Toward an Interactional Description of Depression

From appraisal to emotion: Differences among unpleasant feelings

“…However, this type of aid is expensive because it draws heavily upon the resources of others (cf. Coyne, 1976). Therefore, it is likely that sadness would be most effective as an appeal for help if it were largely limited to situations in which the person was unable to cope effectively with the situation.…”

On being sad and mistaken: Mood effects on the accuracy of thin-slice judgments.

“…According to interpersonal theories of depression (Coyne, 1976;Lewinsohn, 1974), depressed individuals are likely to exhibit a negative bias when interpreting the behavior of those around them. In support of this notion, individuals with depression often display a negative bias in the judgment of facial expressions (Gur, Erwin, Gur, Zwil, Heimberg & Kraemer, 1992;Hale, 1998;Mandal & Bhattacharya, 1985;Nandi, Saha, Bhattacharya, & Mandal, 1982) and attend more to negative social stimuli of other types Lane & DePaulo, 1999).…”

“…Across the life span, those who have difficulty deciphering subtle cues to the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of those around them are prone to a range of psychological disorders (Rosenthal, Hall, DiMatteo, Rogers, & Archer, 1979;Russell, Stokes, Jones, Czogalik, & Rohleder, 1993). Impairments and systematic biases in social judgment are theorized to play a particularly important role in the development and maintenance of depression (Coyne, 1976;Lewinsohn, 1974); this speculation has received considerable empirical support (e.g., Feinberg, Rifkin, Schaffer, & Walker, 1986;Giannini, Folts, Melemis, Giannini, & Loiselle, 1995;Lane & DePaulo, 1999;Zuroff & Colussy, 1986). The present work represents an attempt to consider the role of sadness, at both state and trait levels, in the ability to draw valid inferences about others on the basis of thin slices of behavior.…”

Perceived criticism: Associations with perceiver characteristics and interpersonal behaviour

“…Individuals with depressive symptoms tend to elicit more negative responses in their social environment, including criticism and rejection, while the elevated levels of rejection sensitivity that often accompany depressed mood may lead to a stronger focus on the possibly critical and rejecting aspects in their partner's behaviour rather than his or her good intentions (e.g. Horowitz and Vitkus, 1986;Coyne et al, 1991). In a similar vein, individuals who evaluate their relationship as unsatisfactory may be prone to perceive more instances of criticism from their partner and give it more (negative) weight than individuals who are, on the whole, satisfied being with their partner (see also Kwon et al, 2006); conversely, individuals who perceive high levels of criticism in their partner are likely to report more marital dissatisfaction.…”