Mixed Emotions and Coping: The Benefits of Secondary Emotions

Abstract

The existing empirical literature suggests that during difficult situations, the concurrent experience of positive and negative affects may be ideal for ensuring successful adaptation and well-being. However, different patterns of mixed emotions may have different adaptive consequences. The present research tested the proposition that experiencing a pattern of secondary mixed emotion (i.e., secondary emotion that embrace both positive and negative affects) more greatly promotes adaptive coping than experiencing two other patterns of mixed emotional experiences: simultaneous (i.e., two emotions of opposing affects taking place at the same time) and sequential (i.e., two emotions of opposing affects switching back and forth). Support for this hypothesis was obtained from two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) and a longitudinal survey (Study 3). The results revealed that secondary mixed emotions predominate over sequential and simultaneous mixed emotional experiences in promoting adaptive coping through fostering the motivational and informative functions of emotions; this is done by providing solution-oriented actions rather than avoidance, faster decisions regarding coping strategies (Study 1), easier access to self-knowledge, and better narrative organization (Study 2). Furthermore, individuals characterized as being prone to feeling secondary mixed emotions were more resilient to stress caused by transitions than those who were characterized as being prone to feeling opposing emotions separately (Study 3). Taken together, the preliminary results indicate that the pattern of secondary mixed emotion provides individuals with a higher capacity to handle adversity than the other two patterns of mixed emotional experience.

Bittersweet: The Neuroscience of Ambivalent Affect

“…Being able to represent such future positive feelings motivates people to continue with the actions that are necessary to obtain the goal despite their negative feeling. Along these lines, ambivalent affect can also provide a sense of comfort, promoting both psychological and physiological resilience in the face of negative mood or the traumatic elements of memories (Braniecka, Trzebinska, Dowgiert, & Wytykowska, 2014; Larsen, Hemenover, Norris, & Cacioppo, 2003). This effect that has been well documented for nostalgia (Matsunaga et al, 2013; Newman, Sachs, Stone, & Schwarz, 2020; Routledge, Wildschut, Sedikides, & Juhl, 2013; Zhou, Sedikides, Wildschut, & Gao, 2008; Zhou, Wildschut, Sedikides, Chen, & Vingerhoets, 2012).…”

The Role of Co-occurring Emotions and Personality Traits in Anger Expression

“…It has been shown that induced fear leads to higher levels of anger, and induced sadness leads to lower levels of aggression (Zhan et al, 2015 ). Additionally, a study on the function of mixed emotions (i.e., two opposing emotions) found that the experience of secondary mixed emotions promotes adaptive coping in stressful situations by lowering the perceived negativity of an adverse event (Davydov et al, 2011 ), and by supporting solution-oriented actions to handle adversity (Braniecka et al, 2014 ). For example, concurrent negative emotions in victims of stalking have been found to lead to the use of more effective coping strategies (Ngo and Paternoster, 2013 ).…”

Mixed emotions across adulthood: when, where, and why?

“…For example, some researchers discuss how feeling one emotion (often negative) followed rapidly by a positive emotion is more effective for regulating distress than feeling emotions of the same valence simultaneously [22]. Yet, even momentary sampling studies may fail to differentiate among these types of experiences, as it is difficult to capture the small but critical time sequences of these mixed experiences.…”