In this dissertation we investigate the emotional and psychiatric effects of glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol, dexamethasone and prednisone). Glucocorticoids are widely used and their possible... Show moreIn this dissertation we investigate the emotional and psychiatric effects of glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol, dexamethasone and prednisone). Glucocorticoids are widely used and their possible psychiatric side effects are well known. It is still unclear who is susceptible to side effects and what mechanism is behind this. In this thesis we try to better understand the underlying causes. For example, we use a relatively new static method in this research field, which can analyze changes over time better than the usual methods. In a study, we show that in depressed study participants, changes in certain affect items preceded changes in cortisol levels, while in control participants this was the other way around. Furthermore, we explore a hypothesis that may explain the mechanism of the psychiatric side effects of glucocorticoids. This mechanism is also used for a strategy to prevent the psychiatric side effects. The strategy is based on the fact that synthetic glucocorticoids are very similar to the body's own hormone cortisol, but their binding to the two cortisol receptor proteins and their effects may be different. By achieving a balanced activation of the two cortisol proteins when using glucocorticoids, the psychiatric side effects could possibly be prevented. In summary, this thesis provides further insight into the emotional and psychiatric side effects of glucocorticoids, but the search for a better understanding of the neuropsychiatric side effects remains a pressing concern, which will hopefully benefit patient care in the future. Show less
Emotions significantly influence our perceptions and interactions with the environment, yet the impact of our emotional states on judging and responding to others remains underexplored. In this... Show moreEmotions significantly influence our perceptions and interactions with the environment, yet the impact of our emotional states on judging and responding to others remains underexplored. In this thesis, I examined how (romantic) attraction influences our attention (Part I), how we judge others’ intentions (Part II), and whether mimicking another facilitates bond formation (Part III). In two empirical chapters, I demonstrate that people have a strong attentional bias towards visual attractiveness and a tendency to indicate interest in establishing a romantic connection to attractive others. In the subsequent empirical chapter, I show that men are more likely to judge women they find attractive as more sexually aroused. Crucially, in a real-life dating study, I show that men who are attracted to another are more likely to assume mutual interest. Further, I introduce a framework suggesting that people align their actions and emotional states with others to foster romantic relationships. The final empirical chapter suggests that mimicking the attraction cues of others enhances bond formation. Overall, this dissertation sheds light on how attractiveness and attraction affect our attention, our social cognition, and the synchronization of actions and emotions, offering insights into the mechanisms underlying romantic connections. Show less
Depression can be understood as a complex dynamic system where depressive symptoms interact with one another. Cortisol is suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of depression, but... Show moreDepression can be understood as a complex dynamic system where depressive symptoms interact with one another. Cortisol is suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of depression, but knowledge on the temporal interplay between cortisol and depressive symptoms is scarce. We aimed to analyze the temporal connectivity between salivary cortisol and momentary affective states in depressed individuals and controls. Thirty pair-matched depressed and non-depressed participants completed questionnaires on momentary positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect and collected saliva three times a day for 30 days. The association between cortisol and affect was analyzed by dynamic time warp (DTW) analyses. These analyses involved lag-1 backward to lag-1 forward undirected analyses and lag-0 and lag-1 forward directed analyses. Large inter- and intra-individual variability in the networks were found. At the group level, with undirected analysis PA and NA were connected in the networks in depressed individuals and in controls. Directed analyses indicated that increases in cortisol preceded specific NA items in controls, but tended to follow upon specific affect items increase in depressed individuals. To conclude, at group level, changes in cortisol levels in individuals diagnosed with a depression may be a result of changes in affect, rather than a cause. Show less
