Collaborative Research: An emotion-motivation-obstruction approach to waiting and worry

合作研究：一种情绪-动机-阻碍的方法来应对等待和担忧

• 批准号: 1941579
• 负责人: Kate Sweeny
• 金额: $ 33.54万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1941579&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; emotion; motivation; obstruction

People often face situations in which they must wait to learn important news. It may be the results of a medical test, the outcome of a job interview, or the performance of financial investments. These periods can be unpleasant and stressful for many people, and a variety of (often ineffective) coping strategies may be adopted in an effort to minimize the discomfort during these uncertain waiting periods. Past research on uncertain waiting periods has primarily focused on describing the phenomenon – identifying the emotions people feel and the coping strategies they use during these periods. What is still unknown are the reasons people choose specific coping strategies and which strategies are effective under various conditions. Although earlier work has established that high levels of worry are the primary reason people feel distress while awaiting uncertain news, little research has tackled the questions of where this worry comes from or why people experience it so intensely during waiting periods. This project aims to answer these unanswered questions. The central premise of the research is that people experience worry during some periods of uncertainty because worry serves a purpose: It motivates people to prevent bad things from happening. However, worry can only serve this useful function when people have some control over their outcome. During uncertain waiting periods – such as that following a medical test but before learning the results – worry cannot do its job because people have no control over the outcome at that point. Eight laboratory-based experiments and one field study investigate how people cope with worry when they find themselves trapped in such stressful waiting periods. By better understanding how people cope with the uncertainty of such situations, interventions may be developed to help reduce the discomfort and redirect energy in more productive and healthy directions.This project develops a broad theoretical framework for understanding emotions and coping. The emotion-motivation-obstruction (EMO) model brings together two related but largely disconnected areas of study: the action readiness theory of emotions and research on situation-specific coping processes. It is proposed that when circumstances prevent people from engaging in the action tendency associated with an emotion (preventing a bad outcome in the case of worry), they will select coping strategies that aim to down-regulate the emotion or to redirect the action tendency. By testing the EMO model in the context of worry and waiting, this research provides an instructive initial test of the framework in a domain with strong theoretical background. The project investigates how threatening uncertainty prompts worry, and in turn, its action tendency of prevention motivation and ultimately preventive behavior. The project also focuses on situations in which preventive behavior is not feasible (due to a lack of control) and tests whether coping efforts directed toward down-regulating worry or redirecting prevention motivation reduce people’s experience of worry and the urge to carry out its action tendency. A longer-term aim is to understand the consequences of these dynamics for health and well-being. A multi-method experimental approach addresses these goals, using self-report, behavioral observation, and assessments of related physiological responses. The findings of this research can serve as the basis for interventions to reduce worry and other negative emotional experiences, and to steer people toward coping strategies that are likely to be most effective for mitigating the health and well-being consequences of these experiences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

人们经常面临这样的情况，他们必须等待才能得知重要消息。它可能是医学测试的结果，可能是工作面试的结果，也可能是金融投资的表现。对于许多人来说，这些时期可能是不愉快和有压力的，可能会采取各种(通常无效的)应对策略，以努力将这些不确定的等待期期间的不适降至最低。过去对不确定等待期的研究主要集中在描述这种现象--识别人们在这些时期感受到的情绪和他们使用的应对策略。目前尚不清楚的是，人们选择具体应对策略的原因，以及哪些策略在各种条件下是有效的。尽管早期的研究已经证实，高度的担忧是人们在等待不确定的消息时感到痛苦的主要原因，但很少有研究解决这样的问题：这种担忧从何而来，或者为什么人们在等待期间会如此强烈地经历这种担忧。这个项目旨在回答这些悬而未决的问题。这项研究的中心前提是，人们在一些不确定的时期会经历担忧，因为担忧是有目的的：它会激励人们防止坏事发生。然而，只有当人们对自己的结果有一定的控制力时，担忧才能发挥这种有用的作用。在不确定的等待期--比如在医学测试之后，但在得知结果之前--担忧无法发挥作用，因为人们在那个时候无法控制结果。八项基于实验室的实验和一项实地研究调查了当人们发现自己陷入如此紧张的等待期时，他们是如何应对焦虑的。通过更好地了解人们如何应对这种情况的不确定性，干预措施可能会被开发出来，以帮助减少不适，并将能量重新引导到更有成效和健康的方向。这个项目为理解情绪和应对发展开发了一个广泛的理论框架。情绪-动机-障碍(EMO)模型结合了两个相互关联但基本上互不关联的研究领域：情绪的行动准备理论和对特定情境应对过程的研究。有人提出，当环境阻止人们从事与情绪相关的行动倾向(在担心的情况下防止不良结果)时，他们会选择旨在下调情绪或重新引导行动倾向的应对策略。通过在担心和等待的背景下对EMO模型进行测试，本研究在一个具有较强理论背景的领域提供了一个具有指导性的初步测试框架。该项目调查了威胁不确定性如何引发担忧，进而调查其预防动机和最终预防行为的行动倾向。该项目还侧重于预防行为不可行的情况(由于缺乏控制)，并测试旨在降低担忧或改变预防动机的应对努力是否会减少人们的担忧体验和实施其行动倾向的冲动。一个更长期的目标是了解这些动态对健康和福祉的影响。一种多方法的实验方法解决了这些目标，使用自我报告、行为观察和相关生理反应的评估。这项研究的结果可以作为干预措施的基础，以减少担忧和其他负面情绪体验，并引导人们采取最有效的应对策略，以减轻这些体验带来的健康和福祉后果。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。