Profiles of appraisal, motivation, and coping for positive emotions

ABSTRACT

We used a retrospective survey (N = 346) to model the patterns of appraisal, motivation, and coping that uniquely correspond with 12 positive emotions (affection/love, amusement, awe, challenge/determination, compassion, gratitude, happiness/joy, hope, interest, pride, relief, and serenity/tranquillity). Generally, we conceptually replicated previously demonstrated appraisal profiles of positive emotion while also examining how additional appraisals differentiate among positive emotions. We then uncovered the motivational goals and coping processes associated with each positive emotion. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research on positive emotion.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive emotion
• appraisal theory
• emotion differentiation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jennifer Yih http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2170-7836

Notes

1 “Coping” and “coping processes” refer to adaptive behaviors, including cognitive responses (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001; Eisenberg, Fabes, & Guthrie, 1997; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

2 We investigated if the observed effects interacted with sex or with subsample. In separate models, the interaction terms of sex and subsample, respectively, with the predictor variables of interest were entered into the analyses. We found four interaction effects on appraisal-emotion relationships. First, congruence interacted with sex to correlate with affection, amusement, interest, and joy (ps < .045). These effects were greater for females, suggesting that females are more sensitive to congruence than males. Second, goal attainment interacted with sex to correlate with joy and pride. For males, goal attainment was associated with joy (p = .047); in contrast, for females, lack of attainment was related to pride (p < .001). Third, vastness correlated with gratitude solely among males (p < .001), supplementing previous research on how men and women differ in the appraisals associated with gratitude (Kashdan, Mishra, Breen, & Froh, 2009). Finally, relevance interacted with subsample to correlate with awe, determination, hope, and pride (ps < .047); these effects were stronger in the older community sample compared to the younger student sample, suggesting that older adults may be more selective in what they appraise as relevant.

3 Emotion interacted with sex and subsample to differentially correlate with motivational goals. First, affection was associated with the goal of recognizing someone else, whereas pride was related to the goal of recognizing oneself, and these effects were greater for females (ps < .038). Second, for males, compassion correlated with wanting to recognize another person (p = .016). Emotions may uniquely prompt goals for females versus males, which may help to explain previously observed sex differences in emotional expression (Kring & Gordon, 1998). Also, certain relationships were stronger among the community compared to the student sample. Community members were more sensitive to the effect of affection on the goal of recognizing another person (p = .029). Finally, though joy was associated with wanting to savor in both subsamples, the effect was stronger for the community sample (p < .05).

4 We found interaction effects of sex and subsample, respectively, on the coping patterns of awe and affection. Awe correlated with a decrease in taking accountability, but this effect was stronger both for females and among the community sample (ps < .005). Also, the relationship between hope and wishful thinking was stronger for females and community members (ps < .001).