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Mood Disorder Community
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slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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 Posted - 10/03/2007 : 22:33:00
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Today, while searching on Google, I found the following article about Affect and some of the misconceptions about it:
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/phi663/Isen%20Aspinwall%20&%20Staudinger.pdf
Review:
Positive affect (happiness) positively facilitates cognitive flexibility. Happy feelings help promote well sought after attributes, such as innovation & creativity, creative problem solving, and even general problem solving. This article sites sources going back as far as 1986. Many of them are more recent.
This premise is supported both in lab tests, and applied settings. For example, when a mild positive affect (happy feelings) were induced, it lead to a more optimal solution in a negotiated setting, instead of solutions based on contending one's own position/power, yielding to the other position, and advancing or withdrawing from your own position.
These solutions were seen as solutions reach in an optimal zero sum game. In other words, solutions were reached in a creative, non-defensive, and more open frame of mind, in which alternative solutions were considered based on what was best for the entire group, not just on the most powerful or influential person.
There is some misconception that positive affect can inhibit cognition or prevent the actuation of goals. This is not supported by studies nor modern literature. For example, it has been determined that positive affect promotes helpfulness.
In a study where people were given random rewards, often amounting to less than $1.00, it was seen that these rewards caused an increase in the level of helpful behavior, an increase that often lasted past the 45 minutes of the initial study period, and beyond several intervening complex tasks.
This implies that not only does positive affect improve helpfulness, than it can be induced, and such inductions will often result in an important and lasting effect. It has been shown that such an effect can, and often does, add to existing disposition. That is, already positive people will be seen as more positive, and those without a positive disposition may gain one.
It has also been found that positive affect contributes not to mindless behavior, as may be falsely assumed, but to the most appropriate course of action for the individual and often the group.
It has been found, on the other hand, that when given a task that is unimportant (mindless), and annoying or unpleasant, that someone with a positive aspect will not do it, and will become less interested in it in terms of completion, than someone who doesn't have a positive affect, possibly because the annoying nature of the task creates a situation where it seems less appropriate to the task doer.
There are additional misconceptions about affect, such as that affect takes precedence over other brain functions, such as cognition, and that affect is more influential in determining goals. On the contrary, in studies involving positive affect, it was determined that the positive affect just creates one of many goals in the situation, not overriding them.
Thus, behavior is multi-determined, and affect, when applicable, is only one, of many, motivational roles.
Good mood doesn't seem to interfere with negativity either. They are not polar opposites, as was previously assumed. One can pursue negative goals if they are important, nor will one avoid negative goals, if there is a good motivation to do so. However, it does mean that those with a mild positive affect will naturally avoid unnecessary risks, dangers, or unpleasant material, when appropriate.
The article goes on to establish that positive affect results in less distortion or ignoring of information. This is often the case, because positive affect is associated more with memory, while negative affect is not very associated as a memory cue. People tended to use positive cues in memory, and failed to recognize negative cues. But there were thoughts about losing, when a real or imagined risk was contemplated.
I invite you to read the entire article, as it may provide additional insight that I am not covering in my review.
So, if you wanted to induce some behavior via advertising, a bit of positive affect induction, in terms of giving people free samples, etc., might be of great and lasting benefit, but only if they find a good reason to be motivated towards your advertising goals. People do not find advertising to motivate them in mindless fashion, but when given a positive affect indiction, they are more able to prioritize and remember things.
Ways that were discussed that would induce positive affect:
* receiving free gifts under $1.00
* seeing 5 minutes of a non-aggressive non-sexual comedy film
* receiving a report of success on a non-important item
* receiving a small bag of wrapped candies (10)
In conclusion: positive affect may help more than just mood, it can help memory, organization, and negotiation skills, and provide creativity, and insight to both those who have a natural disposition towards positive affect, and who have achieved it, through positive affect induction (rewarding situations).  |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/04/2007 : 15:42:03
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Welcome to the group
So what makes you happy, Slackagon?
As for me, I don't know. A good breakfast maybe?
-EA
unemployed
thirty-two-year-old Korean-American
married woman
diagnosed bipolar 1993
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/04/2007 : 19:06:57
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Thanks for asking...
Good food, good music, and success in helping out friends, mainly. And my cats, I have 2. They are really close to me.
Being able to live alone makes me happy, usually!
I will be extremely happy when I can get off of SSDI. I think I'm getting closer. This site has helped a lot.
What do you find rewarding? |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 07:15:02
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Hi Slackagon,
How long have you had your cats?
I would like to get two cats. I want to get two because when I had just one cat a few years ago, I think he might have liked to have another cat around when I was not there. My cat, a tabby with a tail like a raccoon and a white face and white feet, died for reasons we don't know, Halloween. My husband was going to get me a cat for my birthday this year but that didn't work out, it's another story.
So yeah, I think having a pet of some kind would make me happy. And friends. We have a couple neighbors we have dinner with maybe once a month, but not close at all. The friends I am close to live in other countries.
