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Mixed Emotions and Coping: The Benefits of Secondary
Emotions
Anna Braniecka*, Ewa Trzebin
´ska, Aneta Dowgiert, Agata Wytykowska
Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
The existing empirical literature suggests that during difficult situations, the concurrent experience of positive and negative
affects may be ideal for ensuring successful adaptation and well-being. However, different patterns of mixed emotions may
have different adaptive consequences. The present research tested the proposition that experiencing a pattern of
secondary mixed emotion (i.e., secondary emotion that embrace both positive and negative affects) more greatly promotes
adaptive coping than experiencing two other patterns of mixed emotional experiences: simultaneous (i.e., two emotions of
opposing affects taking place at the same time) and sequential (i.e., two emotions of opposing affects switching back and
forth). Support for this hypothesis was obtained from two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) and a longitudinal survey (Study 3).
The results revealed that secondary mixed emotions predominate over sequential and simultaneous mixed emotional
experiences in promoting adaptive coping through fostering the motivational and informative functions of emotions; this is
done by providing solution-oriented actions rather than avoidance, faster decisions regarding coping strategies (Study 1),
easier access to self-knowledge, and better narrative organization (Study 2). Furthermore, individuals characterized as being
prone to feeling secondary mixed emotions were more resilient to stress caused by transitions than those who were
characterized as being prone to feeling opposing emotions separately (Study 3). Taken together, the preliminary results
indicate that the pattern of secondary mixed emotion provides individuals with a higher capacity to handle adversity than
the other two patterns of mixed emotional experience.
Citation: Braniecka A, Trzebin
´ska E, Dowgiert A, Wytykowska A (2014) Mixed Emotions and Coping: The Benefits of Secondary Emotions. PLoS ONE 9(8): e103940.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103940
Editor: Antonio Verdejo Garcı
´a, University of Granada, Spain
Received December 6, 2013; Accepted July 9, 2014; Published August 1, 2014
Copyright: ß2014 Braniecka et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This research was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland (NN-106-04-00-34). The funders
had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* Email: aniabraniecka@gmail.com
Introduction
Based on the circumstances, it is possible to feel both positive
and negative emotions at the same time [1]. Mixed emotions may
arise in bittersweet situations, such as winning a disappointing
prize or remembering a lost love with warmth and joy.
Experiencing mixed emotions seems to be a more relevant
affective response to such affectively complex events than a one-
valence emotion because it more accurately represents the
concurrent positive and negative aspects of the event. Mixed
emotional experience seems to be particularly beneficial in stressful
situations because in such a circumstances, it is impossible to avoid
the negative affect associated with aversive events, while a bit of
positive affect may help to ameliorate the negativity experienced.
The adaptive function of mixed emotions may manifest in a
lowering of the negativity embodied in an aversive event: the
positive affective context changes the experience of the negative
emotion by reducing its physiological arousal, without eliminating
the experience of the negative emotion itself [2]. Thus, experi-
encing mixed emotions seems to allow a decrease in distress, but it
does not interfere with the emotions’ informative function.
Moreover, Larsen and colleagues [3] propose that ‘‘taking the
good with the bad’’ might actually benefit individuals during
difficult times by allowing them to confront adversity and
ultimately find meaning in life’s stressors, as well as feeling better.
Accordingly, there is some empirical evidence indicating that
experiencing positive and negative affects concurrently may be
ideal in terms of coping with difficult life situations. For example,
Tugade and Fredrickson [4] demonstrated that the positive
emotional states added to negative feelings experienced in the
face of aversive events play a crucial role in enhancing coping
resources. In addition, there is evidence to support the idea that
expressing both positive and negative affects in the face of
bereavement reduces grief over time [5] and that adding positive
feelings to an intensely negative psychological state when bereaved
promotes coping efficiency [6]. Similarly, when experiencing the
loss of a loved one, allowing positive memories to be experienced
alongside sadness has led to a healthier bereavement process [7].
Furthermore, recent empirical evidence has indicated that mixed
emotional experience may have a positive relationship with
psychological well-being in the context of psychotherapy [8] by
showing that experiencing a concurrent mixture of happiness and
sadness over the course of treatment preceded improvements in
psychological well-being.
Taken together, the empirical literature reviewed above offers
evidence for the adaptive role that experiencing positive and
negative emotions at the same time can play in coping with
adversity. However, none of the research has systematically
examined the benefits that mixed emotional experiences may
have with respect to their different ‘‘internal structures.’’ It should
PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 August 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 8 | e103940
be noted that mixed emotions are considered to have a complex
nature [9], and their various patterns may have different adaptive
consequences. For instance, Oceja and Carrera [10] detected the
existence of at least four patterns of mixed emotional experiences:
sequential, prevalence, inverse, and highly simultaneous. The
sequential pattern occurs when one emotion appears first and is
then replaced by a second emotion of opposing valence. The
prevalence pattern is present when two opposing emotions align
on a concurrent course, but one is of high intensity and the other is
of low intensity. The inverse pattern takes place when positive and
negative emotions evolve in an inverse fashion, i.e., when the
intensity of one emotion gradually increases, the intensity of the
other decreases. Finally, the highly simultaneous pattern occurs
when both opposing emotions move in a simultaneous way,
usually throughout the entire emotional episode. It is worth noting
that research has shown that mixed emotions are associated with
certain levels of affective ambivalence and tension, which varies
according to the pattern experienced [10].
