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Frontal Asymmetry Paper

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Various forms of research incorporate EEG data to analyze the correlation between frontal asymmetry and emotion. The exploration of anger and frontal asymmetry is an interesting one because anger doesn’t affect everyone similarly; every case is unique and thus, it is important to attempt to find reasons behind those differences. According to various studies, the anger-inducing object or situation plays a significant role in how one expresses their anger. However, this role can only be seen through qualitative efforts whereas EEG recordings assist with getting quantitative data to further the analysis of anger as an emotion and cause of frontal asymmetry.
Before one can delve into the analysis of the correlation between frontal EEG asymmetry …show more content…

(2016) explored the influence of social power as an additional influence on frontal EEG asymmetry during times of anger expression. Their experiment consisted of having their subjects write about experiences that made them feel angry. However, in order for the researchers to have data regarding the effect of social power on anger and EEG asymmetry, they requested that the subjects dictate about two instances where they felt anger. One instance was to be regarding a situation where they were in a lower social power and the other instance was to be regarding a situation where they were in a higher social power. While their results seemed to point at a correlation that needs further testing and retrials, they did come up with some possible interesting connections between social power and anger expression. These connections essentially reflected that powerful individuals reflect their anger more directly while those in less powerful positions reflect their anger in indirect ways. This was backed up by the participants of higher social power having a greater left frontal activation than the participants of a lower social power. This was thought to be because as a person grows up, their surroundings affect how they behave in the future. In a study by Dawson in 1994, it was found that infants exhibiting anger usually had frontal asymmetry regarding the left hemisphere as well. When connecting these findings to those of Li et al. (2016), one could even …show more content…

That situation is something that is undesirable, therefore the anger is a reaction in hopes of stopping the situation from occurring and/or bring about change; this type of anger is associated with approach motivation. Anger, in general, is also classified as a negative valence which was originally attributed to withdrawal motivation. However, this emotion is more aggressive in its nature, allowing it be classified as an approach mechanism exhibited by increased left frontal activity. However, even the specific amount of left frontal activity can be affected by external sources and factors. In terms of social standing and power, those who hold a higher social standing tend to exhibit more anger and left frontal activity because their nature is to be outspoken and outright. On the other hand, those with low social activity are seen to be more withdrawn and cautious, which decreases their left frontal activity and arguably their approach motivation. When subjects are put into anger-inducing situations where they can bring about change and where they cannot, those who believe they can make a change express more activity in their left frontal cortex. This is also linked with their approach motivation due to the fact that if they believe they can make a difference and do away with the situation causing them anger, they will experience more approach. While

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