Dyspnea is an impairing symptom in various diseases. Recent research has shown that the perception of dyspnea, like pain, consists of a sensory (intensity) and an affective (unpleasantness) dimension, but little is known about the specific impact of different emotions on these distinct dimensions. We therefore examined the impact of viewing affective picture series of positive, neutral, and negative valence on perceived dyspnea during resistive load breathing in healthy volunteers. Inspiratory time (Ti), breathing frequency (f), and oscillatory resistance (Ros) remained unchanged across conditions. Ratings for unpleasantness of dyspnea increased from positive to neutral to negative series, but ratings for intensity of dyspnea showed no changes. The results suggest that the affective dimension of the perception of dyspnea is particularly vulnerable to emotional influences, irrespective of objective lung function.

This study examines the relationship between students' (N = 334) perceived teacher respect and their performance on a math exam in school settings. The incremental validity of respect on performance beyond that accounted for by intelligence is assessed. Results suggest that respect accounts for significant additional variability in students' performance above that accounted for by intelligence. Further analyses reveal that the relationship between respect and performance is moderated by immigration. For German students (N = 150), perceived respect accounts for a part of the variability in performance over the variability accounted for by intelligence. For students with an immigrant background (N = 181) this relationship is not significant. Cultural implications of respect in school settings are discussed.