The Interaction Between Emotional Valence,Arousal And Motivational Tendency

The valence�arousal conflict theory assumes that both valence and arousal will trigger approaching or withdrawing tendencies.It also predicts that the speed of processing emotional stimuli will depend on whether valence and arousal trigger conflicting or congruent motivational tendencies.However,most previous studies have provided evidence of the interaction between valence and arousal only,and have not provided direct proof of the interactive links between valence,arousal and motivational tendencies.The present study used the emotional words and pictures with approaching or withdrawing cues in the explicit task(the valence judgement task)and the implicit task(the color judgment task)to provide direct evidence for the relationship between approach�withdrawal tendencies and the valence�arousal conflict.In Experiment 1,participants were instructed to judge the valence of emotional words after visual�spatial cues that appeared to be either approaching or withdrawing from participants.A three-way interaction(valence,arousal,and approach�withdrawal tendency)was observed such that the response time was shorter if participants responded to a positive low-arousal stimulus after an approaching cue,or to a negative high-arousal stimulus after a withdrawing cue.In Experiment 2,participants were instructed to judge the color of emotional words after approaching or withdrawing cues.Two-way interactions(valence and arousal,valence and approach�withdrawal tendency)were observed such that the response time was shorter if participants responded to a positive low-arousal stimulus than a negative low-arousal stimulus,or to a negative stimulus after a withdrawing cue than a negative stimulus after an approaching cue.In Experiment 3,participants were instructed to judge the valence of emotional pictures after approaching or withdrawing cues.Two-way interactions(valence and arousal,arousal and approach�withdrawal tendency)were observed such that the response time was shorter if participants responded to a positive low-arousal stimulus,a negative high-arousal stimulus,and a low arousal stimulus after an approaching cue.In Experiment 4,participants were instructed to judge the color of emotional pictures after approaching or withdrawing cues.A three-way interaction(valence,arousal,and approach�withdrawal tendency)was observed such that the response time was shorter if participants responded to a positive low-arousal stimulus after an approaching cue,or to a negative high-arousal stimulus after a withdrawing cue.These findings,especially Experiment 1 and 4,suggest that the approach�withdrawal tendency indeed plays a crucial role in valence�arousal conflict,and that the effect depends on the congruency of valence,arousal and tendency at an early stage of processing.In addition,the interactive effects are more stable in the explicit processing of emotional words and in the implicit processing of emotional pictures.