No abstract

Psychological stress has been known to have negative effects on health since the work of Cannon (1929) and Selye (1956). Contemporary research suggests that negative emotional reactions to stressors can also be detrimental to health, but that emotion management can foster healthy coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Those who ignore the occasional aggressive driver on the morning commute, for example, avoid the negative COACTIVATION OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS 213

What are personality traits? Are all “broad” traits equally broad in the constructs they encompass and in the pervasiveness of their effects? Or are some traits more or less affective, behavioral, or cognitive in nature? The present study examined these issues as they applied to the Big 5 traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Expert and novice raters judged the extent to which items from four popular Big 5 inventories contain behavioral, cognitive, or affective components. Traits and inventories were then compared in terms of their relative assessment of these components. Results indicate convergence among inventories but remarkable differences between traits. These findings have implications for the conceptualization and assessment of traits and suggest directions for future research.

Three studies explored individual differences in rate of affect change. Participants watched affect-inducing videos and reported their affect twice in 20 min. Individual differences in rate of affect change emerged independently of initial affect intensity and stress appraisals, revealing 2 affect-change profiles. Positive affect augmenters (extraverts, emotionally stable participants, and those with high negative mood regulation expectancies) showed slow rates of positive and rapid rates of negative affect decay. Negative affect augmenters (introverts, neurotics, and participants with low negative mood regulation expectancies) showed slow rates of negative and rapid rates of positive affect decay. These findings expand the literature on affective style, have adaptational implications, and highlight future research directions.

No abstract