TY - JOUR
T1 - Too busy to feel neutral
T2 - Reducing cognitive resources attenuates neutral affective states
AU - Gasper, Karen
AU - Hackenbracht, Joy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Researchers often assume that neutral affect is a relatively affectless state, in that it is low in intensity and requires little, if any, cognitive resources to be maintained. In contrast to these assumptions, we examined the hypothesis that reducing one’s cognitive resources would lessen neutral affective experiences. Respondents (1) viewed negative, neutral, or positive photos, (2) completed a task that was or was not cognitively demanding, and (3) rated their negative, neutral, and positive feelings. As predicted, reducing people’s cognitive resources lessened their neutral affect after viewing neutral stimuli, lessened their negative affect after viewing negative stimuli, but did not affect their positive affect after viewing positive stimuli. Contrasting prior assumptions regarding neutral affect, these findings suggest that neutral states possess felt intensity and require cognitive resources to be maintained.
AB - Researchers often assume that neutral affect is a relatively affectless state, in that it is low in intensity and requires little, if any, cognitive resources to be maintained. In contrast to these assumptions, we examined the hypothesis that reducing one’s cognitive resources would lessen neutral affective experiences. Respondents (1) viewed negative, neutral, or positive photos, (2) completed a task that was or was not cognitively demanding, and (3) rated their negative, neutral, and positive feelings. As predicted, reducing people’s cognitive resources lessened their neutral affect after viewing neutral stimuli, lessened their negative affect after viewing negative stimuli, but did not affect their positive affect after viewing positive stimuli. Contrasting prior assumptions regarding neutral affect, these findings suggest that neutral states possess felt intensity and require cognitive resources to be maintained.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11031-014-9457-7
DO - 10.1007/s11031-014-9457-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84939993959
SN - 0146-7239
VL - 39
SP - 458
EP - 466
JO - Motivation and Emotion
JF - Motivation and Emotion
IS - 3
ER -