Emotions in education policy : a social contract analysis of asymmetrical dyads and emotion

Like other academic fields, educational policy is being reviewed for the affective component. Analysis is occurring in two forms: (a) the affects of education policy on education, school leaders, teachers and student learning outcomes and (b) text analysis of specific education policies. This chapter explores the representation of emotions in education policy texts, drawing on a theory of social contracts (Rawolle & Vadeboncoeur, 2003; Yeatman, 1996) as a way to explore what is being conveyed to administrators and teachers. This chapter considers the way in which emotions are represented in education policy, through social contract analysis. Social contracts are underpinned by three underlying conditions: consent to be a part of a contract, points of renegotiation through the duration of the contract and mutual accountability to those involved.

Type D personality and the Five-Factor Model : a facet-level analysis

Objective: This study assessed the degree to which NEO-PI-R facets contribute to understanding of Type D personality over and above the Big 5. Method: Healthy participants (n = 268) completed the DS14 and the NEO-PI-R. In addition to analyzing the Type D subscales of social inhibition and negative affectivity, we computed a continuous measure of Type D scored as the sum of the two subscales. Results: Facets provided moderate incremental prediction of Type D subscales. The facets of assertiveness, self- consciousness, and positive emotion provided incremental prediction of negative affectivity, and warmth, activity, and gregariousness provided incremental prediction of social inhibition. Facets provided minimal incremental prediction of continuous Type D. The Big 5 explained substantially more variance in continuous Type D (71%) than negative affectivity (59%) or social inhibition (61%). Conclusions: Overall, the facet-level analysis provided additional insights into the nature of Type D. The incremental prediction of the Type D subscales by facets supported the idea that Type D scales are narrower constructs than the Big 5. However, the strong prediction of continuous Type D by the Big 5 and the lack of incremental prediction by facets points to the overall Type D construct being well represented by the Big 5.

Theory of mind in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: Social cognitive deficits can contribute to risk for depression and to psychosocial impairment during depression. However, available evidence suggests that emotion recognition is only marginally impaired in major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent studies have investigated theory of mind (ToM) abilities, a cognitively more demanding aspect of social cognition. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of studies comparing ToM abilities in MDD and healthy controls. 18 studies comparing 613 patients with MDD and 529 healthy controls were included. RESULTS: MDD patients significantly underperformed healthy controls in ToM (d=0.51-0.58). ToM impairment in MDD was evident in response to different types of ToM tasks (verbal/visual and cognitive/affective and reasoning/decoding). ToM impairment was significantly related to severity of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Theory of mind abilities are impaired during depression and can potentially contribute to psychosocial difficulties during depression. There is a need to investigate ToM abilities in different subtypes and stages of depression, especially in remitted patients.

Analysis of perception and production deficits of affect in schizophrenia.

The thesis investigated deficits in the perception and production of facial expressions of emotion in adults with schizophrenia, compared with other members of the community.