This special issue of Advances in Cognitive Psychology emerged as a result of the 8th edition of the International Conference Closer to Emotions. The organization of the conference was co-financed from the "Perfect Science" program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education entitled Scientific Conference "Closer to Emotions 8 (registration number DNK/SP/466490/202015). The grant was also used to co-finance the publication of this special issue of Advances in Cognitive Psychology. In the resulting articles, the authors, attendees of the current and past editions of the International Scientific Conference Closer raise various issues related to emotions in various spheres of life.

Protecting affective well-being is especially important for employees working in stressful settings. Building on the job characteristics model and the job demands–resources model, we analyzed the role of job demands and resources in predicting job-related affective well-being of emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs). We concentrated on quantitative workload as an important job demand, and job autonomy and performance feedback as job resources. We also tested the buffering effect of job resources on the relationship between job demands and job-related affective well-being. A sample of 335 EMDs from different Polish emergency dispatch centers, matching the population of EMDs in Poland, filled in a set of questionnaires. We applied multiple regression analysis to test the effects of job demands and resources on job-related affective well-being. We analyzed the interaction effects using the PROCESS macro. The results demonstrated that the higher the EMDs’ workload, the lower their job-related affective well-being. The opposite effect occurred for job resources: the higher the job autonomy and performance feedback, the higher the EMDs’ affective well-being. However, although these job resources are related positively to job-related affective well-being, they do not reduce the negative effect of quantitative workload. Efforts aimed at designing the work of medical emergency centers such that they offer EMDs access to feedback from managers and colleagues and autonomy at work, together with reducing their job overload are likely to facilitate job-related affective well-being in EMDs. Experiences of high workload are not easily balanced by access to more job resources.

Current research reveals an important role of cognitive strategies in the development of the ability to recognize emotions in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, a closer look at the relationship between emotion recognition deficits in that group and the underlying sensory integration processes may prove relevant for explaining the origins of this deficit. In order to verify the existence and scope of the relationship between emotion recognition and the level of sensory responsiveness in children with ASD, a study was carried out among a group of 63 children with an ASD diagnosis, aged between 3 years and 7 months to 9 years and 3, months using the Emotion Recognition subscale from the Theory of Mind Mechanism Scale and the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire. The obtained results revealed that only the level of sensory hyporesponsiveness was a predictor of the level of emotion recognition in the sample. Confirming the role of the level of sensory hyporesponsiveness in explaining the deficit in emotion recognition provides a better understanding of the genesis of this deficit. It also justifies the need to include sensory hyporesponsiveness therapy in the educational and rehabilitation process aimed at improving the children with ASD’s emotion recognition abilities.

Emotions accompany us in our daily lives and affect even processing stimuli such as official letters, which require the involvement of systematic processing (Kahneman, 2011). In people without legal training, they evoke high levels of automatic emotions that promote heuristic processing (Imbir, 2016a). The results of our study shed a new light on understanding the phenomenon of linking cognitive processes and emotions and have potential application. A quantitative study was carried out using original official letters from different institutions and with different resolutions. The subjects (N = 560) were shown the document in stages to capture the dynamics of emotional response. The intensity of automatic and reflective emotions, level of arousal, and valence of emotions (SAM scale) were measured six times. Variables such as reading time or mood were also controlled. At different reading stages, statistically significant differences were observed in emotion intensity, valence, origin, and arousal level. There were numerous intergroup differences in the level of comprehension, which can be explained, among other things, by the influence of experienced emotions on the cognitive processes accompanying reading. The results confirm that emotions experienced during reading affect the cognitive processes necessary for proper comprehension. Differences in the intensity of emotions and the level of arousal at different stages of reading the official letter also contributed to the identification of components that can lead to comprehension problems.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of Internet use in many contexts of human life (e.g., work/study, family, and leisure), daily activities, and developmental tasks (e.g., transition to university/work) associated with specific life stages (e.g., emerging adults, 18-29 years, and adults, over 30 years old). Based on the lifespan model of developmental challenges and focusing on emerging adulthood and adulthood, the current study analyzed functional and dysfunctional Internet use in two different Italian populations: before and during the COVID-19 emergency. The sample consisted of 375 individuals who completed an online survey before COVID-19 and 286 who completed same survey during the COVID-19 emergency. All questionnaires were related to well-being, life/work satisfaction, problematic Internet use, cyberloafing, and interaction overload. Both samples were further differentiated into three life stages, associated with specific transitions and developmental tasks: early emerging adults (18-24), older emerging adults (25-29), and adults (over 30). Results show how the transitions (and related developmental tasks) of each life stage affect, in relevant ways, the functional or dysfunctional Internet use as well as well-being and life satisfaction related to Internet use.

