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Open Access Research Article Issue
Natural awe but not other types promotes altruistic behavior by increasing sense of the small self
Stress and Brain 2023, 3 (3): 123-133
Published: 05 November 2023
Downloads:54
Background:

Awe promotes altruistic behavior by enhancing the sense of the small self. However, this mediation mechanism has not been consistently replicated, possibly due to variations in the types of awe. No studies have directly examined whether the mediation of the sense of the small self between awe and altruistic behavior holds true in general, or is specific to a certain type of awe induction. Here, we describe an experiment aimed to address this issue.

Methods:

Two hundred and thirty-five participants were randomly assigned to different emotion groups, including natural awe, social awe, spiritual awe, amusement, and neutrality. After emotional manipulation, the participants were informed of a student’s misfortune and asked to decide how much of their experimental compensation money (RMB 50) they would donate.

Results:

We observed a promoting effect of awe induction on monetary donation in general, and this effect was similar across the three types of awe. Further mediation analysis indicated that natural awe, uniquely promoted altruistic behavior via the mediation role of the small self.

Conclusion:

The current study demonstrates the novel insight that, although the different types of awe induction similarly promote altruistic behavior, only natural awe promotes altruistic behavior through increasing sense of the small self.

Open Access Review Article Issue
Implicit and explicit emotion regulation in adolescents with dispositional optimism
Brain Science Advances 2021, 7 (4): 239-247
Published: 10 January 2022
Downloads:60

The development of adaptive emotion regulation (ER) plays a pivotal role in adolescent mental health and socio-emotional adaptation. Dispositional optimism, as an important protective factor for adolescent adjustment, may affect adolescent ER and subsequently influence adaptive outcomes. In this review, the changes and challenges, the role of ER in socio-emotional adjustment, and the developmental characteristics of implicit and explicit ER during adolescence are described. Subsequently, by employing the top-down model of personality, coping, and emotion, how dispositional optimism may affect psychological adjustment from the perspective of ER is analyzed. Furthermore, how the differences in adolescents’ dispositional optimism may be reflected by the differences in implicit ER is discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research are outlined.

Open Access Review Article Issue
Psychological research of awe: Definition, functions, and application in psychotherapy
Stress and Brain 2021, 1 (1): 59-75
Published: 19 March 2021
Downloads:597

As a self-transcendent emotion, awe refers to an immediate emotional response or a sustained feeling to various stimuli. The experience of awe is profound and of great significance not only for individual growth but also for social progress. To systematically understand and better conduct future research on awe, this study first illustrates the definition of awe and its widespread functions on prosocial behaviors, well-being, cognition, and self-consciousness. Then, the neuroscientific literature is reviewed, where findings show that the neural basis of awe involves multiple brain regions related to self-consciousness, cognitive control, attention, and emotion. The review also discusses the application of awe in clinical treatments, especially in transpersonal psychotherapy, to inspire individuals to promote spiritual development. Lastly, recommendations on how awe can guide future research are presented.

Open Access Review Article Issue
Anhedonia and its intervention in depressive adults: New developments based on Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) in mental illnesses
Stress and Brain 2021, 1 (1): 11-32
Published: 23 December 2020
Downloads:459

Anhedonia, as one of the core symptoms of depression, is of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Traditionally, anhedonia has been referred to as "loss of pleasure", while the recent research emphasizes that anhedonia is a complex and multidimensional construct based on reward processing impairment. Exploring different manifestations of anhedonia and developing the corresponding interventions have become indispensable in the current research of depression. Based on the positive valence system of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), this paper firstly demonstrates that the anhedonia of depressive adults are mainly characterized by the impairments in anticipatory pleasure, incentive motivation/effort, and reward learning based on subjective rating, behavioral, and neurophysiological evidences, while the existing evidences for the consummatory anhedonia of depression are inconsistent. Additionally, we introduce the vulnerability–stress model, as the mainstream theory of anhedonia in depression, and also emphasize the role of dopamine system abnormalities and altered brain structures or functional networks underpinning reward processing in the pathogenesis of anhedonia. Furthermore, to reinstate reward processing in depressed adults, various effective interventions for anhedonia have been developed, including direct psychosocial interventions, indirect working memory training, and real-time neurofeedback training with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Future research needs to deeply investigate the role of stress and gene polymorphisms in the etiology and mechanism of anhedonia in depression. Besides, more attention should be paid to social anhedonia in depressed individuals. And we also emphasize the need to further promote translational studies on the clinical interventions of anhedonia.

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