Attentionalbiastonegativeemotionasafunctionofapproachandwithdrawalangerstyles:AnERPinvestigation☆JenniferL.Stewarta,b,⁎,RebeccaLevinSiltonb,c,SarahM.Sassb,JoscelynE.Fisherb,d,J.ChristopherEdgarb,e,WendyHellerb,f,GregoryA.Millerb,faDepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofArizona,Tucson,AZ,USAbDepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign,Champaign,IL,USAcDepartmentofPsychiatry,SeattleChildren'sHospital,Seattle,WA,USAdDepartmentofPsychiatry,UniversityofMarylandSchoolofMedicine,Bethesda,MD,USAeDepartmentofRadiology,Children'sHospitalofPhiladelphia,Philadelphia,PA,USAfBeckmanInstituteBiomedicalImagingCenter,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign,Champaign,IL,USAabstractarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received14August2009Receivedinrevisedform17January2010Accepted19January2010Availableonline25January2010Keywords:AngerEmotionMotivationCognitiveresourcesEvent-relatedpotentialsAlthoughmodelsofemotionhavefocusedontherelationshipbetweenangerandapproachmotivationassociatedwithaggression,angerisalsorelatedtowithdrawalmotivation.Anger-outandanger-instylesareassociatedwithpsychopathologyandmaydisruptthecontrolofattentionwithinthecontextofnegativelyvalencedinformation.Thepresentstudyusedevent-relatedbrainpotentials(ERPs)toexaminewhetherangerstylesuniquelypredictattentionalbiastonegativestimuliduringanemotion–wordStrooptask.Highanger-outpredictedlargerN200,P300,andN400tonegativewords,suggestingthataggressiveindividualsexertmoreefforttooverrideattentiontonegativeinformation.Incontrast,highanger-inpredictedsmallerN400amplitudetonegativewords,indicatingthatnegativeinformationmaybereadilyavailable(primed)forangersuppressors,requiringfewerresources.Individualswithananger-outstylemightbenefitfrombeingdirectedawayfromprovocativestimulithatmightotherwiseconsumetheirattentionandfosterovertaggression.Findingsindicatingthatanger-outandanger-inwereassociatedwithdivergentpatternsofbrainactivityprovidesupportfordistinguishingapproach-andwithdrawal-relatedangerstyles.©2010ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionResearchershavepostulatedapproach-andwithdrawal-relatedmotivationalsystemsthatareimplementedinseveralbrainregionsandthatplayacrucialroleintheexperienceandexpressionofemotion.Anger,afeelingevokedwhenindividualsbelievethattheyorothersaretreatedbadlyorunfairly(Averill,2001),involvesapproachand/orwithdrawalbehaviordependingoncontext(e.g.,Berkowitz,1990;Watson,2009;thoughseeCarverandHarmon-Jones,2009).Spielberger(1988,1999)developedtheState-TraitAngerExpressionInventory(STAXI),whichconceptualizesangerexpressionstylesthatoccurinconnectionwithangryfeelings.TheSTAXIanger-outscalereflectsaggression,definedastheexpressionofangryverbalormotorbehaviordirectedtowardpeopleorobjects,whereastheSTAXIanger-inscaleisconceptualizedasmeasuringsuppressionorinhibitionofoutwardsignsofangerand/orwithdraw-ingfromananger-inducingsituation.Approach(anger-out)andwithdrawal(anger-in)angerstylesmaydisruptthecontrolofattentioninthecontextofnegativelyvalencedinformation,interferingwithsuccessfulemotionregulation.Severalbehavioralstudieshaveindicatedthatangryindividualsdisplayanattentionalbiastowardnegativelyvalencedstimuli(e.g.,Cohenetal.,1998;EckhardtandCohen,1997;Kirschetal.,2005;SmithandWaterman,2003,2004;vanHonketal.,2001)thatcouldunderliethepotentialforangryindividualstoperceiveambiguoussituationsashostileand...
