Reducing discrepancies between actual and ideal affect across adulthood : the roles of activity flow conduciveness, pleasantness, and familiarity
Jiang, Da and Tse, Dwight C.K. and Gong, Xianmin and Tsang, Vivian H.L. and Fung, Helene H. and Mann, Ajit S. and Nakamura, Jeanne and Tsai, Jeanne L. (2024) Reducing discrepancies between actual and ideal affect across adulthood : the roles of activity flow conduciveness, pleasantness, and familiarity. Cognition and Emotion. pp. 1-15. ISSN 0269-9931 (https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2367782)
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Abstract
Previous findings demonstrate that people often do not feel how they want to feel, supporting the distinction between “actual affect” and “ideal affect.” But are there certain activities that reduce the discrepancy between actual and ideal affect? Based on flow theory and socioemotional selectivity theory, we examined whether the discrepancy between people’s actual and ideal positive affect would be smaller during activities that were more conducive to flow (a state of intense absorption and concentration), pleasant, and familiar. In Study 1, U.S. participants aged 17–79 (N = 393) reported their ideal affect and how they felt during activities with varying degrees of challenges and skills. For both low-arousal positive affect (LAP) and high-arousal positive affect (HAP), participants reported smaller actual-ideal affect discrepancies during flow-conducive activities (when skills matched challenges). Study 2 was a 14-day experience sampling study, in which Hong Kong participants aged 18–83 (Nindividual = 109) reported their momentary actual and ideal affect, and how pleasant and familiar their activities were (Nexperience= 3,815). Greater activity familiarity was associated with smaller discrepancies in actual-ideal LAP, while greater activity pleasantness was associated with smaller discrepancies in actual-ideal HAP. These findings provide insights on the activities that help people achieve their ideal affect more easily.
ORCID iDs
Jiang, Da, Tse, Dwight C.K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2725-1849, Gong, Xianmin, Tsang, Vivian H.L., Fung, Helene H., Mann, Ajit S., Nakamura, Jeanne and Tsai, Jeanne L.;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 90055 Dates: DateEvent17 July 2024Published17 July 2024Published Online8 June 2024AcceptedSubjects: Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology Department: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Psychological Sciences and Health > Psychology
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Psychological Sciences and HealthDepositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 26 Jul 2024 11:05 Last modified: 01 Oct 2024 15:34 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/90055