It seems that despite the previously mentioned benefits of mixed
emotional experiences, the ambivalence associated with feeling
two opposing affects may supersede their advantages. Thus, in
order to gain the maximum benefits from experiencing positive
and negative emotions at the same time, it seems necessary to
reduce the ambivalence resulting from their co-occurrence. This
study was undertaken with the supposition that this happens in
some cases in which secondary emotions combine opposing affects.
Secondary emotions are discrete and more complex than primary
ones. They include cognitive appraisals and refer to a person’s
mental model of himself or herself and others [11]. Some of them
may embrace both positive and negative affects concurrently, and
such secondary emotions are quite numerous [12]; among the
most frequently referred to are nostalgia [13], empathy [14], [15],
poignancy [16], awe [17], and tenderness [18]. It is possible that in
these cases of secondary emotions, both opposing affects co-occur
so succinctly that they blend into a feeling with a distinctive quality
and might be considered as a specific type of mixed emotions –
secondary mixed emotions. Thus, we propose that secondary
mixed emotions may be another pattern of mixed emotional
experience, and in the present studies, we focus on the various
consequences of secondary mixed emotions for coping, as well as
those of two other patterns of mixed emotional experience:
sequential and simultaneous.
The sequential pattern takes place when two emotions of
opposing affects switch in such a way that one single-valenced
emotion appears first and is then replaced by a second single-
valenced emotion [9]. For example, the individual may first feel a
negative emotion (e.g., sadness) and subsequently feel a positive
emotion (e.g., love or joy). The simultaneous pattern also involves
feeling two opposing affects in the form of two separate emotions,
but it differs in terms of the internal structure of the entire
emotional experience because in this case, the positive and
negative emotions move in a simultaneous way [9]. For instance,
the individual may feel a positive emotion (e.g., love or joy) that
runs in a concurrent course with a negative emotion (e.g., sadness).
It is worth noting that both the sequential and simultaneous
patterns involve feeling two opposing affects in a separate way,
that is, in the form of two discrete single-valenced emotions that
are experienced as at a high or moderate intensity [10]. Thus, the
entire mixed emotional episode produces high levels of ambiva-
lence and subsequent tension. The pattern of secondary mixed
emotion combines positive and negative affects within one
emotion and thereby involves an integrated way of feeling
opposing affects. In other words, in this case, instead of feeling
different emotions separately, the individual is able to feel one
affective state in which opposing affects are blended into a single
emotion. For example, instead of feeling positive (e.g., love) and
negative (e.g., sadness) emotions separately, the individual might
feel one secondary mixed emotion (e.g., lost love in the form of a
nostalgic experience). Thus, the pattern of secondary mixed
emotions has a distinctive quality. It assimilates opposing affects
with meaningful integrity, which may subsequently reduce
ambivalence and tension experienced.
It may be hypothesized that experiencing positive and negative
affects together in the form of a secondary mixed emotion, rather
than experiencing these affects separately in the form of two single-
valenced emotions, as in the case of other patterns of mixed
emotions, is more advantageous in the process of coping. As
already mentioned, experiencing opposing affects separately is
related to high levels of emotional ambivalence and tension, which
might result in the impairment of the motivational and informative
functions of emotions and thus reduce the ability to cope properly
during stressful situations. In contrast, experiencing opposing
affects within one discrete emotion – a secondary mixed emotion –
provides a way of integrating their co-occurrence and may thus
reduce ambiguity, which could provide proper orientation during
a stressful situation, provoke adequate behavioral tendencies, and
motivate appropriate action. In other words, in the case of a
secondary mixed emotion, the ambivalence and tension resulting
from opposing affects seems to be less disruptive and consequently
to enable more efficient coping than the sequential and
simultaneous patterns.
Additionally, there is strong empirical support suggesting that
generating a linguistic label for a current emotional experience,
which is more feasible for secondary mixed emotions than for
other patterns of mixed emotions, tends to dampen the emotional
impact of that experience [19], [20], [21]. Thus, the ability to find
a single word that describes a specific emotion, such as nostalgia,
poignancy, awe or tenderness, and thus verbalize one’s ambivalent
experience may help to regulate that experience and reduce
tension. Moreover, secondary mixed emotions, when compared
with other patterns of mixed emotions, seem to represent a form of
person-oriented emotional regulation [22]. The important signa-
tures of this type of emotional regulation are holistic focus,
contextual sensitivity, and integration manifested in the coordi-
nated functioning of systems that are regarded as antagonistic,
such as positive and negative affects. Person-oriented emotional
regulation maintains the integrity of the overall personality system,
increases the congruence between implicit and explicit self-aspects,
and is believed to down-regulate emotional distress, which
improves both physical and psychological functioning. With
respect to the various analogies between person-oriented emo-
tional regulation and experiencing secondary mixed emotions,
similarly desirable effects seem to occur when an individual
experiences this pattern in stressful life situations.
