Three different lines of research are currently most actively underway in our lab. In the first we are interested in studying the differentiation of, and motivational functions served by, positive emotional experience. Most emotion theories emphasize negative, unpleasant emotions such as anger, fear, guilt, sadness, disgust, etc., and allow for only a couple of positive/pleasant emotions, such as happiness and pride. We are finding evidence for the existence of a much broader array of pleasant emotions, including (but not limited to) happiness, interest, hope, challenge/determination, pride, gratitude, serenity, and awe. We are currently intensively examining both the appraisals responsible for eliciting these different positive emotions, as well as the motivational functions served by the emotions once elicited (e.g., challenge/determination seems to foster or motivate persistence and mastery, whereas happiness and pride both seem to psychologically “reward” success). Of particular interest is examining the ability of positive emotions to act as a buffer against future stressors.

In the second, we are exploring how it can be that emotions can arise suddenly with seemingly little or no prior “analysis” of the situation if it is the case that emotions are based on appraisals of relevance to personal well-being. We have developed a model that uses principles of cognitive psychology to explain how appraisals can be made quickly, automatically, and outside of conscious awareness, and are testing this model in a variety of ways. As one facet of this line of research, we are investigating how this model might be used to explain the contributions of emotional processes to the functioning of intuition. Another facet involves the possibilities and consequences of priming appraisals.

The final line of research is exploring the interaction between personality and emotion – to what extent do personality traits determine our emotional responses, do certain situations allow for more or less personality influence, are certain personality traits more likely to impact on emotion, etc.