Yih, Uusberg, Qian, and Gross (2019) proposed an appraisal approach to help conceptualize five different states that researchers have used as neutral control conditions. This approach has the potential to enrich our understanding of these states and how they function. Here, we discuss four points to keep in mind while implementing this approach with the hope that these ideas will further assist researchers in understanding how neutrality might fit within the affective landscape.
EllsworthP. C. (2013). Appraisal theory: Old and new questions. Emotion Review, 5, 125–131. doi:10.1177/1754073912463617
2.
GasperK. (2018). Utilizing neutral affective states in research: Theory, assessment, and recommendations. Emotion Review, 10, 255–266. doi:10.1177/1754073918765660
3.
IzardC. E. (2007). Basic emotions, natural kinds, emotion schemas, and a new paradigm. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 260–280. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00044.x
4.
PengK.NisbettR. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54, 741–754. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.9.741
5.
RothmanN. B.PrattM. G.ReesL.VogusT. J. (2017). Understanding the dual nature of ambivalence: Why and when ambivalence leads to good and bad outcomes. Academy of Management Annals, 11, 33–72. doi:10.5465/annals.2014.0066
6.
SchererK. R.MoorsA. (2019). The emotion process: Event appraisal and component differentiation. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 719–745. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-122216–011854
7.
TongE. M. W.JiaL. (2017). Positive emotion, appraisal, and the role of appraisal overlap in positive emotion co-occurrence. Emotion, 17, 40–54. doi:10.1037/emo0000203
8.
YihJ.UusbergA.QianW.GrossJ. (2019). Author Reply: An appraisal perspective on neutral affective states. Emotion Review. Epub ahead of print 28 August 2019. doi:10.1177/1754073919868295