Considering all this, we hypothesized that secondary mixed
emotions are more beneficial in terms of coping than other
patterns of mixed emotions that involve feeling the opposing
affects separately. The present three studies test this hypothesis by
comparing secondary mixed emotions with two other patterns of
mixed emotions (sequential and simultaneous) with respect to
functionality. Two experiments address the motivational and
informative impacts of mixed emotional experiences. The third
study extends this research from the laboratory into real life and
focuses on the individual disposition to feel secondary mixed
emotions. We examined whether individuals prone to feeling
secondary mixed emotions, instead of feeling opposing emotions
separately, were more resilient to the stress resulting from
important life transitions.
Mixed Emotions and Coping
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In this study, we decided to use nostalgic experience as an
example of the pattern of secondary mixed emotions because
nostalgia is considered to be the most understood secondary
emotion that consists of both positive and negative affects.
Nostalgic experience is defined as a sentimental longing for the
past that is a fusion of negative emotions (typically sadness) and
positive emotions (typically love or joy) [23]. Therefore, it can be
assumed that in the face of the adversity, such as parting from a
loved one, an individual can feel love and sadness as separate
emotions occurring sequentially or simultaneously, or he or she
can experience them as being blended into a single secondary
mixed emotion – nostalgia for past love. Accordingly, it is
hypothesized that nostalgic experience, as compared with other
patterns of mixed sadness and love, favors problem solving, quick
decision making, and solution-oriented action.
Study 1
In Study 1, we focused on the motivational function of
emotions, which is considered to play a particularly important
role in coping [24]. The goal was to examine the impact of various
patterns of mixed emotions on coping readiness. Experiencing
both positive and negative affects at the same time seems to
improve coping processes because positive affects that co-occur in
stressful situations associated with negative feelings have been
shown to foster a broader perspective on problems, sight beyond
the immediate stressors, and the generation of multiple courses of
action [25]. All of these effects enhance creativity [26] and
facilitate rebounding from stressful emotional experiences [4].
However, as mentioned previously, the co-occurrence of positive
and negative affects in the form of separate opposing emotions
produces high levels of ambivalence and tension and may thus
lead to cognitive and behavioral impairment.
The action-readiness triggered by emotions in stressful situations
mobilizes energy and gives direction to behavior, thus promoting
quick and decisive coping [27], [28]. Therefore, it is likely that in
this regard, the integration of opposing affects into a feeling of
distinctive quality promotes optimal functional utility by reducing
ambivalence and tension. Accordingly, we hypothesized that
secondary mixed emotions, as compared to two other patterns of
mixed emotions, simultaneous and sequential, enhance problem
solving by encouraging a quick response and solution-oriented
actions.
Method
Ethics Statement. ‘‘I authorize the implementation of a
research project entitled ‘Co-occurrence of positive and negative
affect and functionality of emotions’ conducted by Anna
Chojnacka-Braniecka which received a positive opinion of The
USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects. A copy of the application
no 10/II/07-08 submitted to the Commission on 31.01.2008
constitutes an integral part of this statement.’’ The full name of the
ethics committee: ‘‘The University of Social Sciences and
Humanities Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects’’. The committee acts on
the basis of the Resolution of the Senate of the University of Social
Sciences and Humanities passed on 20th June 2006 as amended.
The USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects specifically approved this
study. The participants provided their written informed consent to
participate in the study.
Participants and procedure. One hundred and eleven
undergraduates (63 men) with an age range of 20 to 26 years
(M= 22.32, SD = 2.21) participated in the experiment. Partici-
pants received course credit.
Using computer, the experiment was conducted in groups of 15
members each. The experimenter introduced the study as an
‘‘investigation of individual differences in imagination and decision
making.’’ Participants’ comments during debriefing indicated that
this framing was successful. Participants were randomly assigned
to three experimental conditions: sequentially mixed emotions
(love and sadness co-occurring sequentially), simultaneously mixed
emotions (love and sadness co-occurring simultaneously), and
secondary mixed emotion (love and sadness blended into nostalgic
experience). After the participants gave informed consent, they
were asked to read a text aimed at inducing one of the three
patterns of mixed love and sadness. Next, they were presented with
a choice task designed to assess the motivational aspect of coping
efficiency: engaging in problem-solving actions and making faster
decisions regarding coping strategy. Finally, the participants
completed a short manipulation check and reported intensity of
experienced emotions. The experimenter then debriefed the
participants. The materials from each study and the data can be
obtained by contacting the corresponding author.
Pattern of mixed emotions manipulation. There is great
variation among the types of elicitations used to manipulate
emotional states. In this study, we used reading a story to induce
one of the three patterns of mixed emotions. This choice was made
in order to control the affective content of the emotional reactions.
Thus, we wanted to avoid methods that relied on real events or
recalled experiences because of the difficulties involved in
structuring material based on real-life experiences and controlling
how these stimuli influence the affective content of emotional
reactions. According to a recent meta-analysis of emotion
induction techniques [29], reading a text that includes imagined
scenarios involving the experiences of a protagonist may be an
optimal elicitor when it is important to standardize the presenta-
tion and content of the material. Therefore, we decided that in our
study, this technique would be an especially convenient form of
elicitation because it enables the accurate manipulation of the
patterns of mixed emotions across experimental conditions.