Hemophilia is a chronic, genetic blood disease, one of a group of bleeding disorders. Numerous studies have shown that it may have an impact on quality of life. As a disease that affects functioning, it can form the basis for the development of depression. It is not uncommon for patients to deal with a chronic disease that has an unpredictable course by suppressing unpleasant emotions. The current study sought to determine whether the source of depression in patients with Hemophilia might actually lie in deficits in emotional processing and alexithymia. The study involved 47 patients with Hemophilia. The participants completed questionnaires measuring alexithymia, emotional processing, and depression. Correlations between the variables were investigated alongside whether the processing of emotions mediated the relationship between alexithymia and depression. The collected data were subjected to simple correlation analyses. Emotional processing was a mediator between alexithymia and depression. The results suggest that patients with elevated levels of alexithymia have a higher risk of developing depression if they present with deficits in emotional processing. The results indicate that the mental functioning of Hemophilic patients may be affected by alexithymia and disturbances in emotional processing. However, the burden involved in the disease also leads to the use of secondary alexithymia as a remedial strategy.

Shame and guilt are unpleasant emotions that arise in circumstances of moral transgression. However, they are distinct emotions that are not only determined by the situation. Under the same circumstances, some people may feel shame while others may feel guilt. The aim of the current study was to find personality underpinnings (i.e., metatraits and values) of the tendency to feel shame or guilt. We examined 236 young adults aged 18-35 (M = 25.15; SD = 4.44). The tendency to experience shame and guilt was measured using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (TOSCA-3; Tangney et al, 2000). Values were measured using the Personal Values Questionnaire-RR (PVQ-RR; Schwartz & Cieciuch, 2022). Personality metatraits were measured using the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits Questionnaire – Short Form (CPM-Q-SF; Strus & Cieciuch, 2021). Shame was predicted by personality metatraits (24% of variance explained). After adding values to the model, the metatraits were still statistically significant and the explained variance increased to 40%. Guilt was also predicted by personality metatraits (20% of variance explained), but after adding values to the model, they remained the only statistically significant guilt predictors (44% of variance explained). Thus, we found that shame is predicted by both metatraits (mostly Disharmony) and values (Conservation), while guilt is only predicted by values (Conservation and Self-Transcendence).

While the majority of research on affective disorders has neglected the cultural context, we applied a paremiological perspective to examine how proverbs reflect mental states of people with various levels of depressiveness. The purpose was to test a psychotrecic tool for assessing optimism and pessimism. Based on two cross-sectional surveys (N = 303 and N = 405), we carried out a multi-step study to validate a Proverb Questionnaire of Optimism and Pessimism (PQOP) with measures of depressiveness (Beck Depressiveness Inventory, BDI), positive orientation (Life Orientation Test, LOT-R), and personality (International Personality Item Pool, IPIP). Based on the proverbs, we employed cultural life scripts (CLS), linking them with personal life scripts (PLS) anchored in mental states. We tested the structural validity of the PQOP, its reliability, and age and gender invariance. Additionally, we verified the convergent and incremental validity of the PQOP as well as its theoretical validity, employing mediation analysis, where optimism and pessimism subscales of the LOT-R were predictors of depressiveness, and two subscales of the PQOP were mediators. The study shows: (a) the validity, reliability, and gender and age invariance of the (7-item) PQOP comprising two subscales of optimism and pessimism as a culture-bound aspect of depressiveness, and (b) how proverbs function as mediators in the relationship between pessimism/optimism and depressiveness. The study offers a paremiological view of depressiveness, emphasizing the role of cultural scripts in affective disorders. The new tool offers implications based on paremiology for more culture-related clinical practices.

The current study examined the relationship between attachment styles and gratitude among university students. It further investigated the mediating role of positive and negative affect between attachment styles and gratitude. A purposive sample of 498 students was recruited from various public and private universities of Sargodha. The Relationship Structures Questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2011), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Karim et al., 2011), and Values in Action Survey (McGrath, 2019) were used to measure attachment styles, positive and negative affect, and gratitude, respectively. Results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between secure attachment, positive affect, and gratitude. They further revealed a statistically significant negative relationships of insecure attachment with gratitude and a statistically significant positive relation with negative affect. Parallel mediation analysis through PROCESS revealed a statistically significant direct effect of secure attachment style on positive and negative affect, and on gratitude. Further, positive and negative affect mediated the relation between secure attachment and gratitude. Moreover, there was a statistically significant direct effect of insecure attachment on positive and negative affect and on gratitude. Positive and negative affect mediated the relationship between insecure attachment and gratitude. Implications of the study and recommendations for the future research are discussed.