What are the individual differences in emotional responses and emotion regulation? - Chapter 3

There are clear individual differences in how people respond to affective stimuli. However, most research is mainly about how people react in general. This chapter focuses on the ways in which people differ in how they experience their affective state and how they process, respond and regulate affective situations.

What is temperament?

Temperament can be described as the tendency to react in a certain way to a wide range of situations. These tendencies are most likely related to certain neural circuits. Two fundamental aspects of temperament are how easily emotional arousal arises (reactivity) and how good someone is to control this arousal (self-regulation). Self-regulation has to do with a series of processes, including attentive mechanisms, approach behaviors, avoidance, attack and so on. This indicates that the brain contains both excitatory (stimulating) and inhibitory (suppressing) circuits. Someone with a strong inhibitory circuit is better able to control his reactions. It is believed that genes have a strong influence on temperament.

Thomas and Chess found in their research that there are three types of children (subdivided by temperament): "easy" children, children who have difficulty getting started (the "slow-to-warm-up" children) and "difficult" children. It turned out that "difficult" children had a greater chance of developing psychiatric problems later in life. This is most likely due to the way emotions are expressed and regulated, this forms the basis of temperament.

What is personality?

Personality is often confused with temperament. An important difference, however, is that temperament is often tested in children to investigate the influence of development and genes. Personality, on the other hand, is often examined in adults, especially in those who suffer from psychological problems. Personality, just like temperament, acts as a factor that determines emotional reactivity and regulatory processes.

Self-report instruments are often used to investigate personality factors ( traits ) that can tell us something about the uniqueness of a person and how people differ from each other. A definition of personality is: the dynamic organization within an individual of the mental and biological systems that determine the characteristic behaviors and thoughts. According to Allport, character traits are not only labels for different behaviors, but also neuropsychological structures that actually exist within a person. No two individuals have the exact same personality, but we do use common traits to classify people in more general terms (cheerful, reliable, etc.). Personality factors are important because they are the core aspects of personality and determine how a particular situation is interpreted. This in turn influences behavior.

How is personality described by the trait approach?

Cattell stated that there are three important sources of personality data. L-data is a collection of information about a person's life, such as school archives and assessments of others in the area. Q-data comes from a self-report questionnaire or an interview, in which someone gives a description of themselves. Finally, there is T-data, which comes from an objective test, a perceptual task. Personality research on emotions uses Q data the most.

Cattell also developed a scale with 16 core personality factors ( 16-PF scale ). Each of the 16 properties represents a continuum between two extremes, for example conservative-experimenting. Norman then found that the 16 properties of Cattell could again be divided into five key factors. Recent research joins Norman and the final big five of personality factors consists of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability (neuroticism) and openness to experience. A questionnaire (the NEO Personality Inventory) has been developed to measure these five factors.

Which criticism has the trait approach?

The five-factor model of personality lacks a number of important aspects, such as religion, manipulation, honesty, masculinity / femininity, sense of humor and so on. These aspects are indeed capable of influencing reactions to affective situations. Furthermore, research has shown that the five factors are not completely independent of each other. In addition, it does not take cultural differences into account and therefore probably only applies in Western cultures, where one assumes an independent self. Namely, no account is taken of environmental influences, such as family and other social groups.

Which are the influential theories about personality?

Eysenck's model

Eysenck developed a model of human temperament that contained two important dimensions of personality: introvert / extrovert and neurotic / stable. Introverts are a bit more withdrawn, less socially active, quiet and introspective, while extroverts are socially active, happy, impulsive and assertive. This dimension is called extraversion-position affectivity (E-PA). Neuroticism consists of a series of emotional states (anxiety, depression, tension) and correlates highly with measurements of personality trait anxiety. This dimension is called neuroticism-negative affectivity (N-NA). Later the psychoticism factor was added, which is characterized by egocentric, aggressive and impulsive behavior. The three factors are completely independent of each other and are influenced by the genes. Introverts have more activity in the cortex than extroverts, this is regulated by the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) in the brain. There are several studies that found differences in the activity between the dimensions of Eysenck's model.

Kagan's model

Kagan has developed a two-dimensional model of temperament, in which he was particularly interested in how young children react to unknown situations (people or objects). The children were divided into two categories: inhibited and uninhibited. Inhibited children react anxiously and stressfully to new situations, while uninhibited children are less anxious and more inclined to investigate the situation. Inhibited children quickly get into a state of excitement and develop into relatively anxious and cautious individuals. That these children get excited more quickly from a situation (high reactive) is due to a low threshold for excitement in the amygdala and its effects on the ventral striatum, the hypothalamus, cingulate and other parts of the brain.

Gray's model

Gray developed a personality theory based on three basic emotion systems in the brain: a Fight or Flight System (F / FLS), a Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and a Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS).

