Assessing the Initial Pleasantness for Fading Affect, Fixed Affect, Flourishing Affect, and Flexible Affect Events

Gibbons, Jeffrey A.; Rollins, Leslie

doi:10.1002/acp.3295

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The 2,362 additional events that changed affect in an "unusual" way were removed from the remaining 13,591 (15.634%) events, leaving 11,229 "pure" events. This loss of events was reasonable based on Gibbons and Rollins [84] who showed that 15.32% of their events across four experiments indicated "unusual" fading affect in the form of flourishing (increased) and flexible (changed to the other valence) affect. We also calculated event intensity for pleasant and unpleasant events by calculating the absolute value of the initial affect rating.…”

Section: Materials Procedures Measures Design and Analysessupporting

confidence: 60%

“…The data for the presidential election study came from four events (pleasant and unpleasant non-political events as well as the 2016 Presidential election [84] event and a comparably, but opposite, emotionally intense event) provided by 310 participants [85]. The data from the relationship study came from 12 events (3 pleasant and 3 unpleasant relationship events as well as 3 pleasant and 3 unpleasant non-relationship events) provided by 239 participants from the relationship study [86].…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The fading affect bias (FAB) is strongest for Jews and Buddhists and weakest for participants without religious affiliations: An exploratory analysis

Gibbons¹,

Lee²,

Fernandez³

et al. 2021

World J. Adv. Res. Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The fading affect bias (FAB) is a robust phenomenon where unpleasant affect fades faster than pleasant affect. The FAB is believed to be coping mechanism designed to make life appear pleasant in the face of hardships and adversities. The FAB persists across several cultures and many event types (e.g., alcohol, religious, and death), even though low FAB has been demonstrated for social media events, videogame events, and events labeled as religious, but not spiritual. Although religion is also believed to make life more satisfying by providing existential meaning and social connectedness for their followers, research to date, has not examined religious differences in the FAB. Therefore, we examined the FAB using 2 measures of fading affect across participants’ self-reported religious affiliations and we found robust FAB effects for all categories except for an extremely small sample of Islamic followers. The FAB effects were strongest for Jewish and Buddhist affiliations and they were weakest for participants who did not report a well-known religious affiliation. The findings extend the literature on the FAB to religious belief systems. Future research should replicate the current study, examine the FAB for larger samples of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews, and test explanations for differential FAB effects across religious affiliations.

show abstract

Section: Materials Procedures Measures Design and Analysessupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fading affect bias (FAB) is strongest for Jews and Buddhists and weakest for participants without religious affiliations: An exploratory analysis

Gibbons¹,

Lee²,

Fernandez³

et al. 2021

World J. Adv. Res. Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the one hand, this may reduce (experimental) control. On the other hand, online surveys provide an anonymous setting that may reduce social desirability and make it easier to describe personal memories (Gibbons & Rollins, 2016). Fourth, we only tested for linear effects of intensity, time since event, and SCC.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Centrality of positive and negative autobiographical memories across adult life span

Pociūnaitė

Zimprich

Wolf

2022

Applied Cognitive Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies have found that in nonclinical samples centrality of positive events is usually higher than centrality of negative events. In this study, we investigated the centrality and its relation to valence by considering additional predictor variables (i.e., intensity, time since event, self‐concept clarity) as well as age group differences. A total of 365 participants aged between 18 and 89 reported up to 10 positive and up to 10 negative autobiographical memories. We used multilevel analysis to account for the hierarchical structure of the data. The results confirmed the higher centrality of positive events, but only for middle‐aged and older adults. Intensity contributed to the centrality of both positive and negative events, whereas self‐concept clarity was relevant regarding negative memories of young and middle‐aged adults only. Hence, the extent to which memories contribute to identity is not only depending on characteristics of memories but on the remembering person as well.

show abstract

“…However, existing evidence suggests that this is not the case. For example, T. Ritchie et al (2009) and Gibbons and Rollins (2016) showed emotions related to positive events were rated at the occurrence as more extreme than those associated with negative events, thus the locus of change producing FAB sits with affect ratings regarding how pleasant/unpleasant the events are in the current moment (i.e., at retrieval) rather than the retrospective recollection of the affect felt at the time the events occurred. Even though the evidence indicates that positive and negative event extremity at the time of the event does not account for FAB, there is always the possibility that such extremity differences are related to age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age is positively associated with fading affect bias: A cross-sectional comparison.

Marsh,

Crawford

2024

Psychology and Aging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Emotions elicited by personal event memories change over time such that negative affect fades more quickly than positive affect. This asymmetric fade is called the fading affect bias (FAB) and has been posited as a mechanism that helps promote a positive outlook on life. A similar bias toward positive information (i.e., the positivity effect) driven by greater emphasis on emotion regulation has been demonstrated in older adults. The current research uses two age-diverse community samples to examine the relationship between age and the strength of FAB. Participants recalled positive and negative event memories and rated the intensity of affect at the time of the event (i.e., retrospectively) and at the time of recollection. Participants of all ages exhibited a significant FAB, and crucially, the strength of the effect was positively associated with age. Age-based differences in psychological well-being and recalled event intensity had no influence on the relationship between age and FAB. The relationship was, however, related to greater personal importance placed on positive (but not negative) events. The findings are consistent with the socioemotional selectivity theory and suggest another mechanism through which emotion regulation is associated with aging to maintain a positive outlook on life. Public Significance StatementPrevious work has demonstrated that negative feelings from unpleasant life events lose their intensity both more quickly and more thoroughly than positive feelings from pleasant life events. This asymmetric fading of positive and negative emotions has been shown to be related to greater emotional well-being. The current research shows that the strength of this difference is positively associated with age and suggests an emotion regulation process that works especially well to maintain a positive outlook as we age.

show abstract

Assessing the Initial Pleasantness for Fading Affect, Fixed Affect, Flourishing Affect, and Flexible Affect Events

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

The fading affect bias (FAB) is strongest for Jews and Buddhists and weakest for participants without religious affiliations: An exploratory analysis

The fading affect bias (FAB) is strongest for Jews and Buddhists and weakest for participants without religious affiliations: An exploratory analysis

Centrality of positive and negative autobiographical memories across adult life span

Age is positively associated with fading affect bias: A cross-sectional comparison.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About