Criterion Validity of the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test: Prediction of Facial Affect Perception

This study focused on the criterion-related validity of the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT). The IPANAT is thought to be a measure of automatic activation of cognitive representations of affects. In this study, it was investigated whether implicit affect scores differentially predict ratings of facial emotions over and above explicit affectivity. Ninety-six young female participants completed the IPANAT, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) as an explicit measure of state and trait affectivity, and a task for the perception of facial emotions. Implicit negative affect predicted the perception of negative but not positive facial emotions, whereas implicit positive affect predicted the perception of positive but not negative facial emotions. The observed double-dissociation in the correlational pattern strongly supports the validity of the IPANAT as a measure of implicit affectivity and is indicative of the orthogonality and thus functional distinctness of the two affect dimensions of the IPANAT. Moreover, such affect-congruent correlations were absent for explicit affect scales, which additionally supports the incremental validity of the IPANAT.

Interest Incongruence and Job Performance: Examining the Moderating Roles of Job Crafting and Positive Affect

Interest incongruence between employees and work environments has been considered as an adverse working condition; however, the way employees cope with it has rarely been explored. Using the conservation of resources theory, the appraisal theory, and the broaden-and-build theory, this study aims to investigate the moderating roles of job crafting and trait positive affect, separately and interactively, in the relationship between interest incongruence and job performance. Data collected from 384 Chinese employees and their colleagues across two time periods supported our hypotheses. Specifically, findings indicated that the relationship between interest incongruence and job performance was weakened when employees were more engaged in job crafting, or for employees with high positive affect. More importantly, a three-way interaction suggested that the detrimental impact of interest incongruence on job performance was especially mitigated when both job crafting and positive affect were high. Future studies should consider the combined roles of employees’ proactive behaviors and trait affectivity in improving job performance.

Psychometric characteristics of a Serbian translation of the unconditional self-acceptance questionnaire and the development of a short form

The Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire is extensively used in the assessment of one?s ability to evaluate their skills, actions, thoughts, and feelings, without a generalized evaluation of one?s worth or value. However, it has often been criticized for being contaminated with self-esteem items and, hence, theoretically incongruent. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the instrument and provided the first validation of the short Serbian adaptation of the USAQ. In Study 1 (n = 288), we examined the latent structure of the original USAQ translated to the Serbian language and found a three-factor solution, consisting of Conditional Self-Acceptance, Unconditional Self-Acceptance, and Attitudes About Human Worth. In Study 2 (n = 354), we sought to validate the shorter version of the scale. The two-factor solution, comprising Unconditional and Conditional Self-Acceptance, explained 51 % of the variance. Re-testing the two-factor structure on a different sample, the CFA revealed satisfactory fit indices. Apart from good internal consistency, the shortened scale showed comparable associations with appropriate convergent and discriminant constructs (e.g., explicit self-esteem, positive and negative state/trait affectivity, and the states of anxiety and depression), supporting the construct validity of the Serbian version. Further implications for research and therapeutic practice are discussed.

Preprint: Not just noise: Individual differences in general startle reactivity predict startle response to uncertain and certain threat

General startle reactivity reflects defensive reactivity independent of affective foreground. We examined the relationship between General startle reactivity and startle response to threat in 3 tasks with distinct manipulations of threat uncertainty. General startle reactivity was a stronger predictor of startle response during threat (vs. no threat) and uncertain (vs. certain threat). These results confirm thatincluding General startle reactivity in our analyses can increase the power and/or precision to test effects of other focal experimental manipulations or grouping variables. Moreover, this suggests that individual differences in defensive reactivity moderate responding to threats of various types in our environment. As such, individual differences in General startle reactivity may index important psychological attributes related to trait affectivity, premorbid vulnerability for psychopathology, and manifest psychopathology.

The role of personality and trait affectivity on delusional ideation

ObjectiveThe relationship between personality and delusional ideation in still debated. The present study was aimed to evaluate the role of personality features and trait affectivity on the severity of delusional beliefs, through the lens of a dimensional approach. In fact, robust evidence suggests that delusional experience presents a dimensional structure rather than an all-or-nothing fashion with a severity gradient of delusional beliefs from general population to full-blown delusional disorder (DD).MethodForty-nine inpatients affected by DD and 42 non-delusional outpatients were administered the structured interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, the Pathological Narcissism Inventory–Italian Version, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Peters et al. 33–Italian version.ResultsSeverity of delusional ideation was positively related to “hiding the self” (HS) domain of narcissistic vulnerability and to paranoid traits and negatively related to “positive affect” (PA). Paranoid traits and HS significantly interacted in influencing delusional dimension severity (Fig. 1). Low PA represents a trait affectivity of sadness and lethargy whereas HS is closely related to the experience of shame. We speculate that lower levels of PA and higher levels of HS may grasp the “asthenic” pole of Kretschmer's “sensitive character”.ConclusionThe study findings suggest that the severity of delusional ideation depends, at least in part, on a complex interplay between specific affective and paranoid dispositions within personality. Delusion may constitute the superficial shell, which develops from and cover inner affective vulnerabilities of personality.Fig. 1Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.