Department for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Brain Behav. 2023 Nov;13(11):e3247. doi: 10.1002/brb3.3247. Epub 2023 Sep 7.
The incompatible response hypothesis suggests that emotions and other affective states can counteract each other when incompatible. With the present study, we focused on two negative emotions (anger and anxiety) associated with different action tendencies (approach vs. avoidance). Specifically, we wanted to investigate if an anxiety manipulation, subsequent to an anger manipulation, would show a counteracting effect of the approach action tendencies associated with the initial anger manipulation and vice versa for anxiety and avoidance tendencies.
We conducted a preregistered online experiment (N = 173). We evaluated changes from when the individual (1) was presented with a task in relation to a specific goal (e.g., anxiety induction: recordings of students' view on climate changes), (2) received a subsequent emotion induction framed within an unrelated task and goal (e.g., anger induction: student feedback on changes to the economic student compensation system), (3) after which they were asked to return to the initial task (e.g., from the anger induction back to the anxiety induction). Primary outcomes included visual and verbal measures of action tendencies, and secondary outcomes included appraisals and emotion experience.
The results showed no evidence of a counteractive effect by inducing emotions unrelated to the initial task and with incompatible action tendencies. Rather, results pointed to spill-over effects, which should be seen in light of the anger conditions resulting not only in increase anger and irritability but also anxiety and nervousness.
The lack of counteractive effects could be due to either the mixed emotions induced by the anger condition or the compatibility of motivational context (i.e., threat) of anxiety and anger. Future research needs to refine the incompatible response hypothesis, honing the ways in which incompatibility is needed for emotion alteration, for instance by investigating the role of the motivational context.
不相容反应假说认为，当情绪和其他情感状态不相容时，它们可以相互抵消。在本研究中，我们专注于两种与不同行为倾向（趋近与回避）相关的负性情绪（愤怒和焦虑）。具体来说，我们想研究在愤怒操作之后进行焦虑操作是否会表现出与初始愤怒操作相关的趋近行为倾向的抵消效应，反之亦然，焦虑和回避倾向也是如此。
我们进行了一项预先注册的在线实验（N=173）。我们评估了个体经历以下三个阶段时的变化：（1）进行与特定目标相关的任务（例如，焦虑诱导：记录学生对气候变化的看法）；（2）在不相关的任务和目标框架内进行后续的情绪诱导（例如，愤怒诱导：学生对经济学生补偿制度变化的反馈）；（3）之后要求他们返回初始任务（例如，从愤怒诱导回到焦虑诱导）。主要结果包括行为倾向的视觉和口头测量，次要结果包括评价和情绪体验。
结果没有显示出通过诱导与初始任务无关且具有不相容行为倾向的情绪来产生抵消效应的证据。相反，结果指向溢出效应，这应该从愤怒条件不仅导致愤怒和烦躁增加，而且还导致焦虑和紧张的角度来看待。
缺乏抵消效应可能是由于愤怒条件引起的混合情绪或焦虑和愤怒的动机背景（即威胁）的兼容性所致。未来的研究需要进一步完善不相容反应假说，例如通过研究动机背景的作用，来精确地研究需要不相容性来改变情绪的方式。
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