Some perspectives on positive affect and self-regulation.
Some perspectives on positive affect and self-regulation.
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作者：
Alice M. Isen
这篇评论的目的是澄清积极情感维持的作用，正如我在工作中提出的那样，作为一个影响人们体验积极情感的行为的目标。这似乎是必要的，因为对这些进程似乎存在一些误解。我的重点是总结产生这一想法的数据，以及一些现在正在进一步告知和塑造我们对它的理解的数据。但是，除此之外，重要的是要注意，对这些问题的考虑表明，积极情感和自我调节之间可能存在超越情感维持的关系。首先，我们没有必要假设，也从来没有人提出过，那些被诱导产生积极情感的人会尽一切力量来维持这种状态，会不惜一切代价来维持积极情感，或者只受情感维持动机的指导，或者优先于所有其他动机。人们一直认为，行为是多因素决定的，情感维持只是在任何特定时间都可能活跃的许多动机之一（事实上，甚至只是由积极情感诱发的几个动机之一），一个人的行为取决于几个目标和动机的整合，这在大多数情况下都存在。其次，我的立场一直是，基于证据，如果人们认为他们是有目的的，积极的代理人，计划行动以实现似乎适合他们所处的情况和背景的目标，那么人们的行为就能得到最好的理解。第三，在这种背景下，首先有必要了解的是，有数据表明，被诱导产生积极情绪的人有时会比对照组更大程度地避免有意义的、大的风险（例如，伊森& Geva，1987;伊森&帕特里克，1983），并且对失去特别敏感（伊森，Nygren，& Ashby，1988）。同样需要解释的是，数据显示，积极情感的影响往往不适用于消极材料（例如，伊森，约翰逊，默茨，和罗宾逊，1985年;伊森，尼登塔尔，和康托，1992年;伊森和沙尔克，1982年），更普遍地说，积极和消极的影响往往被发现不是对称的（例如，伊森、沙尔克、克拉克和卡普，1978年;斯奈德和白色，1984年;蒂斯代尔和福格蒂，1979年;蒂斯代尔、泰勒和福格蒂，1980年）。因此，这些因素导致了积极情感产生情感维持目标的建议，以及一些影响该建议的方式和广泛背景的因素。随后，随着我们对积极情感影响的理解不断加深，我们有可能开始看到积极情感的额外激励效应，并更多地了解各种效应最有可能出现的情况。为了更全面地理解积极情绪调节的意义或过程及其对自我调节的影响，有必要记住积极情绪的一些主要影响和作用。通过这种方式，我们可以将对积极情感中的人所拥有的能力、资源和目标（包括偏好和厌恶）的理解整合到我们对情感调节及其在自我调节中的作用的考虑中。为了达到这个目的，我开始简要概述了积极情绪的一些主要影响，这些影响在研究文献中已经被确定，并且与积极情绪对自我调节的影响有关。越来越多的研究表明，积极的影响影响社会行为，如帮助和慷慨，认知过程，如记忆，判断，决策和解决问题，以及最近的动机（见，例如，伊森，1999 b，2000，for reviews）.这项工作表明，积极的影响促进了对他人的帮助，以及对自己的仁慈，认知的阐述和灵活性，以及彻底和有效的解决问题。也就是说，它增强了创新和创造性地解决问题的能力，而且更普遍地说，它也是一个促进因素，在大多数情况下，导致以更多不同的方式看待事物，改善与他人的互动，并改善解决问题的能力-解决问题和思考更有效，同时更彻底。例如，在涉及来自各行各业的参与者的研究中（例如，大学生、年轻的青少年、医学生、执业医师），发现被诱导积极情感的人更有创造力或更能解决需要独创性或创新的问题（例如，Estrada，伊森，& Young，1994;格林& Noice，1988; Hirt，Melton，McDonald，& Harackiewicz，1996;伊森，Daubman，& Nowicki，1987;伊森，约翰逊，Mertz，&罗宾逊，1985;讨论见伊森，1999 a）。在其他研究中，积极的情感已经被证明可以增加人们在安全、令人愉快的替代品中寻求多样性，并扩大人们在选择这些产品时的考虑范围（Kahn &伊森，1993）。其他研究也表明，积极的情感会让人们更详细地阐述和组织他们的想法，并且更加多样化。
The purpose of this commentary is to clarify the role of positive-affect maintenance, as it has been proposed in my work, as a goal that influences the behavior of people experiencing positive affect. This seems necessary because there appears to be some misunderstanding with regard to these processes. My focus is on summarizing the data that gave rise to this idea and some that are now informing and shaping our understanding of it further. But, in addition, it is important to note that consideration of these issues suggests a likely relation between positive affect and self-regulation that goes beyond affect-maintenance. First, it is not necessary to assume, and it was never suggested, that people in whom positive affect had been induced would use everything in their power to maintain that state, would maintain positive affect at all costs, or would be guided solely by the affect-maintenance motive, or by it in preference to all other motives. It was always recognized that behavior is multidetermined, that affect maintenance is only one of many motives potentially active at any given time (in fact, is even only one of several motives induced by positive affect), and that a person's behavior depends on the integration of several goals and motives, which are present in most situations. Second, my position has always been, based on the evidence, that people's behavior is best understood if one thinks of them as purposive, active agents planning courses of actions to achieve goals that seem appropriate for the situations and contexts they are in. Third, against this backdrop, it was necessary to understand, at first, data indicating that people in whom positive affect had been induced sometimes avoided