Participants were asked to read a short romantic story and to
empathize with the protagonist. They were asked to get into the
feeling of the story and to try to imagine what they would feel if
they were in the situation described. The text of the story consisted
of two parts. The first part included a description of the
protagonist’s situation, and the second part included his/her
emotional response to it. The aim of the first part, which was the
same in all experimental conditions, was to introduce the
participants to the context of the protagonist feelings. Therefore,
it was rather short and written in the third person singular. After a
long heartbreaking separation from a beloved boyfriend/girlfriend
(depending on the sex of the participant) who was working in a
remote country, the protagonist receives a message stating that the
boyfriend/girlfriend did not obtain an expected job in their town
as expected and would be forced to stay abroad for good. The
purpose of the second part of the story was to induce mixed
emotional experiences. Participants were presented with one of
three descriptions of the protagonist’s emotional response to this
situation (written in the first person singular) with each represent-
ing one of the three patterns of mixed emotions: love and sadness
sequentially (sequentially mixed emotions; Seqentially ME), love
and sadness simultaneously (simultaneously mixed emotions;
Simultaneously ME), and love and sadness blended into a
nostalgic experience (secondary mixed emotion; Secondary ME).
Before reading the descriptions of emotional responses, the
participants were instructed to put themselves into the situation
Mixed Emotions and Coping
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and feel the experiences described. They were asked to read each
sentence slowly and carefully and to try to empathize with the
protagonist’s feelings as intensely as possible.
In order to induce similar emotional states in all experimental
conditions, with the exception of the way in which opposing affects
were combined, we have made efforts to elicit affectively balanced
experiences of similar content. Therefore, all three descriptions of
emotional responses were counterbalanced in regard to positive
and negative expressions. In other words, the description consisted
of eleven positively and eleven negatively valenced sentences in
each condition, and both affectively opposing parts of the text
were of a similar length (89 words in the positively valenced part
and 87 words in the negatively valenced part in each condition). In
addition, each description included similar content motifs, such as
disappointment in not being offered a job, a wish to bring back
past time, remembering moments spent with loved ones, walking
with someone, listening to music, and a vacation by the sea.
Nostalgic experience was elicited by sorrowfully recalling happy
memories of the time spent with the boyfriend/girlfriend. In line
with previous research on the content of nostalgia [23], our story
depicted a sense of redemption in the definitive parting from the
boyfriend/girlfriend by inducing a subsequent triumph: recalling
the strong emotional bond with him/her through loving memories
of being together. To elicit the two other patterns of mixed
emotions, the same story was composed in line with a design tested
by Carrera and Oceja [9]. For the sequentially mixed condition,
the story first presented a negative element (sorrow over the loss)
and then a positive one (reminiscence of love). Because the order
of emotions can play an important role in sequentially mixed
experiences, the order in which love and sadness were elicited was
counterbalanced. In the simultaneously mixed condition, the story
switched between both elements alternately: Sentences expressing
sorrow and love were combined into a description of feeling of love
and sadness in parallel and with a high level of intensity. Because
there are verbal and behavioral difficulties in expressing opposing
emotions simultaneously [30], the protagonist thus expressed love
and sadness in turns. In this condition, the same sentences as those
used in the sequentially mixed condition were provided, but they
were combined into a single description of feeling love and sadness
together. Descriptions from all three conditions are provided in
Supplementary Material S1.
Dependent measures. Two indicators of coping were used:
(a) the choice between solution-oriented action and avoidance and
(b) the latency of that choice. After reading the story, the
participants were asked to choose one of two ways of reacting to
the pain of being separated from a beloved person: solving the
problem by making an effort to be together again (solution-
oriented action) or leaving the problem behind and doing
something pleasant (avoidance). Both responses were social. The
solution-oriented strategy involved making contact with a friend
who might help organize an inexpensive plane trip to meet the
boyfriend/girlfriend, and avoidance involved going shopping with
a friend. Because the participants were previously led to feel
positive about the hypothetical partner and their relationship and
trying to maintain and take care of close positive relationships is
generally adaptive, making efforts to be together represents a more
beneficial coping than avoidance. This is especially true since
having satisfactory and close relationships are regarded as
substantial factors in determining well-being. The time taken to
choose a coping activity was recorded. Because making choices in
a short period of time is an indicator of a high processing speed,
which is considered to promote the quality and the accuracy of
cognition as well as necessary for efficient coping, we acknowledge
that shorter latencies are more adaptive than longer ones. In
addition, the specificity of the choice did not require spending time
in deep thought because the decision was potentially reversible (it
involved an initial step toward one of two possible directions) and
hypothetical (it did not relate to a participant’s real life situation).
Results and Discussion
Before conducting inferential analyses, the reaction times were
log-transformed. Then, the data from five persons were excluded
from the analyses due to extremely short or long latencies (+/23
SD). Thus, the final analyses were performed on 106 undergrad-
uates (60 men).
