Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
948493 Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2006 12 Pages PDF
Abstract

Motivational theories of affect contend that negative stimuli should slow motor behavior. However, this claim has been supported mainly by animal research. The current investigation establishes, perhaps for the first time, that incidental negative primes slow subsequent motor behavior among humans. In addition to examining choice reaction time (Studies 1 and 2), we introduce a method for examining the speed of continuous motor behavior (Study 3). In all studies, we found that behavior was slowed following, or in the context of, negative stimuli. It is concluded that, in certain situations, the mere presence of negative stimuli inhibits the speed of subsequent motor behavior.

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