Examining Socioaffective Processing Biases in Cigarette Smokers with High Versus Low Trait Hostility

Abstract

Developing measures of socioaffective processing is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying emotional-interpersonal traits relevant to health, such as hostility. In this study, cigarette smokers with low (LH; n = 49) and high (HH; n = 43) trait hostility completed the Emotional Interference Gender Identification Task (EIGIT), a newly developed behavioral measure of socioaffective processing biases toward facial affect. The EIGIT involves quickly categorizing the gender of facial pictures that vary in affective valence (angry, happy, neutral, sad). Results showed that participants were slower and less accurate in categorizing the gender of angry faces in comparison to happy, neutral, and sad faces (which did not differ), signifying interference indicative of a socioaffective processing bias toward angry faces. Compared to LH individuals, HH participants exhibited diminished biases toward angry faces on error-based (but not speed-based) measures of emotional interference, suggesting impaired socioaffective processing. The EIGIT may be useful for future research on the role of socioaffective processing in traits linked with poor health.

Keywords:

• Emotional Interference Gender Identification Task
• facial expressions
• hostility
• indirect measures
• socioaffective processing

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by grant R21 DA019628 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Christopher Kahler and grant K08 DA025041 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Adam Leventhal. The authors gratefully acknowledge Jennifer Larence, Dan Belenky, Catherine Costantino, Cheryl Eaton, and Timothy Souza for their assistance on this project.