Manipulation check. To examine the effect of mixed
emotion elicitation, participants were asked to report their feelings
while reading the story by choosing among four options: (a)
sentimental longing for the past, (b) love and sadness separately, (c)
love and sadness simultaneously, and (d) none of these. Addition-
ally, the participants estimated the intensity of the feeling
experienced while reading the descriptions of emotional responses.
They were asked to indicate how intense the emotions were that
they were feeling using a 0–100 scale with 0 being not at all intense
and 100 being as intense as I ever felt before by marking the
appropriate number on the line. A chi-square test showed a
significant relationship between the target emotions and the
emotions reported by the participants (x
2
[6; N=106] = 86.63,
p,.001). Specifically, in the Secondary ME condition, 25
participants (67.6%) reported sentimental longing for the past,
five participants (13.5%) reported love and sadness simultaneously,
five (13.5%) reported none of these, and two (5.4%) reported love
and sadness sequentially. In the Sequentially ME condition, 22
participants (61.1%) reported having felt love and sadness
sequentially, ten participants (30.6%) reported love and sadness
simultaneously, two participants (5.6%) reported sentimental
longing for the past, and one (2.8%) reported none of these.In
the Simultaneously ME condition, 29 participants (87.9%)
reported having experienced love and sadness simultaneously,
two participants (6.1%) reported love and sadness sequentially, one
(3.0%) reported none of these, and one (3.0%) reported sentimental
longing for the past. Thus, it can be assumed that in all of the
conditions, most of the participants reported having felt emotions
consistent with our intentions, which suggests that the experimen-
tal manipulations were effective. A one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) demonstrated that the differences among groups in
terms of the intensity of the elicited emotions were not significant
(F[2, 103] = 1.61, ns [M=70.41, SD = 15.51 in the Secondary
ME condition; M=66.42, SD = 16.12 in the Sequentially ME
condition; and M=63.15, SD = 19.22 in the Simultaneously ME
condition).
Choice of coping. A chi-square test showed a significant
relationship between the pattern of mixed emotions and the
chosen coping activity (x
2
[2; N=76] = 8.77, p,.05). For the
Secondary ME condition, solution-oriented action was chosen by
29 participants (78.4%), 25 participants (69.4%) chose it for the
Sequentially ME condition, and 15 participants (45.5%) chose it
for the Simultaneously ME condition. Accordingly, avoidance was
chosen by 18 participants (54.5%) in the Simultaneously ME
condition, 11 participants (30.6%) in the Sequentially ME
condition, and eight participants (21.6%) in the Secondary ME
condition. Thus, according to our expectations, in the Secondary
ME condition (in comparison with both the Simultaneously ME
and Sequentially ME conditions), solution-oriented action was
chosen more frequently. This confirms that the integration of love
and sadness into one discrete emotion promotes undertaking
solution-oriented actions. In addition, in the Simultaneously ME
condition, avoidance was more frequently chosen than in the
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Secondary ME and Sequentially ME conditions and more
frequently chosen than solution-oriented action, which was not
observed in the other conditions.
Latency of making a choice. A one-way ANOVA showed
the effects of the patterns of mixed emotions (F[2, 103] = 7.54, p,
.01, g
2
= .13). The latency of making a choice (in milliseconds) was
longer in the Simultaneously ME condition (M=10.05,
SD = 0.36) than in both the Secondary ME (M=9.70,
SD = 0.56, p,.05) and Sequentially ME (M=9.61, SD = 0.54,
p,.01) conditions. There was no significant difference between the
Secondary ME and Sequentially ME conditions. Multiple
comparisons were performed using Tukey’s HSD test. Thus, this
result suggests that both secondary mixed emotions and sequen-
tially mixed opposing emotions have a higher functionality with
respect to triggering a quick response than simultaneous mixed
opposing emotions. It appears that the sequential pattern of mixed
emotions, because of its high level of clarity, provides good
behavioral guidance and thus may support quick decision making.
The beneficial impact of a secondary mixed emotion pattern in
terms of making a quick choice may result from its coherent
structure, which facilitates the efficient processing of information.
The results of Study 1 indicated that the pattern of secondary
mixed emotion represents a more adaptive way of experiencing
positive and negative emotions at the same time than both the
sequential and simultaneous patterns. Specifically, the results
supported our expectations that love and sadness blended into one
secondary emotion would enhance problem-solving coping, which
is defined as quickly choosing solution-oriented action. Further-
more, these outcomes demonstrated that the simultaneous
occurrence of love and sadness might impair the motivational
aspect of coping during task orientation and the accessibility of a
resolution. It is likely that as demonstrated in previous research
[10], the simultaneous pattern of mixed emotional experiences
produces the highest level of ambivalence associated with
uncomfortable tension, which is a source of vague and unstable
motivational guidance.
