Switching from approach to withdrawal is easier than vice versa

Kuhbandner, Christof and Vogel, Carina M. and Lichtenfeld, Stephanie (2015) Switching from approach to withdrawal is easier than vice versa. COGNITION & EMOTION, 29 (7). pp. 1168-1184. ISSN 0269-9931, 1464-0600

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Abstract

A fundamental property of emotional responses is a change in action tendencies that allow the individual to cope with the situation. Most basically, there are two types of behaviour one can switch to when responding emotionally: approach or withdrawal. The present study examined whether the ability to switch to approach or withdrawal depends on the type of behaviour shown before. Using familiar (Experiment 1) and unfamiliar (Experiment 2) neutral stimuli, we first show that switching from approach to withdrawal is generally easier than vice versa. In Experiment 3, we demonstrate that this holds true even when participants respond to emotional stimuli that typically elicit strong approach or withdrawal tendencies. These results indicate that there is a fundamental asymmetry in the ability to switch from approach to withdrawal or vice versa. As shown in Experiment 3, this asymmetry may represent a serious confound in many previous studies examining the link between stimulus valence and associated action tendencies, suggesting that the link between positive stimuli and approach tendencies may be stronger, and the link between negative stimuli and withdrawal tendencies weaker, than previously believed.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: INFORMATION; AVOIDANCE; SET; Task switching; Approach; Motivation; Emotional valence; Avoidance
Subjects: 100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology
Divisions: Psychology and Pedagogy > Institut für Psychologie
Depositing User: Dr. Gernot Deinzer
Date Deposited: 16 May 2019 12:46
Last Modified: 16 May 2019 12:46
URI: https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/4639

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