The BIS system ensures behavior inhibition when a threat is detected, increases vigilance and results in an increase in arousal. The input (a dangerous situation) creates a conflict with existing behavior and disrupts it, in order to make a fight-flight response possible. When there is an approach-avoidance conflict, a conflict between the benefits of a quick escape and those of further investigating the situation, anti-anxiety drugs can make a difference. These ensure that the focus shifts to approach. This is also the way these drugs work in people with anxiety disorder. Research also shows that the septo-hippocampal system is crucial for anxiety. It is therefore assumed that the BIS is in this system and checks behavioral inhibition from there.

The F / FLS is involved in direct fear responses and monitors active fight-flight behavior. The choice for fighting or fleeing depends on the defensive distance between the danger and the individual. Fighting is only applicable when the danger is very close and escape is not possible. This system is probably controlled by the amygdala and plays a role in people's panic and phobias.

The BAS system deals with responses to appetitive stimuli. Activating this system results in active approach behavior.

The basis of fear responses is seen as the activation of BIS through the simultaneous activation of F / FLS and BAS. This simultaneous activation leads to an approach-avoidance conflict (F / FLS leads to avoidance, BAS to approach). When this conflict arises, the task of the BIS is to get the reaction more in the direction of avoidance, because the system is designed to make potentially dangerous stimuli more salient.

Two questionnaires have been developed to measure BIS and BAS activation in the form of self-report questionnaires. People who score high on BAS activation are generally more sensitive to rewards, while people who score high on BIS activation are more sensitive to punishment.

Cloninger's model

Cloninger also developed a psychobiological model of temperament, based on the idea that there are three primary temperament types. These types are three independent systems that deal with activation, maintenance and inhibition, in response to specific types of stimuli. These temperamental factors are assumed to involve automatic responses to stimuli that essentially reflect consistent biases in information processing. After further investigation through questionnaires, a fourth factor was added: persistence. The four types are associated with different genetic profiles. Each of these factors are themselves multifaceted, and consist of a number of lower-order traits.

The evolution of temperament began with the development of the BAS system and the BIS system, after which various subsystems were added to maintain the number of behaviors. Research suggests that avoiding danger is related to the norepinephrine system (NE), while novelty seeking is related to the dopaminergic system (DA). Reward dependence is related to the serotonin system (5-HT).

Self-concept is also an important part of the human personality. How this self-concept develops depends on the extent to which someone identifies himself as an autonomous individual, as an integral part of society and as an integral part of the universe. Culture has a major influence on this identification: people in collectivist cultures will see themselves more as an integral part of society, while people in individualistic cultures see themselves more as autonomous individuals. Cloninger developed a more extensive questionnaire in which he included three new character dimensions in addition to the four types of temperament:

1. Self-direction (self-directedness): the degree of individual self-acceptance

2. Cooperation (cooperativeness): the degree of acceptance of others

3. Self-transcendence: the degree to which someone feels part of the universe and nature as a whole

This seven-factor model gives a much better picture of the human personality than the four-factor model alone.

How are these theories related?

Although the theories use data from very different fields, there is an amazing amount of overlap. Gray's BIS and BAS systems are very reminiscent of Kagan's theory of inhibition and lack of inhibition. Gray also indicated that Eysenck's neuroticism is an indication of greater sensitivity to both reward and punishment. Extraversion indicates a greater sensitivity to reward, while introversion indicates a greater sensitivity to punishment. Cloninger's harm avoidance corresponds to the BIS, while novelty seeking is similar to the BAS. Reward dependence is almost certainly also related to the BAS.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow stated that it is necessary for the understanding of the human personality to focus on positive traits rather than the negative ones. He stated that the ultimate goal of need was that people act at the highest of their abilities ( self actualization). The need for personal growth motivates a lot of human behavior. But before the need for self-actualization can be met, there are other basic needs that need to be addressed. The most basic of these needs is the physiological need (food, water, sleep, sex etc.). Then comes the need for safety, followed by the need for love and the feeling that we belong to a group. In addition, there is the need for personal recognition and respect, which leads to self-confidence (need for esteem). Only when all these needs are met can one proceed to self-actualization.

People who have achieved self-actualization need privacy, have a realistic view of life, accept themselves and others and the world as it is. They are often spontaneous, independent and deal with situations in a refreshing, flexible way. They are sure of themselves and are not easily influenced by the negative opinions of others. Apparently the drive to achieve one's potential can influence the affective quality of one's life. 

What is affective style?

Affective style refers to the extent to which someone experiences positive affect (PA) or negative affect (NA) in daily life. Affective style research is done to look at personal differences in how people respond to affective situations and regulate their affective responses. The person-environment covariance refers to the fact that people with different temperaments create different environments and stressors for themselves. This is because the way someone treats the world can have a major impact on the social environment that we build. The extent to which we experience PA or NA depends on both our appraisal of a particular situation and our emotional reactivity to this situation.

What are the components of affective style?

Emotion perception is a component of affective style, where cognitive processes may be biased toward either positive or negative stimuli. Furthermore, individual differences can exist in all body response systems - subjective, behavioral, physiological, and so on - and in brain activity. The regulation of emotions (a series of processes that increase, decrease or maintain the strength of emotional responses) can also differ between people.

Which individual differences are there in emotional response?

