Deriving meaning from others' emotions: attribution, appraisal, and the use of emotions as social information.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Design analogy for non-clinical behavioral vignette experiments without detailed clinical randomization reporting.
PubMed 26284001 · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01077
What was done
Across three vignette studies using different scenarios, researchers tested how perceived emotional expressions (regret, anger, and disappointment) influence observers' attributions of agency, responsibility, injustice, and prosocial intentions in ambiguous social situations.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, sample sizes, or effect estimates. Directionally, expressions of regret led observers to infer that the expresser was responsible for an adverse event, expressions of anger led observers to attribute responsibility to someone else and infer injustice, and expressions of disappointment increased intentions to help the expresser.
Why it matters
This work supports the emotions-as-social-information model by demonstrating that observers use distinct emotional expressions to resolve ambiguity according to the cognitive appraisals associated with each emotion.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample sizes, participant demographics, effect sizes, or confidence intervals. The findings rely on hypothetical vignette scenarios rather than real-time interpersonal interactions, leaving ecological validity untested.
Cited by
- supports The psychological appraisal and definition underlying the emotion of anger is perceived injustice.