Study 2
In line with the assertion that the important function of
emotions in the context of coping is to facilitate understanding the
situation [31], [32], we designed Study 2 to verify the functionality
of mixed emotions with respect to stimulating thought. Experi-
encing positive and negative affect at the same time seems to be
particularly beneficial to cognition during the process of coping
with adversity. There is plenty of evidence indicating that negative
mood states impair information processing during adverse
circumstances. For example, experiencing negative affect fosters
a mood-congruent cognitive bias toward negative information and
impairs attentional disengagement from it [33]. In addition,
people influenced by negativity related to personal losses tend to
attach more weight to false negatives, resulting in overly narrow
categorization [34]. Thus, it is possible that experiencing positive
affect would reduce the detrimental effects of negativity and thus
promote a correct understanding of the situation. Moreover, the
explanation of the beneficial effects of mixed emotional states on
coping offered by Larsen and colleagues [3] proposes that
experiencing opposing affects together allows individuals to
confront adversity and subsequently find meaning in difficult life
circumstances. There are evidence that positive affect joined to
negative feelings allows individuals to feel better and, more
importantly, broadens cognitive processing, fosters access to
existing knowledge, creates openness to new information [35],
and promotes the processing of emotionally ambiguous informa-
tion [36]. In addition, positive affect facilitates access to positive
information about the self [37] that is usually ignored [38], while
positive self-regard serves as a validation of emotions as
information and augments reliance on emotional cues, both
positive and negative, which has been proven to have a relatively
strong and long-lasting effect [39]. Thus, positive affect added to
negative emotional states seems to extend its informative function
via soothing the experience of stress and expanding cognitive
processing.
The only problem limiting the informative function of mixed
emotions in stressful situations may be the disruptive effects of
tension produced by contradictory affective arousal, which can
ultimately diminish cognitive effectiveness during the process of
coping. Therefore, a secondary mixed emotion with low levels of
ambivalence and tension may be superior to separately co-
occurring opposite affects due to enhancing thinking. Accordingly,
we hypothesized that people feeling a secondary mixed emotion
(such as nostalgic experience) are more informed by their emotions
than people experiencing other patterns of mixed emotions (love
and sadness felt in the sequential or simultaneous way), that is,
they construct a more elaborate narrative and have better access to
self-relevant information.
Method
Ethics Statement. ‘‘I authorize the implementation of a
research project entitled ‘Co-occurrence of positive and negative
affect and functionality of emotions’ conducted by Anna
Chojnacka-Braniecka which received a positive opinion of The
USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects. A copy of the application
no 10/II/07-08 submitted to the Commission on 31.01.2008
constitutes an integral part of this statement.’’ The full name of the
ethics committee: ‘‘The University of Social Sciences and
Humanities Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects’’. The committee acts on
the basis of the Resolution of the Senate of the University of Social
Sciences and Humanities passed on 20th June 2006 as amended.
The USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects specifically approved this
study. The participants provided their written informed consent to
participate in the study.
Participants and design. Ninety-six undergraduates (56
women) with an age range of 20 to 25 years (M= 22.23,
SD = 1.72) participated in the experiment. Participants received
course credit for their participation.
The experimenter introduced the study as an ‘‘investigation of
individual differences in imagination and writing stories.’’ The
overall experimental design was similar to that used in Study 1. By
means of the same manipulation, participants were randomly
assigned to three experimental conditions: secondary mixed
emotion (Secondary ME), simultaneously mixed emotions (Simul-
taneously ME), and sequentially mixed emotions (Sequentially
ME). Next, they were asked to write down a narrative describing
the story they had just read in their own words and then fill out a
self-evaluation questionnaire. Finally, the participants completed
manipulation check and reported intensity of experienced
emotions. The experimenter then debriefed the participants.
Dependent measures. Participants were presented with a
computer and asked to create a narrative describing the story they
had just read. The narratives were analyzed according to the
number of main elements from the story plot used by the
participants. It has been claimed that the more elements from the
plot could be identified, the higher the elaboration and complexity
of the narrative [40]. Three trained coders who were unaware of
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the hypothesis independently rated the participants’ narratives by
counting the following elements: (a) the presence of the
protagonist, (b) the presence of the protagonist’s intentions and
plans, (c) the presence of the protagonist’s efforts to carry out these
plans, (d) the presence of the difficulties in this process, (e) the
presence of other characters, and (f) the presence of these
characters’ intentions and plans. The ratings ranged from 0 (no
elements of the plot occur)to6(all elements of the plot occur). The
inter-judge reliability of the three coders was significant (Cohen’s
kappa = .74, p,.01). Inconsistencies between the coders were
resolved via discussion.
The accessibility of self-knowledge was measured based on the
principles of the information-processing approach [41], suggesting
that shorter processing times for self-relevant information
promotes a better understanding of oneself. Thus, in the present
study, the time needed to complete a computerized version of the
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) [42] served as an index for the
accessibility of self-knowledge. The SES is a self-reported ten-item
questionnaire that is answered using a 4-point scale (0 to 3). A
higher total score indicates a higher level of self-esteem. In this
study, we were not interested in the level of self-esteem.
Nonetheless, it was measured, and the obtained results are
presented below the main results.
Results and Discussion
Before conducting inferential analyses the reaction times were
log-transformed. Of the 96 participants, 94 students (54 women)
remained for the analyses because data from two persons were
excluded due to extremely short or long latencies (+/23 SD).
