Eliciting Negative Affects Using Film Clips and Real-Life Methods

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Experimental Psychology

Background:

• Audio-visual stimuli are common for eliciting emotions in research.
• Real-life emotion induction methods are increasingly used globally.
• The effectiveness of these methods in Brazilian Portuguese speakers was previously untested.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of film clips and real-life social interactions for emotion induction in Brazilian Portuguese speakers.
• To assess the applicability of established emotion elicitation protocols in a new cultural context.
• To explore discrete patterns of emotion elicitation.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: 321 undergraduates watched film clips to induce anger, fear, sadness, or a neutral state, followed by emotional assessment.
• Experiment 2: 18 male undergraduates underwent a hostile social interaction to elicit anger, with measurements of corrugator muscle activity and cortisol levels.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in emotional states were observed across groups in Experiment 1.
• Film clips demonstrated discrete patterns in emotion elicitation.
• Experiment 2 showed increased corrugator activity following anger induction, confirming the method's efficacy.

Conclusions:

• Both film clips and social interactions are effective methods for inducing negative emotions in Brazilian Portuguese speakers.
• The findings support the cross-cultural applicability of emotion induction protocols.
• This research provides a foundation for future studies on negative emotions in this population.