How the social ecology and social situation shape individuals’ affect valence and arousal.

Abstract

Many theories highlight the role social contexts play in shaping affective experience. However, little is known about how individuals' social environments influence core affect on short time-scales (e.g., hours). Using experience sampling data from the iSAHIB, wherein 150 adults aged 18 to 89 years reported on 64,213 social interactions (average 6.92 per day, SD = 2.85) across 9 weeks of daily life, we examined how 4 features of individuals' social ecology (between-person differences) and immediate social situations (within-person changes) were associated with core affect-valence and arousal-and how those associations differ with age. Results from multilevel models revealed that familiarity, importance, type of social partner, and gender composition of the social context were associated with affect valence and/or affect arousal. Higher familiarity, higher importance, and same-gender composition were associated with more positive affect valence and higher arousal. Interactions with family and friends were linked to more positive valence whereas nonfamily social partners were linked to higher arousal. Age moderated the associations between importance and affect arousal, and between type of social partner and both dimensions of core affect. Findings align with theoretical propositions, contributing to but also suggesting need for further precision regarding how development shapes the interplay between social context and moment-to-moment affective experience. (PsycINFO Database Record

Different Realism Designs of 2D Virtual Agents and i ts' Arousal Effect on Students’ Emotions in Learning

“…Since the semi-realistic and realistic agents are appeared to be same age group with the students, they could interact easily by accepting the virtual agents as their friend. The finding was consistent with findings of past studies by Vogel et al (2017) which supported that an individual seek for frequent interaction with close and highly familiar people.…”

“…Indeed, higher feeling of excitement on the presently focused process can lead to achieve higher arousal without considering its later consequences [29]. Commonly, an individual seeks for frequent interaction with close and highly familiar people [30]. The communication with familiar people motivates an individual's behavior [31] and increases their arousal as well [30].…”

“…Commonly, an individual seeks for frequent interaction with close and highly familiar people [30]. The communication with familiar people motivates an individual's behavior [31] and increases their arousal as well [30]. However, further increases in arousal cause the elimination of information that relevant to task [32].…”

Happy Like a Fish in Water? The Role of Personality–Situation Fit for Momentary Happiness in Social Interactions across the Adult Lifespan

“…There are many ways to define a (social) situation (Rauthmann et al, ), including the type of interaction partner (Chui, Hoppmann, Gerstorf, Walker, & Luszcz, ; Vogel, Ram, Conroy, Pincus, & Gerstorf, ), the place or activity (Wrzus et al, ), the purpose (McCabe & Fleeson, ), and the perceptions (Horstmann & Ziegler, ; Rauthmann et al, ; Sherman et al, ) and behaviours of the individuals involved (Côté & Moskowitz, ; Fournier, Moskowitz, & Zuroff, ; Pincus, ; Pincus, Hopwood, & Wright, ; Wang et al, ). However, in research designs where only the target person's perception is used to measure a situation, distinctions between person and situation variables can become blurred, because person variables may influence situation perception (cf.…”

Being Alone with Others: A Unique Form of Social Contact and Its Impact on Momentary Positive Affect

“…The existence of strong affect was most visible in situations when participants were around people closely connected to them. The highest PA in Study 1 was reported after participants talked to friends or family members, which supported existing research showing that, across cultures and in various age groups, being around and talking to family and friends leads to higher PA than being around co-workers, acquaintances, or strangers (Chui, Hoppmann, Gerstorf, Walker, & Luszcz, 2014;Coan et al, 2006;Cohen, 2004;Downie, Mageau, & Koestner, 2008;King & Reis, 2012;Mehl et al, 2010;Oishi, Napa Scollon, Diener, & Biswas-Diener, 2004;Vogel, Ram, Conroy, Pincus, & Gerstorf, 2017). However, being with people strongly connected to them but not talking to them, also resulted in participants reporting the highest momentary negative affect, although this difference was not statistically significant.…”