Manipulation check. To examine the effect of mixed
emotion elicitation, participants responded to the same question
that was used in Study 1. A chi-square test demonstrated that the
relationship between the target emotional states and the emotional
states reported by the participants was significant (x
2
[6;
N=94] = 49.86, p,.001). Specifically, in the Secondary ME
condition, 21 participants (65.6%) reported having felt sentimental
longing for the past, six participants (18.8%) reported love and
sadness simultaneously, three (9.4%) reported none of these, and
two (6.3%) reported love and sadness sequentially. In the
Sequentially ME condition, 18 participants (62.1%) reported
having experienced love and sadness sequentially, nine participants
(31%) reported love and sadness simultaneously, one participant
(3.4%) reported none of these, and one (3.4%) reported sentimental
longing for the past. In the Simultaneously ME condition, 20
participants (60.6%) reported having experienced love and sadness
simultaneously, seven (21.2%) reported sentimental longing for the
past, three participants (9.1%) reported love and sadness sequen-
tially, and three (9.1%) reported none of these. As in Study 1, the
intensities of the elicited mixed emotions were at similar levels
under all of the experimental conditions (M=65.72,
SD = 16.44 in the Secondary ME condition; M=57.55,
SD = 17.23 in the Sequentially ME condition; and M=64.61,
SD = 14.16 in the Simultaneously ME condition; the differences
among the groups were not significant: F[2, 91] = 2.32, ns).
Level of narrative elaboration. A one-way ANOVA
showed the effects of the patterns of mixed emotions (F[2,
91] = 18.99, p,.001, g
2
= .29). In line with our expectations, the
narrative elaboration was higher in the Secondary ME condition
(M=3.59, SD = 1.41) than in both the Sequentially ME
(M=2.17, SD = 1.23) and Simultaneously ME (M=1.73,
SD = 1.15) conditions. Significant differences were found between
the Secondary ME and Simultaneously ME conditions (p,.001)
and between the Secondary ME and Sequentially ME conditions
(p,.001). Multiple comparisons were performed using Tukey’s
HSD test. Thus, experiencing positive and negative affects blended
into a secondary mixed emotion, when compared with the other
patterns of mixed opposing affects, promoted the highest level of
narrative elaboration, which may reflect a particularly insightful
understanding of social reality.
Latency of self-evaluation. The one-way ANOVA showed
the effects of the patterns of mixed emotions (F[2, 91] = 17.75, p,
.001, g
2
= .28). The latency of self-evaluation (in milliseconds) was
shorter in the Secondary ME condition (M=9.83, SD = .65) than
in both the Sequentially ME (M=10.67, SD = .49) and Simul-
taneously ME (M=10.62, SD = .70) conditions. There were
significant differences only between the Secondary ME and
Simultaneously ME conditions (p,.001) and between the
Secondary ME and Sequentially ME conditions (p,.001).
Multiple comparisons were performed using Tukey’s HSD test.
Thus, according to our expectations, opposing affects blended into
nostalgia, as compared with the other patterns of mixed emotions,
was the most functional pattern in terms of easy access to self-
knowledge. The blending of positive and negative affects into a
secondary mixed emotion might be particularly relevant to self-
knowledge, which is founded in the integration of both positive
and negative beliefs about the self.
Additionally, although it was not the goal of the study, the level
of self-esteem was measured. The internal consistency of the SES
was high (a= .82). A one-way ANOVA showed the effects of the
patterns of mixed emotions (F[2, 91] = 14.98, p,.001, g
2
= 0.25).
Self-esteem was higher in the Secondary ME condition
(M=25.78, SD = 3.34) than in both the Sequentially ME
(M=20.90, SD = 5.12) and Simultaneously ME (M=20.03,
SD = 4.97) conditions. Significant differences were found between
the Secondary ME and Simultaneously ME conditions (p,.001)
and between the Secondary ME and Sequentially ME conditions
(p,.001). Multiple comparisons were conducted by Games-
Howell’s test (unequal variances). Thus, of all of the elicited
patterns of mixed emotions, secondary mixed emotions created the
highest level of self-esteem, whereas the sequential and simulta-
neous patterns had, in this regard, less beneficial impacts. It is
noteworthy that comparable results were obtained by Wildschut
and colleagues [23]. In experimental settings, they demonstrated
that bringing to mind a nostalgic event, which represents
circumstances related to experiencing secondary mixed emotions
in our study, increased self-regard. In other words, secondary
mixed emotions, as compared with the other patterns of mixed
emotions, were the most functional experience not only in terms of
easy access to self-knowledge but also in terms of improving
thoughts about the self. Nonetheless, it should be noted that
although we used the scale (SES) that measures state self-esteem by
asking the respondents to reflect on their current feelings, the level
of self-esteem is in part related to global, relatively stable feelings of
self-worth and self-acceptance and cannot be explained exclusively
by a current state. Therefore, the conclusions regarding the effects
of induced patterns of mixed emotions on the level of self-esteem
may be limited by variations in trait self-esteem. In order to
confirm the impact of different patterns of mixed emotions on self-
esteem, the level of this variable should be measured at two time
points: before and after experimental manipulation, for instance.
