Michele M. Tugade

What Good Are Positive Emotions in Crises? A Prospective Study of Resilience and Emotions Following the Terrorist Attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001

Extrapolating from B. L. Fredricksons (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the authors hypothesized that positive emotions are active ingredients within trait resilience. U.S. college students (18 men and 28 women) were tested in early 2001 and again in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mediational analyses showed that positive emotions experienced in the wake of the attacks--gratitude, interest, love, and so forth--fully accounted for the relations between (a) precrisis resilience and later development of depressive symptoms and (b) precrisis resilience and postcrisis growth in psychological resources. Findings suggest that positive emotions in the aftermath of crises buffer resilient people against depression and fuel thriving, consistent with the broaden-and-build theory. Discussion touches on implications for coping.

The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions

Positive emotions are hypothesized to undo the cardiovascular aftereffects of negative emotions. Study 1 tests this undoing effect. Participants (n = 170) experiencing anxiety-induced cardiovascular reactivity viewed a film that elicited (a) contentment, (b) amusement, (c) neutrality, or (d) sadness. Contentment-eliciting and amusing films produced faster cardiovascular recovery than neutral or sad films did. Participants in Study 2 (n = 185) viewed these same films following a neutral state. Results disconfirm the alternative explanation that the undoing effect reflects a simple replacement process. Findings are contextualized by Fredricksons broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (B. L. Fredrickson, 1998).

Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Dual-Process Theories of the Mind

Dual-process theories of the mind are ubiquitous in psychology. A central principle of these theories is that behavior is determined by the interplay of automatic and controlled processing. In this article, the authors examine individual differences in the capacity to control attention as a major contributor to differences in working memory capacity (WMC). The authors discuss the enormous implications of this individual difference for a host of dual-process theories in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology. In addition, the authors propose several new areas of investigation that derive directly from applying the concept of WMC to dual-process theories of the mind.

Stress and Coping Among Asian Americans: Lazarus and Folkman’s Model and Beyond

In conclusion, it is clear to us there is much that remains to be understood about the stress and coping experience of Asian Americans as a whole. Indeed, beyond the coping models discussed in the present chapter, there are a number of alternative and novel models of coping that can and should also be examined in future studies of Asian Americans. For example, Wong (1993; Wong & Ujimoto, 1998; see also Hobfoll, 2001) has proposed that a variety of coping strategies may be used by individuals from different cultural groups to effectively deal with stressful experiences as long as appropriate resources are available to them to meet new challenges and threats. Similarly, findings from some studies show that beyond differences in coping practices among Asian Americans, there may be differences in coping sources sought (e.g., seeking familial and social resources over professional resources; Yeh & Wang, 2000). In sum, it is clear to us that researchers will be most likely be able to obtain a rich understanding of how Asian Americans cope with stress by considering varied methodologies and theoretical models. And because Asian Americans do not represent a singular collective, the use of different methodologies and theoretical frameworks may also help identify important stress and coping differences between the many Asian American ethnic groups.

A cosa servono le emozioni positive nelle situazioni critiche? Studio prospettico su resilienza ed emozioni dopo gli attacchi terroristici agli USA dell'11 settembre 2001

Sulla base della teoria dell’ amplificazione e costruzione formulata da Fredrickson ([1],[2]) (broaden-and-build theory)*, gli autori ipotizzano che le emozioni positive siano componenti attivi della resilienza di tratto. Alcuni studenti americani di college (18 maschi e 28 femmine) sono stati esaminati nei primi mesi del 2001 e nelle settimane successive agli attacchi terroristici dell’11 settembre. Le analisi delle mediazioni hanno dimostrato che le emozioni positive sperimentate in seguito agli attacchi gratitudine, interesse, affetto e cosi via rendono conto del tutto delle relazioni tra (a) resilienza precritica e successivo sviluppo di sintomi de¬pressivi e (b) resilienza precritica e crescita postcritica delle risorse psicologiche. I risultati suggeriscono che le emozioni positive nel seguito delle situazioni critiche proteggono le persone resilienti dalla depressione e ne alimentano lo sviluppo, in accordo con la teoria dell’amplificazione e costruzione. La discussione verte sulle implicazioni per il coping.