Endogenous emotion generation ability is associated with the capacity to form multimodal internal representations

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Self-generated emotions offer a protective buffer against stressors and a therapeutic avenue for affective disorders.
• Individual differences in emotional generation capacity are not well understood, hindering intervention optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how preferences for distinct information modalities (Visual Imagery, Auditory Imagery, Bodily Interoception, Semantic Analysis) influence the ability to self-generate emotional states.
• To identify factors contributing to individual variability in emotional self-generation efficacy.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 293 participants self-induced positive and negative emotions.
• Participants freely selected single or combined modalities for emotion generation.
• Statistical analyses examined the relationship between modality use, age, and generation success.

Main Results:

• No single modality demonstrated superior efficacy for generating positive or negative emotions.
• Use of Visual Imagery, Bodily Interoception, and Semantic Analysis predicted successful emotion generation.
• Older age correlated with enhanced capacity for generating emotions, particularly negative ones.
• Greater use of multiple modalities (multimodality) positively predicted generation efficacy.

Conclusions:

• Interventions to improve emotional self-generation should consider individual differences in modality preferences and abilities.
• Encouraging the use of multiple modalities may enhance the effectiveness of emotional self-generation training.
• Age is a factor influencing emotional generation capacity, with older individuals showing greater ability.