Emotions make a story more than a list of events. While reading, readers assign emotions to characters, and this constitutes an important, if not crucial, aspect of understanding narrative texts.... Show moreEmotions make a story more than a list of events. While reading, readers assign emotions to characters, and this constitutes an important, if not crucial, aspect of understanding narrative texts. Information in the text enables this process of assigning emotions, but readers’ pre-existing knowledge and their previous (emotional) experiences also play a role. In this article, I aim to provide more insight into the interaction between reader and text, and present different types of information that play a role in understanding emotions in narratives. These types are based on research on text comprehension and reading processes and concepts from cognitive and affective narratology. Examples include knowledge about typical plot structures, types of characters and emotional scripts. I provide illustrations taken from the set texts of the 2023 Latin Dutch exam (Ovid’s Metamorphoses). Some passages in this corpus provide detailed descriptions of a character’s emotions, while others appeal more to the reader’s background knowledge. The collected texts contain many stories with a romantic plot line. We find gods with sudden feelings of desire, unrequited love, budding and forbidden relationships, long and happy marriages. Deception, misunderstanding and bad news (Fama) are obstacles to these relationships, creating strong emotions. Show less
Kruijsdijk, I.; Vlugt, N. van der; Wal, G.J. van der 2022
This study sets out to investigate the insubordinated infinitive in the Bantu language Makhuwa-Enahara (P31, northern Mozambique), which is used with feeling predicates that have passive... Show moreThis study sets out to investigate the insubordinated infinitive in the Bantu language Makhuwa-Enahara (P31, northern Mozambique), which is used with feeling predicates that have passive experiencers. The expression of bodily feelings and emotions in Makhuwa serves as a foundation, highlighting the unique formal and interpretational properties of the insubordinated infinitive within the domain of feelings. Show less
What are the evolutionary roots of emotions? To answer this cardinal question, I study emotions in animals that are evolutionarily close to us: the great apes. In this dissertation, I investigated... Show moreWhat are the evolutionary roots of emotions? To answer this cardinal question, I study emotions in animals that are evolutionarily close to us: the great apes. In this dissertation, I investigated how bonobos, orangutans, and humans perceive emotions by studying three markers of emotion perception: attention, spontaneous mimicry, and implicit associations. Using touchscreen tasks and eye-tracking, I found that bonobos and humans share attentional mechanisms for perceiving their social surroundings. In both species, attention was immediately directed to emotional signals of unfamiliar others (in bonobos) or familiar others (in humans). Bonobos and humans also looked longer at certain emotionally-laden scenes than emotionally-neutral scenes. Subsequently, I studied orangutans: the only apes leading a semi-solitary existence. I found that orangutans show spontaneous mimicry in the form of contagious yawning and self-scratching, contradicting the idea that mimicry only occurs in highly social species. Finally, I created and validated a pictorial version of the implicit association test: a task that can potentially help us uncover whether apes have implicit associations with emotions. The results in this dissertation indicate a common evolutionary origin for attentional mechanisms and mimicry in great apes, including humans, and highlight the importance of considering species-specific characteristics that drive emotion perception. Show less
While Dutch actor Johannes Jelgerhuis (1770–1836) is best known for his acting treatise Theoretische Lessen (1827), his lesser-known private writings reveal the passionate actor behind the theory.... Show moreWhile Dutch actor Johannes Jelgerhuis (1770–1836) is best known for his acting treatise Theoretische Lessen (1827), his lesser-known private writings reveal the passionate actor behind the theory. Particularly detailed, his manuscript Toneel Studien of 1811, casts light on Jelgerhuis’s thoughts and preparations behind the creation and performance of six roles. Show less
Why do international institutions promote emotional norms? In order to answer this question, the article, first, maps the legitimizing arguments put forward by the Members of the European... Show moreWhy do international institutions promote emotional norms? In order to answer this question, the article, first, maps the legitimizing arguments put forward by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in promoting an emotionally loaded norm vis-à-vis Turkey, i.e., the recognition of the Armenian genocide. Second, the paper explores the reasons behind the promotion of this emotional norm by the European Parliament (EP) as justified by the MEPs. The article theoretically draws on the IR literature on emotions, and empirically, it relies on the data generated from the interventions by the MEPs at the plenary on the centenary of the Armenian genocide on 15 April 2015. Through claims analysis, it is demonstrated that the condemnation of genocide is a shared norm within the EP, which transcends national and ideological differences. Consequently, the MEPs aspire to render it an essential constitutive element of the emotional community at the EU level. Show less