meaningful, large risks to a greater extent than controls did (e.g., Isen & Geva, 1987; Isen & Patrick, 1983), and appeared especially sensitive to loss (Isen, Nygren, & Ashby, 1988). Also in need of interpretation were data showing that the effects of positive affect often did not apply to negative material (e.g., Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985; Isen, Niedenthal, & Cantor, 1992; Isen & Shalker, 1982), and that, more generally, the influence ofpositive and of negative affect were often found not to be symmetrical (e.g., Isen, Shalker, Clark, & Karp, 1978; Snyder & White, 1984; Teasdale & Fogarty, 1979; Teasdale, Taylor, & Fogarty, 1980). These, then, were factors that gave rise to the suggestion that positive affect engenders a goal of affect maintenance, and some of the factors that influenced the manner and broad context in which that suggestion was made. Subsequently, as ourunderstanding ofthe impact ofpositive affect grew, it became possible to begin to see additional motivational effects of positive affect and to learn more about the kinds of situations in which the various effects would be most likely. To understand the meaning or processes of positive-affect regulation and its influence on self-regulation more fully, it is necessary to keep in mind some of the majoreffects andramifications thatpositive feelings have. In this way, one can integrate understanding ofthe abilities, resources, and goals (including preferences and aversions) people in positive affect will have, into our consideration of affect regulation and its role in self-regulation. To that end, I begin with a brief overview of some major effects ofpositive feelings that have been identified in the research literature and that are relevant to positive affect's influence on self-regulation. A growing body of research indicates that positive affect influences social behavior, such as helping and generosity, cognitive processes such as memory, judgment, decision making, and problem solving, and most recently motivation (see, e.g., Isen, 1999b, 2000, for reviews). This work indicates that positive affect fosters helpfulness to others, as well as kindness to oneself, cognitive elaboration and flexibility, and thorough and efficient problem solving. That is, it enhances innovation and creative problem-solving ability, and also is a facilitating factor more generally, leading, under most circumstances, to seeing things in more different ways, improved interactions with others, and improved problem solving-problem solving and thinking that is both more efficient and, at the same time, more thorough. For example, in studies involving participants drawn from a wide range of walks of life (e.g., college students, young adolescents, medical students, practicing physicians), people in whom positive affect was induced were found to be more creative or more able to solve problems requiring ingenuity or innovation (e.g., Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1994; Greene & Noice, 1988; Hirt, Melton, McDonald, & Harackiewicz, 1996; Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987; Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985; see Isen, 1999a, for discussion). In other studies, positive affect has been shown to increase variety-seeking among safe, enjoyable alternatives, and to broaden people's consideration sets in choosing among such products (Kahn & Isen, 1993). Other work has also shown that positive affect leads people to elaborate and organize their thoughts more, and to be more var-