Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T20:59:26.871Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Affiliative Stimuli as Primers to Prosocial Predispositions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Gabriela Guerra Leal Souza ,
Mirtes Garcia Pereira ,
Jaime Vila ,
Leticia Oliveira  and
Eliane Volchan
Gabriela Guerra Leal Souza
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (Brazil)
Mirtes Garcia Pereira
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil)
Jaime Vila
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Leticia Oliveira
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil)
Eliane Volchan*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eliane Volchan. Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Av. Carlos Chagas Filho 373, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902 (Brazil). E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Affiliative stimuli are pleasant and highly biologically relevant. Affiliative cues are thought to elicit a prosocial predisposition. Here affiliative and neutral pictures were exposed prior to a reaction time task which consisted in responding to a visual target. Half the participants responded with finger-flexion, a movement frequently involved in prosocial activities. The other half responded with finger extension, a less prosocially compatible movement. Results showed that under the exposure to affiliative pictures, as compared to neutral ones, participants who used finger flexion were faster, while those using finger extension were slower. Performance benefits to the task, when flexing the finger, together with performance costs, when extending it, indicate the relevance of movement compatibility to the context. These findings put forward a possible link between affiliative primers and motor preparation to facilitate a repertoire of movements related to prosocial predispositions including finger flexion.

Los estímulos afiliativos son agradables y de gran relevancia biológica. Se cree que las señales afiliativas provocan una predisposición pro-social. En este estudio, fotos afiliativas y neutras fueron presentadas antes de una tarea de tiempo de reacción que consistía en responder a un objetivo/target visual. La mitad de los participantes respondieron utilizando dedo-flexión, un movimiento asociado con frecuencia a actividades pro-sociales. La otra mitad respondió con la extensión del dedo, un movimiento prosocialmente menos compatible. Los resultados mostraron que en la exposición a imágenes afiliativas, en comparación con las neutras, los participantes que usaron flexión del dedo eran más rápidos, mientras que aquellos que usaron extensión del dedo eran más lentos. El rendimiento superior en la tarea, en la flexion del dedo, junto con el perjuicio para el rendimiento en la extensión, son indicativos de la relevancia de la compatibilidad del movimiento con el contexto. Estos resultados presentan una posible relación entre primers afiliativos y la preparación motora que facilita un repertorio de movimientos relacionados con la predisposición prosocial, entre ellos, la flexión de los dedos.

Keywords

affiliativeemotionmotor predispositionprosocialreaction timeafiliativoemociónpredisposición motoraprosocialtiempo de reacción
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 237 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. PsychologicalReview, 106, 529–550. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-295X.106.3.529Google ScholarPubMed
Azevedo, T. M., Volchan, E., Imbiriba, L. A., Rodrigues, E. C., Oliveira, J. M., Oliveira, L. … & Vargas, C. D. (2005). A freezing-like posture to pictures of mutilation. Psychophysiology, 42, 255–260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2005.00287.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blakemore, S. J., Bristow, D., Bird, G., Frith, C., & Ward, J. (2005). Somatosensory activations during the observation of touch and a case of vision-touch synaesthesia. Brain 128, 1571–1583. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awh500CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, M. M., Codispoti, M., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Emotion and motivation I: Defensive and appetitive reactions in picture processing. Emotion, 1, 276–298. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//1528-3542.1.3.276CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (1994). Measuring emotion: The self-assessment mannequin and the semantic differential. JournalofBehaviorTherapyand Experimental Psychiatry, 25, 49–59.Google Scholar
Brosch, T., Sander, D., & Scherer, K. R. (2007). That baby caught my eye… Attention capture by infant faces. Emotion, 7, 685–689. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.3.685CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, M., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). Consequences of automatic evaluation: Immediate behavioral predispositions to approach or avoid the stimulus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 215–224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167299025002007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreisbach, G. (2006). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: The costs and benefits of reduced maintenance capability. Brainand Cognition, 60, 11–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2005.08.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duckworth, K. L., Bargh, J. A., Garcia, M., & Chaiken, S. (2002). The automatic evaluation of novel stimuli. Psychological Science, 13, 513–519. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00490CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunbar, R. I. (2010). The social role of touch in humans and primates: Behavioural function and neurobiological mechanisms. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 34, 260–268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.07.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eder, A. B., & Rothermund, K. (2008). When do motor behaviors (mis) match affective stimuli? An evaluative coding view of approach and avoidance reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology:General, 137, 260–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.137.2.262Google ScholarPubMed
Elliot, A. J. (2008). Approach and avoidance motivation. In Elliot, A. J. (Ed.), Hand book of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 3–16). New York, NY: Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Facchinetti, L. D., Imbariba, L. A., Azevedo, T. M., Vargas, C. D., & Volchan, E. (2006). Postural modulation induced by pictures depicting prosocial or dangerous contexts. Neuroscience Letters, 410, 52–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2006.09.063CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journalof Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1122–1131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, P. J., & Bradley, M. M. (2008). Appetitive and defensive motivation is the substrate of emotion. In Elliot, A. J. (Ed.), Hand book of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 51–56). New York, NY: Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1990). Emotion, attention, and the startle reflex. Psychological Review, 97, 377–395. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.3.377Google Scholar
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1999). International Affective Picture System (IAPS): Instruction manual and affective ratings. Technical Report A-4. The Center for Research in Psychophysiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
Lloyd, D. M. (2009). The space between us: A neurophilosophical framework for the investigation of human interpersonal space. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33, 297–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.09.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markman, A. B., & Brendl, C. M. (2005). Constraining theories of embodied cognition. Psychological Science, 16, 6–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00772.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, H., & Geher, G. (2007). Mutual grooming in human dyadic relationships: An ethological perspective. Current Psychology, 26, 121–140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-007-9009-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oldfield, R. C. (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia, 9, 97–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(71)90067-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Over, H., & Carpenter, M. (2009). Einghteen-month-old infants show increased helping following priming with affiliation. Psychological Science, 20, 1189–1193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02419.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pereira, M. G., Volchan, E., de Souza, G. G. L., Oliveira, L., Campagnoli, R., Machado-Pinheiro, W., & Pessoa, L. (2006). Sustained and transient modulation of performance induced by emotional picture viewing. Emotion, 6, 622–634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.6.4.622CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rizzolatti, G., & Sinigaglia, C. (2008). Mirrorsinthebrain: How our minds share actions and emotions. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press Inc.Google Scholar
Schacht, A., & Sommer, W. (2009). Time course and task dependence of emotion effects in word processing. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioraleuroscience, 9, 28–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/CABN.9.1.28Google Scholar
Smith, J. C., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J (2005). State anxiety and affective physiology: Effects of sustained exposure to affective pictures. Biological Psychology, 69, 247–260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.09.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed