Effects of cardiovascular arousal on emotional experience.

Studies of arousal and emotion show that generalized physiological arousal can enhance emotional experience for a range of different emotions. Other research shows that different emotions may be associated with specific patterns of physiological reactivity. Together these findings suggest that while nonspecific autonomic activation can be sufficient in the generation of emotion, specific patterns of reactivity may appear once the emotion is established. This study aimed to test this hypothesis by examining the effects of generalized arousal on emotional experience, as well as the physiological responses associated with positive and negative emotions. One hundred and nine participants either sat or stood during the viewing of positive and negative film clips while emotion ratings and cardiorespiratory measures were taken. Those who stood during the videos reported greater levels of emotion than those who sat, indicating that generalized arousal due to standing heightened emotional experience. In addition, participants exhibited greater high-frequency heart rate variability and lower respiration rate during the negative video than the positive video, indicating that physiological reactivity differed between the positive and negative emotions. These results suggest that while patterns of physiological reactivity may be specific to individual emotions, nonspecific arousal is sufficient to enhance diverse emotions.

Effects of self-affirmation on emotion and cardiovascular responses.

Self-affirmation is the act of focusing on important aspects of the self, such as personal values and characteristics. We used a within-participants design (N = 125) to examine cardiovascular reactivity and self-reported affective responses to the practice of self-affirmation. In the self-affirmation condition, we asked participants to write about their top-ranked personal value for 5 min and used a writing exercise unrelated to personal values in the control condition. The International Affective Picture System was used to induce positive and negative emotion. Results showed that participants had greater high frequency heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) when practicing self-affirmation. During negative emotion induction, self-affirmation also led to lower maximum heart rate, higher RSA, and lower ratings of negative affect. Our findings suggest that the act of focusing on an important aspect of self has beneficial effects on psychological and physiological well-being.