A central premise of the science of comparative affect is that we can best learn about the causes and consequences of affect by comparing affective phenomena across a variety of species, including... Show moreA central premise of the science of comparative affect is that we can best learn about the causes and consequences of affect by comparing affective phenomena across a variety of species, including humans. We take as a given that affect is widely shared across animals, but a key challenge is to accurately represent each species' affective experience. A common approach in the comparative study of behavior and cognition is to develop standardized experimental paradigms that can be used across species, with the assumption that if the same task is being used, we can directly compare behavioral responses. This experimental approach rests on two underlying assumptions: first, that different species' perception of and affective response to these paradigms are the same; and second, that behavioral and physiological (including endocrine and neural) responses to these paradigms are homologous; if either of these assumptions is not true, then the comparison becomes much less straightforward. Our goal in the present paper is to summarize the dominant paradigms that have been used for such comparative research, with a particular focus on paradigms common in the cooperation literature, and to critically discuss dominant assumptions about what affective states these tasks can or should measure. We then consider the advantages and drawbacks of this experimental method, and consider alternatives that may improve our understanding. We hope that this will help scholars recognize and avoid pitfalls inherent in studying affect, and stimulate them to create novel, ecologically relevant paradigms for examining affect across the animal kingdom. Show less
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with conduct disorder (CD) are characterized by notable impairments in social-emotional functioning. In this thesis social-emotional... Show moreIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with conduct disorder (CD) are characterized by notable impairments in social-emotional functioning. In this thesis social-emotional impairments were investigated using a cognitive neuroscience perspective (i.e., studying cognitive mechanisms and associated neural processes and structures). First, we directly compared groups of ASD and CD to test the hypothesized dissociable deficits in understanding other’s emotions in ASD in contrast to deficits in feeling other’s emotions in CD. This was done by comparing brain activity during basic emotion processing to assess cognitive and affective aspects of empathy, and by comparing white matter tracts that may underlie social-emotional processing. Second, we examined the neural processes at the level of social interactions in ASD and in CD, which has been overlooked by prior work, by studying interactive decision-making in response to other’s emotions. The results of the first part of this thesis show that different neural mechanisms underlie social-emotional difficulties in ASD and CD. Results of the second part imply that uncovering the neural correlates of interacting with others might lead to refined models of social-emotional deficits in ASD and CD that are different from previous accounts based on merely observing other’s emotions. Show less
Women with breast cancer respond to the illness and its medical management in their own personal way. Their coping behavior and self-management are determined by their views (cognitions) and... Show moreWomen with breast cancer respond to the illness and its medical management in their own personal way. Their coping behavior and self-management are determined by their views (cognitions) and feelings (emotions) about symptoms and illness: their illness perceptions. This paper reports the results of a systematic literature review of illness perceptions and breast cancer. In the 12 studies identified, published between 2012 and 2015, illness perceptions were found to be important concomitants of medical and behavioral outcomes: fear of recurrence, distress, quality of life, satisfaction with medical care, use of traditional healers, and risk perception. Intervention studies are called for where the effects are examined of replacing unhelpful illness perceptions by more constructive ones. Health care providers do well by incorporating illness perceptions in their care for women with breast cancer, as this is instrumental in improving patients' quality of life. Show less
With a focus on Cameroonian migrants from Pinyin and Mankon who are currently living in Cape Town and the Netherlands, this volume examines the workings of the social fabric of mobile communities.... Show moreWith a focus on Cameroonian migrants from Pinyin and Mankon who are currently living in Cape Town and the Netherlands, this volume examines the workings of the social fabric of mobile communities. It sheds light on how these communities are crafting lives for themselves in the host country and simultaneously linking up with the home country thanks to advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and road and air transport. ICTs and mobilities have complemented social relational interaction and provide migrants today with opportunities to partake in cultural practices that express their Pinyin-ness and Mankon-ness. Pinyin and Mankon migrants are still as rooted in the past as they are in the present. They were born into a community with its own sense of home, moral ethos and cultural pride but live in a context of accelerated ICTs and mobility that is fast changing the way they live their lives Show less
