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Feeling happy and sad, but only seeing the positive: Poignancy and the positivity effect in attention

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Abstract

Poignancy is a mixed emotional experience that occurs in the face of meaningful endings (Ersner-Hershfield et al. J Pers Soc Psychol 94(1):158–167, 2008). Despite documentation of the phenomenological component of poignancy, no study to date has examined the relationship between such a state and information processing. We therefore examined the link between poignancy and attentional patterns using an eyetracking paradigm. To induce poignancy, experimental condition participants imagined being in a personally chosen meaningful location for a final time; control participants also imagined being in a meaningful location but with no ending. After, both groups were shown emotional images. Experimental condition participants looked more at positive images relative to negative images, whereas participants in the control condition did not display such a preference. Findings suggest that despite being a mixed emotional experience, poignancy may produce a subsequent positivity effect in information processing.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by NIA Grant R01AG26323 to the last author. The authors wish to thank Ewart Thomas for helpful discussions of statistical issues and Jesse Hershman for help with data collection.

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  1. Hal Ersner-Hershfield

    Present address: Department of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Hal Ersner-Hershfield

  2. Brandeis University, MS 062, PO Box 549110, Waltham, MA, 549110, USA

    David S. Carvel & Derek M. Isaacowitz

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  1. Hal Ersner-Hershfield
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  2. David S. Carvel
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  3. Derek M. Isaacowitz
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Correspondence to Hal Ersner-Hershfield.

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Ersner-Hershfield, H., Carvel, D.S. & Isaacowitz, D.M. Feeling happy and sad, but only seeing the positive: Poignancy and the positivity effect in attention. Motiv Emot 33, 333–342 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-009-9140-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-009-9140-6

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