Positive affects high in approach motivational intensity narrow attention. The present study extended this recent finding by testing whether a neural activation associated with approach-motivation intensity—relative left frontal-central activity—would underlie the effect of appetitive stimuli on narrowed attention (as measured by local attentional bias). It also tested whether individual differences in approach motivation relate to this attentional narrowing. Results supported predictions, suggesting a common association of relative left frontal hemispheric processing for approach-motivational processes and narrowed attention.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DavidsonR.J. (1995). Cerebral asymmetry, emotion, and affective style. In DavidsonR.J.HugdahlK. (Eds.), Brain asymmetry (pp. 361–387). Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2.
FredricksonB.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.
GableP.A.Harmon-JonesE. (2008b). Relative left frontal activation to appetitive stimuli: Considering the role of individual differences. Psychophysiology, 45, 275–278.
5.
Harmon-JonesE. (2003). Clarifying the emotive functions of asymmetrical frontal cortical activity. Psychophysiology, 40, 838–848.
6.
KennyD.A.KashyD.A.BolgerN. (1998). Data analysis in social psychology. In GilbertD.FiskeS.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 233–265). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
7.
NavonD. (1977). Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception. Cognitive Psychology, 9, 353–383.
8.
RosenthalR.RosnowR.L.RubinD.B. (2000). Contrasts and effect sizes in behavioral research: A correlational approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
9.
RoweG.HirshJ.B.AndersonA.K. (2007). Positive affect increases the breadth of attentional selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 104, 383–388.
10.
ShroutP.E.BolgerN. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7, 422–445.
11.
SobelM.E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In LeinhartS. (Ed.), Sociological methodology 1982 (pp. 290–312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12.
UrryH.L.NitschkeJ.B.DolskiI.JacksonD.C.DaltonK.M.MuellerC.J., et al. (2004). Making a life worth living: Neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science, 15, 367–372.
13.
VolbergG.HübnerR. (2004). On the role of response conflicts and stimulus position for hemispheric differences in global/local processing: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia, 42, 1805–1813.