People in early Muslim Egypt, like people everywhere at this time, had good and bad experiences, went through sad and happy occasions, suffered from sickness and depression and faced the inevitable... Show morePeople in early Muslim Egypt, like people everywhere at this time, had good and bad experiences, went through sad and happy occasions, suffered from sickness and depression and faced the inevitable fate, death, when their time came. In their writings, they expressed to each other their emotions, their grief and hope, and how they experienced these turns of the fate. This study is an attempt to explore the social and emotional aspects as they appear in their personal letters endeavoring to show how people in early Islam expressed themselves, their joy and sorrow, how they responded to misfortunes in their writings, what interested and stirred them and what they worried about and believed in. In addition to editing forty-three letters relevant for the study of emotions, this study investigated and analyzed the representation of people__s personal feelings in almost all published Arabic private and business letters on papyrus covering the first four centuries of Muslim rule in Egypt (1st-4th/7th-10th), but focusing mainly on the earliest two and a half centuries. The study also used some of the unpublished letters which are relevant to the main theme of this study. Show less
This dissertation addresses the question of what it means to remake everyday life in the shadow of disaster. Focusing on the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in the years after the devastating Indian... Show moreThis dissertation addresses the question of what it means to remake everyday life in the shadow of disaster. Focusing on the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, in the years after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, it explores how tsunami survivors have been remaking the everyday ever since that moment. Based on ethnographic research in the post-disaster years, the five chapters of this dissertation discuss various dimensions of the remaking of everyday life that were important to the tsunami survivors, including the reconstruction of houses, interactions between survivors, international organizations and the state, the narrative experiences of the tsunami, the process of grieving and its entanglement with Islam, the creation of collective memory and forgetfulness in urban space, and ideas about the future that build on notions of moral and socio-economic improvement. In these chapters the concept of subjectivity is used to show how individuals creatively shape their lives in the context of tremendous social, economic, and political changes. The dissertation concludes that the anthropology of disaster, that has up to now predominantly focused on post-disaster social change and continuity and on structural historical patterns of vulnerability and resilience, can be enriched by ethnographic studies of subjectivity. Show less
This thesis deals with emotional and social influences on childhood somatic complaints. Strong support is provided for the idea that negative affect contributes to the development of somatic... Show moreThis thesis deals with emotional and social influences on childhood somatic complaints. Strong support is provided for the idea that negative affect contributes to the development of somatic complaints in childhood. In addition, the studies described give information about the type and levels of negative affect associated with somatic complaints in childhood. When appraisal is characterized by the experience of little control over negative situations and emotions, this is likely to directly cause more feelings of negative affect and also to contribute to a more negative processing of emotions: children who feel little control evidently use more maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. This negative emotional processing further contributes to negative affect and subsequent somatic complaints. These relationships between negative affect and somatic complaints are even present at subclinical levels of emotional problems. With regard to social problems, it is found that they have an effect on somatic complaints that is fully mediated by aspects of children’s emotional functioning: self-perceived social problems indicate lower feelings of control and more maladaptive emotion regulation. Show less
This dissertation focuses on social dilemmas, and more specifically, on environmental uncertainty in these dilemmas. Real-life social dilemma situations are often characterized by uncertainty. For... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on social dilemmas, and more specifically, on environmental uncertainty in these dilemmas. Real-life social dilemma situations are often characterized by uncertainty. For example, fishermen mostly do not know the exact size of the fish population (i.e., resource size uncertainty). Several researchers have therefore asked themselves the question as to how such uncertainty influences people’s choice behavior. These researchers have repeatedly concluded that uncertainty is detrimental to the collective because it induces over-harvesting. The present dissertation aims to provide a more comprehensive view on uncertainty in social dilemmas. Whereas earlier research has primarily investigated how uncertainty influences harvesting decisions, this dissertation also focuses on how environmental uncertainty affects interpersonal processes. This dissertation introduces a perspective that argues that environmental uncertainty hampers the application of the equal division rule, which in turn influences how group members interact with one another. In six chapters, I elaborate on numerous implications of this notion. By focusing on three key aspects of interpersonal processes (i.e., tacit coordination, justification pressures and interpersonal emotions), and by testing my ideas in seven empirical studies, I demonstrate that the effects of uncertainty are much more differentiated than is portrayed in earlier research. Show less
