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Conceptualizing Positive Versus Negative Awe: Do Connection And Self-Significance Interact To Determine Awe’S Valence?, Christopher Evan Cole

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I adopted an appraisal theory approach to differentiating positive and negative experiences of awe. In addition to assessing traditional appraisal dimensions, I focused on self-diminishment and connectedness as the appraisals hypothesized to best differentiate awe by valence. I predicted that self-diminishment and connectedness would interact to determine whether awe is experienced as positive or negative, arguing that feeling “small” can be positive if paired with feeling connected but that feeling small can be negative if paired with feeling isolated. An exploratory study (n = 742) induced participants to feel an emotion (positive awe, negative awe, joy, or …

Pride’S Influence On Perception Of Control And Risky Decision-Making, Andrea Sanders

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Incidental emotion can powerfully impact risky decision-making processes, yet the specific mechanisms that drive this relationship require further exploration. The appraisal theory of emotion suggests that emotional valence alone cannot accurately predict an emotion’s effect on risk-taking. Rather, specific appraisal dimensions of an emotional experience—particularly the perception of control—have been found to critically influence risk-taking across settings. Previous literature indicates that guilt, a negative emotion characterized by high personal control, led to higher risk preferences. The current study sought to replicate these findings and test whether a similar relationship would be found for the positive emotion of pride. Data was …

From Crime To Punishment: Moral Violations And The Social Function Of Emotion, Michael Ray Brubacher

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Punishments that are issued by the criminal justice system can enhance factors related to recidivism or contribute to offender rehabilitation. Investigating the ecological element of public attitudes toward punishment can inform efforts of second-order change for reducing recidivism and improving offender and community wellbeing (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Kelly, 1966; Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974).

The form and duration of punishments can be influenced by the goals that punishments are meant to achieve. Punishment goals include retribution, incapacitation, individual deterrence, general deterrence, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. Each of the goals can lead to sanctions that impact offender behavior differently yet substantive predictors …