Assessing Individual Differences in Emotional Reactivity Using Electrophysiology and Self-Reported Affect

Abstract

Characteristics of emotion, such as valence and arousal can be evaluated using self-reported affective ratings and electroencephalogram (EEG) to gain a better understanding of individual differences in diversified populations. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) and AI-generated counterparts were used to elicit emotional responses that were collected from the self-assessment manakin (SAM) rating scale for valence and arousal. EEG data were used to observe biomarkers of emotional processes related to the presentation of these stimuli. These methods were correlated to individual differences such as sex and depression and anxiety related questionaries. The study showed significant sex differences in the self-reported affective ratings, where females showed greater aversive affect compared to males. EEG data showed that there was less alpha reduction relative to baseline in percent for individuals who scored high on the BDI-II, which suggests biomarkers of emotional dysregulation, such as anhedonia. Overall, the study highlights the differences in emotional processes for variable populations, which has implications for intervention and targeted treatment efforts.