Exploring effects of response biases in affect induction procedures

David J. Moulds, Jona Meyer, Janet F. McLean, Vera Kempe*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    3 Citations (Scopus)
    54 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This study examined whether self-reports or ratings of experienced affect, often used as manipulation checks on the efficacy of affect induction procedures (AIPs), reflect genuine changes in affective states rather than response biases arising from demand characteristics or social desirability effects. In a between-participants design, participants were exposed to positive, negative and neutral images with valence-congruent music or sound to induce happy, sad and neutral mood. Half of the participants had to actively appraise each image whereas the other half viewed images passively. We hypothesised that if ratings of affective valence are subject to response biases then they should reflect the target mood in the same way for active appraisal and passive exposure as participants encountered the same affective stimuli in both conditions. We also tested whether the AIP resulted in mood-congruent changes in facial expressions analysed by FaceReader to see whether behavioural indicators corroborate the self-reports. The results showed that while participants’ ratings reflected the induced target valence, the difference between positive and negative AIP was significantly attenuated in the active appraisal condition, suggesting that self-reports of mood experienced after the AIP are not entirely a reflection of response biases. However, there were no effects of the AIP on FaceReader valence scores, in line with theories questioning the existence of cross-culturally and inter-individually universal behavioural indicators of affective states. Efficacy of AIPs is therefore best checked using self-reports.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere0285706
    Number of pages18
    JournalPLoS One
    Volume18
    Issue number5
    Early online date11 May 2023
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 11 May 2023

    Keywords

    • Emotions
    • Facial expressions
    • Face
    • Behavior
    • Face recognition
    • Happiness
    • Fear
    • Skin physiology

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