The Impact Of Negative Emotions On Inhibitory Control

Inhibitory control is one of the core components of executive function,and generally refers to the inhibition of an individual’s dominant response.Inhibitory control can be divided into cognitive inhibition and behavioral inhibition.Cognitive inhibition refers to inhibiting previously activated cognitive processing content to exclude other attentions or behaviors from interfering with specific tasks at the moment;behavioral inhibition is the inconsistency between individual inhibitions and current needs or Ability to react to inappropriate behavior.Previous studies have shown that individuals’ negative emotions affect inhibitory control,but there is no consistent conclusion as to whether negative emotions promote or hinder inhibitory control.Psychological resilience is an adaptive process in which individuals respond to adverse life events and negative emotions by using positive cognitive emotional adjustment strategies to respond flexibly to reduce negative emotional experiences.So,can psychological elasticity regulate the effect of negative emotions on inhibitory control? In view of this,this study examines the effects of different negative emotions on cognitive inhibition and behavioral inhibition by manipulating negative emotions(fear,sadness)and types of inhibitory control(cognitive inhibition,behavioral inhibition),and explores the effects of psychological elasticity on negative emotions.Whether there is a regulating effect between inhibitory control.Study 1 consists of two experiments(Experiment 1 uses the Stroop paradigm and Experiment 2 uses the double-selection Oddball paradigm).The results of Experiment 1 found that:(1)subjects responded to inconsistent tasks more slowly than consistent tasks,showing cognitive inhibition effects;(2)fear emotions will hinder cognitive inhibitions,and sad emotions will not significantly affect cognitive inhibitions;experiments The second result found that:(1)the participants responded more slowly to the deviating stimulus than the standard stimulus,showing behavioral inhibition effects;(2)fear emotions would hinder behavior inhibitions,and sad emotions did not significantly affect behavior inhibitions.On the basis of Study 1,Study 2 first selected individuals with high and low levels of psychological elasticity through the Mental Elasticity Scale,and then used 2(task types: consistent,inconsistent)× 3(emotional types: fear,sadness,neutral)× The mixed experimental design of 2(psychological elasticity: high and low)further explores the regulating effect of psychological elasticity on the relationship between negative emotions and inhibitory control.The results found that:(1)subjects with high and low psychological elasticity responded to inconsistent tasks more slowly than with consistent tasks,and exhibited inhibitory effects;(2)fear emotions hindered inhibitory control,and sad emotions did not significantly affect inhibitory control;(3)Under fear,individuals with high psychological elasticity have significantly shorter response times than those with low psychological elasticity.There is no significant difference in response between individuals with high and low psychological elasticity in neutral and sad moods.Combining the three experimental results can lead to the following research conclusions:(1)Negative emotion is an important influencing factor of inhibitory control.It affects different types of inhibitory control to the same degree.Negative emotion with high avoidance motivation intensity,that is,fear will hinder individual’s inhibitory control.Negative emotions with low avoidance motivation intensity,that is,sadness has no significant effect on inhibitory control.(2)Psychological resilience has a moderating effect between negative emotions and inhibitory control.Psychological resilience can buffer the hindrance of fear to inhibitory control.This study further clarified the influence of negative emotions on inhibitory control through experimental methods,and confirmed the regulating effect of psychological elasticity on the relationship between negative emotions and inhibitory control,it provides a new idea for future research on inhibitory control.