Toward an Affective Science of Resource Allocation: Psychological, Affective, and Neural Factors in Resource Allocation Decisions
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Toward an Affective Science of Resource Allocation: Psychological, Affective, and Neural Factors in Resource Allocation Decisions by Brian D. Vickers A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Stephanie D. Preston, Co-Chair Professor Rachael D. Seidler, Co-Chair Distinguished Professor Phoebe C. Ellsworth Assistant Professor Scott Rick Professor J. Frank Yates “These, then, are some of the basic principles of ecology—interdependence, recycling, partnership, flexibility, diversity, and, as a consequence of all those, sustainability... the survival of humanity will depend on our ecological literacy, on our ability to understand these principles of ecology and live accordingly.” Fritjof Capra, The Systems View of Life © Brian D. Vickers 2015 Dedication To Savanna ii Acknowledgements I want to thank my committee for all of their support and feedback, especially Stephanie, who has helped me develop intellectually and as a person over these years in Ann Arbor. Between the numerous rounds of data collection and analysis strategies it is easy to get off track but you have all helped me find my way. Thank you. This work would not be possible without the contributions from graduate students in my labs, especially Alicia Hofelich, Dan Porter, and Stephanie Carpenter. Without their support, feedback, and suggestions this dissertation would not have been completed. Thank you also to Daniel Weissman for his numerous methodological and statistical suggestions regarding fMRI studies, Rich Gonzalez for the way he shaped my approach to understanding patterns in data, and the whole Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience area for their feedback on these projects at various stages. I would also like to thank the army of research assistants I have built over the years: Dave Chester, Lisa Blaskowski, Ben Sanford, Kendall Arslanian, Jamie Cohen, Chis Cannon, Nitin Gandi, Eitan Newmark, Courtney Hsing, Chris Vasileff, Michael Shen, Colleen McNamee, Belinda Chen, Chris Shu, Valerie Laird, Arthur Wandzel, and Hammad Kahn. A very special thank you goes out to my family and my girlfriend, Savanna. Your unconditional love and support have helped me persist through the difficult times when stress was overwhelming and I had a hard time finding motivation. Thank you also to my friends and the Dopamine Machine intramural sports team, who have provided welcome conversations, distractions, and fun escapes when I needed them. iii My final thank you goes to caffeine. Without you academia probably would not function, and I know my dissertation would not have been completed without you. iv Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ ix Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: General Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Decision Making and Preference Construction ....................................................................... 2 Affect and Appraisals ........................................................................................................................ 3 Affect and Decision Making ............................................................................................................. 5 Integral Emotions and Decision Making .............................................................................................. 6 Incidental Emotions and Decision Making ......................................................................................... 8 General Theories of Carryover Effects ................................................................................................. 8 The Current Research .................................................................................................................... 10 References .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Affective Influences on the Drive to Acquire: Uncertainty and Sadness Increase Consumption, but Uncertain-Sadness Does Not ...................................................................... 16 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Study 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................... 20 Procedure ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................... 23 Results.............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Discussion ...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Study 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................... 28 Procedure ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 Results.............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Discussion ...................................................................................................................................................... 33 General Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 35 References .......................................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix 2A. Item Ratings. .......................................................................................................... 40 Appendix 2B. Emotion Induction Stories from Study 2. .................................................... 42 Sad-Certain Story ........................................................................................................................................ 42 Sad-Uncertain Story. .................................................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 3: Why the Attic Overflows: Individual Differences and Psychopathology Predict Material Preferences ................................................................................................................... 44 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 44 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 45 v Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Participants .................................................................................................................................................... 47 The Relationship to Objects Scale ........................................................................................................ 49 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................... 49 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 50 Revealing Six Object Factors ................................................................................................................... 50 Qualitative Associations between Item Type and Group ............................................................ 50 Transdiagnostic Approach: Qualitative Associations Across Clinical Diagnoses ............. 53 Discussion