What kind of music do you like? I like rock.
-EA
unemployed
thirty-two-year-old Korean-American
married woman
diagnosed bipolar 1993
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 07:16:23
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| p.s. I did read your review of the article. I didn't read the link. I wouldn't be happy to get a small bag of wrapped candies. |
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 14:33:52
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Sorry to hear your cat died, that must have made you suspicious that it happened on halloween.
I've had my older female tabby (grey and black) for 7 years, and the younger one (orange tiger-striped tabby) for only about 6 months. He was a stray that was begging at my door around Easter, so I couldn't resist but to take him in. At first they fought a little, but they get along really well now, and I care for them both.
About music, I like New Age, Rock, Jazz, and Classical. I think a good dose of comedy now and then is great, too.
I've been bouncing off the walls lately, but at least I get some work done in the meantime. I've been avoiding Rock because it will only make me more hyper. I switched from energy drinks to decaf coffee today, so that should help.
About the review, I was just pointing out a random article I found online that was helpful for me to understand the current trends in psychology. Now that I see the happiness formula sticky thread in this same forum, more towards the top, I think I'm going to read that.
What kind of Rock do you like? I like Alternative, U2, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, and some others. |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 14:37:14
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| I like Pink Floyd too. Mostly I listen to Jazz or NewAge on the radio. |
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/05/2007 : 21:44:38
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Do you subscribe to online music services? They are a lot like radio except you get to pick the music. Am listening to Holst: The Planets/ Neptune the Mystic, right now.
The services usually cost less than the price of a CD each month. I've tried going without mine, but I get bored and can't afford to try out new music.
The only bad part is that you usually don't get to keep anything, unless you keep subscribing. So occasionally I'll pick up a CD that I want in my collection.
I wanted to thank you again for welcoming to the community, you are a kind hearted person.
Do you live in the U.S.? I live in upstate NY. |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/06/2007 : 15:23:59
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Hi
I'm in Chicago. How do you like NY?
I'm listening to my YouTube Playlists.
-EA
unemployed
thirty-two-year-old Korean-American
married woman
diagnosed bipolar 1993
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/06/2007 : 16:08:01
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I've never actually been to the big city, but upstate NY is pretty cool, and everyone here thinks I'm a big geek  ...
I've been to Chicago and saw the Museum of Natural History. That was fun. We (me and my friend) didn't have time to go to the Sears Tower.
Do you ever feel like music is evil? Like, they are trying to put messages in your mind or something? I can be kind of well, psychotic, and deluded, but that is what I get sometimes. So I go through 'spells' of not having any entertainment in my life.
I'm listening to avante-garde jazz now on Rhapsody. I swear that stuff will poison your mind, but it's good music! |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/08/2007 : 07:35:49
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I've never been to NY, NY either, but I would like to go someday.
Do you like to make music? (play an instrument, sing)...I play a 6-hole reed flute in my spare time. I'm a terrible singer, |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/08/2007 : 07:36:53
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I've never been to NY, NY either, but I would like to go someday.
Do you like to make music? (play an instrument, sing)...I play a 6-hole reed flute in my spare time. I'm a terrible singer, |
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/08/2007 : 12:30:52
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I love those kinds of instruments. They sound so beautiful.
I like to play keyboards but I had to sell mine because I needed the money. I miss it sometimes, but don't think about it too much. Most of the time the keyboard was just taking up space.
If I strike it rich, someday, I'll have a house with a home studio with lots of electronic gear, and go to music production school. I never was very good at performing, but I like to mix songs, when I get the chance.
The problem with getting rich is that I lack the discipline or creativity to. 
I'm working on some residual income, which helps me at the end of the month, when I don't feel like doing web design.
Do you ever perform with your flute? I get stage fright when I try to perform or record music.  |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
|
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 10:21:26
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If I strike it rich, I want to go on a long vacation in French Polynesia! My husband has been there before we met and I hope to go there sometime. I speak some french. We live in Chicago about 3 blocks from Lake Michigan. Do you like the ocean?
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| slackagon
New Member
51 Posts
Gratitude: 9
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Posted - 10/10/2007 : 06:54:42
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I love the ocean. It is serene, and I like the weather near the coast a lot. If I had a choice of where to live I'm not sure I could decide where! I would have to stick with an English-speaking place.
Hot humid weather tends to crap me out, though, so maybe the Oregon coast, which is unusually nice and temperate, but with some winters spent somewhere lush but not too hot.
If I were rich I'd take a friend or two with me! 
An exotic island sounds really great. But only if I had a good internet connection! |
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
9136 Posts
Gratitude: 822
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Posted - 10/12/2007 : 07:37:06
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Internet Access--
How are you today Slackagon?
-EA
unemployed
thirty-two-year-old Korean-American
married woman
diagnosed bipolar 1993
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Importance of Mild Positive Affect
