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Trait cheerfulness sensitivity to positive and negative affective states

  • Raúl López-Benítez

    Raúl López-Benítez is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Valladolid University. His research examines how constructs related to positive psychology, as humor, are associated to psychological processes, as emotion or cognition.

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    , Tao Coll-Martín

    Tao Coll-Martín is a Ph.D. thesis student at University of Granada. He is interested in the study of developmental, educational and experimental psychology.

    , Hugo Carretero-Dios

    Hugo Carretero-Dios is a Professor in the Department of Methodology of Behavioural Sciences at Granada University. His research focuses on psychometric analyses and how humor has an impact on psychological variables.

    , Juan Lupiáñez

    Juan Lupiáñez is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Granada University. His research examines the relationships between psychological processes such as emotion and cognition.

    and Alberto Acosta

    Alberto Acosta is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Granada University. His research focuses on the relationships between psychological processes such as emotion and cognition.

From the journal HUMOR

Abstract

Recent research suggests that trait cheerfulness triggers larger state cheerfulness variations after facing amusing and sad clips. The present study aimed at replicating and extending these effects. A sample of 80 psychology students (68 women) was selected depending on their scores in trait cheerfulness. Participants watched a set of positive and negative pictures, which was accompanied by statements, and were asked to report their affective states before and after watching them. The results showed that high versus low trait cheerfulness participants reported a larger increase in state cheerfulness, valence, and joy measures after the positive induction and a larger decrease in state cheerfulness after the negative induction. The results replicate and extend previous findings and support the idea that high trait cheerfulness people are more sensitive to the affective environment.


Corresponding author: Raúl López-Benítez, Facultad de Educación y Trabajo Social, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus Miguel Delibes, Paseo de Belén 1, 47011, Valladolid, Spain; and Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro, y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), Department of Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain, E-mail:

Funding source: Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte

Award Identifier / Grant number: FPU-AP2012-1806

Funding source: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)

Award Identifier / Grant number: PSI2014-52764-P

Funding source: DGICYT-MEC

Award Identifier / Grant number: PSI2013-45567P

Funding source: Plan Propio de Investigación Universidad de Granada (Beca de Iniciación)

About the authors

Raúl López-Benítez

Raúl López-Benítez is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Valladolid University. His research examines how constructs related to positive psychology, as humor, are associated to psychological processes, as emotion or cognition.

Tao Coll-Martín

Tao Coll-Martín is a Ph.D. thesis student at University of Granada. He is interested in the study of developmental, educational and experimental psychology.

Hugo Carretero-Dios

Hugo Carretero-Dios is a Professor in the Department of Methodology of Behavioural Sciences at Granada University. His research focuses on psychometric analyses and how humor has an impact on psychological variables.

Juan Lupiáñez

Juan Lupiáñez is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Granada University. His research examines the relationships between psychological processes such as emotion and cognition.

Alberto Acosta

Alberto Acosta is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Granada University. His research focuses on the relationships between psychological processes such as emotion and cognition.

  1. Funding: This research is part of the doctoral dissertation by Raúl López-Benítez, and it was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte with a predoctoral grant (FPU-AP2012-1806), Plan Propio de Investigación (Beca de Iniciación) from the University of Granada, and Spanish grants PSI2014-52764-P, from the MINECO, and PSI2013-45567P from DGICYT-MEC.

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Published Online: 2020-06-29
Published in Print: 2020-08-27

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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