Emotion response coherence: a dual-process perspective

Catharine Evers, Henrik Hopp, James J Gross, Agneta H Fischer, Antony S R Manstead, Iris B Mauss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Emotions are widely thought to involve coordinated responses across multiple responses (e.g., experiential, behavioral, and physiological). However, empirical support for this general "response coherence" postulate is inconsistent. The present research takes a dual-process perspective, suggesting that response coherence might be conditional upon response system (i.e., automatic versus reflective). In particular, we tested the hypothesis that response coherence should be maximal within each system and minimal across the two systems. To test this prediction, 36 participants underwent an anger provocation while two relatively automatic (anger accessibility and physiology) and two relatively reflective (anger experience and instrumental behavior) responses were measured. As predicted, coherence was found within the automatic and reflective systems, but not across them. Implications for emotion response coherence, dual-process frameworks, and the functions of emotions are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)43-49
Number of pages7
JournalBiological Psychology
Volume98
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2014

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Anger
  • Arterial Pressure
  • Emotions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Young Adult
  • Emotion
  • Response coherence
  • Automatic responses
  • Reflective responses
  • Dual-process theories

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