Interactive influences of emotion and extraversion on visual attention

Bendall, RCA; Begley, S; Thompson, C

Abstract

Introduction: Emotion has been shown to influence selective visual attention. However, studies in this field have revealed contradictory findings regarding the nature of this influence. One possible explanation for the variation in findings is that affective inter‐individual differences impact both attention and emotion and may therefore moderate any influence of emotion on attention. The current work is a novel investigation of the effects of induced emotional states and the traits of extraversion and neuroticism on visual attention. This allowed a direct investigation of any impact of extraversion and neuroticism on the way in which emotion influences attention. Methods: Participants were induced into positive, neutral, and negative emotional states before completing a change detection flicker task in which they were required to locate a change to a real‐world scene as quickly and accurately as possible. Results: Participants scoring higher in extraversion were more accurate but slower at detecting changes. Importantly, this was particularly evident when induced into a negative emotional state compared to a neutral emotional state. Neuroticism had no impact on attention. Conclusions: The current study provides evidence that extraversion can moderate the influence of negative emotion upon visual attention and may help to explain some of the contradictory findings in this research area. When considered independently, increased trait levels of extraversion were associated with improved change detection. Individuals higher in extraversion appear better equipped to regulate negative emotion compared to individuals lower in extraversion, supporting research linking extraversion to affective reactivity and models of psychopathology.

Citation

Bendall, R., Begley, S., & Thompson, C. (2021). Interactive influences of emotion and extraversion on visual attention. Brain and Behavior, 11(11), e2387. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2387

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 21, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 17, 2021
• Publication Date: Nov 24, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 18, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2021
• Journal: Brain and Behavior
• Print ISSN: 2162-3279
• Electronic ISSN: 2157-9032
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 11
• Pages: e2387
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2387
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2387
• Related Public URLs: http://www.brain-behavior.com/
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** Article version: VoR ** From Wiley via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for VoR version of this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: issn 2162-3279 **Article IDs: publisher-id: brb32387 **History: published 17-10-2021; accepted 21-09-2021; rev-recd 16-09-2021; submitted 10-02-2021