calm
Mental issues harm those who experience negative emotion a lot
N predicts bad interpersonal experiences in life
High N = high stress = poor QOL
Increase N = more stress = are worse at coping with iut
N and negative cascade
Suls & Martin
Highly N authors are (1) more reactive to signs of stress in the modern world and hence (2) exposed to more negative events which, (3) reinforces their tendency to appraise objectively neutral or positive events in negative terms. Heightened reactivity, exposure and negative appraisals tend to precipitate (4) mood spillover, whereby negative feelings about one area of life spill into others and negative moods from one day spill into the next. Hence, high N people often ruminate about things so the negative feelings do not go. Lastly, high N people are associated with (5) the sting of familial issues and conflicts that were never resolved, leading to increased negative feelings, thoughts and actions.
High N people experience
High fear and anxiety
Adaptive aspects of fear and anxiety
Fear = adaptive response to immediate, real threats
Short term, strong, specific autonomic arousal
Anxiety = potential danger
Uncertainty. Social contexts often do this
Fear flight freeze system (FFFS)
When you see a new thing. Usually protective
Might be overreactive in high N people
4 months old that cry when shown things other kids find ok seem to have this and are rated as high negative emotionality
Behavioral Inhibition System
Alerts to potential threats associated with uncertainty
Causes people to be careful and cautious
Does not have to be an actual thing
High N People have higher activity
FFFS and BIS involve the amygdala
Sensory input +/- imagined threat - Amygdala - Hypothalamus - Increased BP, Cortisol, HR etc
Can also affect the hippocampus and make new memories which last forever
Study High N and BIS
Electronic learning task
Learned to associate stimuli and response (stimuli and anxiety for example)
fMRI measured brain activity
Positive correlation between N scores and activation of hippocampus, amygdala when stimuli associated with anxiety were presented
So, high N people were more likely to show anxiety to a stimuli that was previously neutral
Anxiety as a learned response
Kids with high negative emotionality find new stimuli anxiety provoking BUT we are not born knowing what dangers lie in social situations
BIS is shaped by learning experiences
As you learn what can go wrong, you become prepared for these via anxiety
This system interacts with other brain parts
Infants experiences with fear via FFFS activation may condense into general anxiety (and so BIS)
Experiences of sadness can also influence BIS and BAS and hence low mood can increase fear of punishing events (BIS) and lower ability to experience reward (BAS)
Nature and Nurture
Negative emotion across the lifespan is a product of nature and nurture. We have temperaments but BAS, BIS and FFFS are sensitive to cumulative experience
