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Disillusionment: a prototype analysis.

Paul J Maher1, Eric R Igou1, Wijnand A P van Tilburg2,3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland.

Cognition & Emotion
|December 24, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Disillusionment involves discovery, disappointment, and loss, distinguishing it from mere disappointment. This research clarifies the core features of disillusionment, a painful emotional experience.

Keywords:
Disillusionmentemotionepistemic affectmeaningprototype analysis

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Disillusionment is a significant personal and social experience, yet its scientific understanding remains inconsistent.
  • Lay conceptions of disillusionment lack a unified set of defining features, hindering consistent research.
  • Existing research does not clearly delineate disillusionment from related negative emotional states like disappointment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and validate a consistent set of features characterizing the experience of disillusionment.
  • To investigate the prototypical features of disillusionment from the perspective of laypeople.
  • To differentiate disillusionment from disappointment using identified core features.

Main Methods:

  • Four studies were conducted, involving feature extraction from open-ended definitions, centrality ratings, and experimental vignette evaluations.
  • Study 1: Extracted 19 features of disillusionment from participant definitions (N=204).
  • Study 2: Assessed feature centrality and representativeness (N=131). Studies 3 & 4 used experimental designs to test feature diagnosticity and distinguish disillusionment from disappointment (N=155, N=60).

Main Results:

  • Key features of disillusionment identified include discovery, disappointment, and loss, rated as highly representative.
  • Features such as hopelessness, orientation, and truth were found to be more peripheral to the core experience.
  • Vignettes incorporating more prototypical features were rated as more indicative of disillusionment, and disillusionment was successfully distinguished from disappointment.

Conclusions:

  • Disillusionment is characterized by a consistent set of features, representing a negative epistemic affect state.
  • The experience of disillusionment is fundamentally linked to the violation of core assumptions.
  • This research provides a foundation for future studies on the antecedents and consequences of disillusionment.