There are a number of ways in which we can respond to an emotional stimulus. For example, if something is funny, we can laugh (behavioral output), feel happy (subjective experience), or even cry or have pain in our stomach (physiological response). In addition, neurological and biochemical reactions occur also. There can be individual differences in these response systems, particularly in the threshold value that determines when an emotional response is triggered. It is also possible that different people make the same appraisal, but that there is a difference in the reaction to that appraisal. In addition to differences in threshold values, there are also differences in the magnitude of the response. Anxiety, for example, can cause a higher heart rate acceleration in one person than in another. The time required to reach the peak of the emotional response also varies (some people get angry immediately when something happens, others only after a few minutes). Finally, there are differences in the recovery time and the duration of the response. When the recovery time of a reaction is very long, it can turn into a prolonged mood.

What are the neural factors of individual differences in affective style?

The most focus with individual differences in affective responses is on asymmetry in the activity of the prefrontal cortex. Research shows that the left PFC is concerned with the experience of positive affect, while the right PFC is concerned with the negative affect. Individual differences in prefrontal activity appear to be stable over time, an indication that this activity can be treated as a stable trait. Greater activity in the left PFC is associated with the tendency to approach an emotional stimulus, while activity in the right PFC is associated with the tendency to withdraw from the stimulus. A lot of left PFC activity also leads to a better social skill, with a lot of right PFC activity this is the opposite. Extremely increased activity in the right PFC is associated with an increase in anxious emotions.

The activity in the left and right PFC has also been compared with scores on the tests for BIS and BAS activation. The notion of BIS and BAS is almost the same as the approach and withdrawal systems. It is therefore not surprising that people with more left PFC activity scored higher on BAS and people with more right PFC activity on BIS.

The research into anger is interesting. Anger is a special case, because it is a negatively charged emotion, but one that is clearly approach-related, rather than withdrawal-related. It appears that people who are often angry show more left-wing PFC activity, even though anger is a negative affect. This indicates that the activity in the left or right PFC has more to do with approach and withdrawal mechanisms than with positive or negative affect.

What are different strategies to regulate affect?

There are many ways in which emotions and moods can be regulated. A theory to map these ways consists of four overlapping constructs: coping, emotion regulation, mood regulation and defenses. Coping focuses on reducing negative affectivity and includes all actions to achieve this goal. Emotion regulation focuses on processes that can be used to regulate specific emotions. Mood regulation focuses on processes that can regulate ongoing moods. Because mood is often not focused on a specific object, this construct consists of less well-defined responses than emotion regulation. The defenses are processes for regulating sexual or aggressive impulses.

Emotion regulation

As mentioned earlier, emotion regulation covers a number of processes that serve to amplify, reduce or maintain the magnitude of emotional responses. Research into emotion regulation in children mainly focuses on external factors because the people around the child have a lot of influence on how a child learns to deal with the emotions. In adults, the focus is mainly on internal factors. A lot of research has been done into conscious regulation, but it appears that this process can also take place in a fairly automatic way.

Five sets of emotion regulation processes have been identified: situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change and response modulation. The first four take place before appraisals result in an emotional response and are called antecedent-focused strategies. The response-focused processes are the ones that occur after a response is generated.

Situation selection and situation modification both help shape the characteristics of the situation. In other words, these processes cause us to be more or less inclined to end up in a situation that has a certain emotional charge, and that we try to influence the situation in such a way that the emotional experience is optimal. The attention object means that the attention is focused on something other than a negatively charged emotional situation (eyes shut, thinking of something else, etc.). Cognitive revaluation is used to adjust the meaning of a situation, so that the emotional impact changes. Finally, there is response modulation, which only occurs when the response is started. An example is the use of drugs or sports to influence the physiological or perception aspects of emotions.

Mirror neurons are probably important for developing empathy for others. These neurons fire when we see someone else doing something, and we therefore tend to imitate the behavior. It is then a logical step to state that wanting to imitate an action also leads to the same feelings as those of the other person. Mirror neurons form a good basis for research into unconscious emotion regulation.

Which individual differences exist in emotion regulation?

Difficult (effortful) control processes are defined as the ability to stop a dominant response from performing a less dominant response instead. Children differ greatly in their ability to do this. These differences can be subdivided into over-controlled, under-controlled and optimally controlled. Good control is associated with better adaptation and social skills. Information is processed in a more impartial manner which makes appropriate behavior easier for a certain situation. The extent to which these processes can be used has an important influence on how well someone can suppress the BIS or BAS system (depending on what the situation requires). How someone deals with anger also shows how well they can use these control processes; poor control often leads to open aggression, while good control leads to verbal handling of anger. It is also to be expected that scores on the big five will influence the degree of control, but how this works exactly has not yet been investigated.

What are the neural factors of emotion regulation?

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) play an important role in emotion regulation. People who are good at reducing negative affect demonstrate a higher degree of activation in the dorsal part of the ACC. The reduction of negative affect is also visible as activation in parts of the left ventromedial PFC and reduced activation in the right amygdala. So it seems that successful emotion regulation reduces the activity in the amygdala.