Negative symptoms of schizophrenia have recently been proposed to result from a decoupling of (intact) hedonic experience and (diminished) approach behavior. The current study challenged this view by exploring the hypothesis that negative symptoms are driven by a specific type of emotional experience abnormality, a reduction in the positivity offset (i.e. the tendency to experience greater levels of positive relative to negative emotion in low-arousal contexts), which limits the production of approach behaviors in neutral environments.

Participants included outpatients with SZ (n = 44) and healthy controls (CN: n = 48) who completed one week of active (ecological momentary assessment surveys of emotional experience and symptoms) and passive (geolocation, accelerometry) digital phenotyping. Mathematical modeling approaches from Cacioppo's Evaluative Space Model were used to quantify the positivity offset in daily life. Negative symptoms were assessed via standard clinical ratings, as well as active (EMA surveys) and passive (geolocation, accelerometry) digital phenotyping measures.

Results indicated that the positivity offset was reduced in SZ and associated with more severe anhedonia and avolition measured via clinical interviews and active and passive digital phenotyping.

These findings suggest that current conceptual models of negative symptoms, which assume hedonic normality, may need to be revised to account for reductions in the positivity offset and its connection to diminished motivated behavior. Findings identify key real-world contexts where negative symptoms could be targeted using psychosocial treatments.