Altogether, the results supported our expectations that the
pattern of secondary mixed emotion represents the most
advantageous way of co-occurring opposing affects in the context
of cognitive effectiveness during the process of coping with an
imagined stressful situation. Thus, the results of Study 2
demonstrated that experiencing positive and negative affects
blended into a secondary mixed emotion enhanced the informa-
tive function of emotional experiences and that when compared
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with both the sequential and simultaneous patterns of mixed
emotions, secondary mixed emotion generated the highest level of
narrative elaboration and the fastest self-evaluation.
Study 3
In Studies 1 and 2, the elicited negative and positive affects
blended into a secondary mixed emotion increased the motiva-
tional and informative functions of the experienced emotional
states. Therefore, in Study 3, we investigated the effect of the
individual disposition toward feeling this pattern of mixed
emotions on general resilience in real life. Resilience refers to
the processes of coping with stress and adversity, which results in
returning to a previous state of normal functioning or simply not
showing any negative consequences [43]. Most research indicates
that resilience is the effect of being able to interact with one’s
environment in a way that either promotes well-being or protects
against the risk factors of psychopathology [44]. In the present
study, the chosen challenge was the stress of transitioning to a
university, and the indicator of resilience was the ability to adjust
to this considerable life adversity and return to a previous state of
healthy functioning. Starting an academic education is often
regarded as a period of turmoil for young people and has been
associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms, anxiety,
and other psychopathological problems [45], [46]. Freshmen are
faced with the necessity of managing various changes occurring in
many domains of their lives at once, such as being immersed in
various learning environments, greater responsibilities, and new
peer groups. Although starting a new school can be difficult, some
students successfully adjust to this major life change in such a way
that their distress and impairment decrease over time, whereas
others do not.
These individual differences in psychological adaptation can be
explained by the variety of emotional responses to life difficulties.
In stressful situations, people respond to a negative mood with a
wide array of emotion-regulation strategies, mostly related to
reducing negative affect and inducing positive affect, and the
consequences of these responses depend on the adaptive value of
the chosen strategies [47–49]. Researchers have suggested that
better adjustment is related to possessing various emotional
competencies, such as the capacity to experience affective
complexity, which may be an important protective factor against
internalizing symptomatology in the face of life stressors [50], [51].
There is evidence that accepting affective ambiguity is an
individual trait associated with a tolerance for uncertainty [52],
and experiencing contradictory emotions at the same time at
either a moderate or high intensity is considered to be a highly
advanced state of feeling because it is accessible only later in
childhood [53]. Moreover, there is plenty of evidence showing that
the ability to feel mixed emotions may be considered a
developmental achievement attained over the entire lifespan and
may be especially beneficial to quality of life [54–56]. Conse-
quently, individuals who have failed in coping with an emotional
crisis that resulted in psychiatric hospitalization, showed lower
ability to experience positive and negative affects within one
emotional state when confronted with affectively complex stimuli,
such as ambivalent jokes, than the healthy control group [57],
[58]. Thus, individuals disposed to feel mixed emotions in adverse
situations seem to cope more efficiently than others because they
experience positive affect in combination with the negative
emotional states caused by a stressful event, which may provide
emotional comfort. Moreover, it helps to retain aversive or
unpleasant thoughts and memories within the working memory.
Thus, one assimilates these cognitions within a meaningful
narrative [3] and sustains these coping processes during chronic
stress [59].
Nevertheless, as stated previously, mixed emotional experiences
are considered to be complex in nature, which is reflected in the
existence of several patterns of mixed emotions. Accordingly, it
can be assumed that individual dispositions toward feeling
different patterns of mixed emotions may have different adaptive
consequences. Based on the results obtained in Studies 1 and 2, we
hypothesized that the ability to experience the pattern of
secondary mixed emotion should promote higher resilience than
the disposition towards other feeling patterns. Thus, Study 3 aims
to verify whether resilience to the stress of a transition depends on
the disposition toward experiencing the pattern of secondary
mixed emotion rather than co-occurring distinct emotions during
adverse events. Assuming that people differ in their proneness to
experiencing secondary mixed emotions, we hypothesized that
freshmen who are disposed toward transforming negative emotion
(e.g., sadness) into a secondary mixed emotion (e.g., nostalgia)
would be, after some time, better off than those who experience
negative and positive emotion separately. We chose sequentially
co-occurring emotions for comparison because that pattern is
shown to be more frequent [10], and in Study 1, it was not that
much worse than the pattern of secondary mixed emotion in terms
of functionality.
Method
Ethics Statement. ‘‘I authorize the implementation of a
research project entitled ‘Co-occurrence of positive and negative
affect and functionality of emotions’ conducted by Anna
Chojnacka-Braniecka which received a positive opinion of The
USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects. A copy of the application
no 10/II/07-08 submitted to the Commission on 31.01.2008
constitutes an integral part of this statement.’’ The full name of the
ethics committee: ‘‘The University of Social Sciences and
Humanities Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects’’. The committee acts on
the basis of the Resolution of the Senate of the University of Social
Sciences and Humanities passed on 20th June 2006 as amended.
The USSH Ethics Committee on Ethics of Empirical Research
Involving People as Research Subjects specifically approved this
study. The participants provided their written informed consent to
participate in the study.
Participants and design. The participants included 118
psychology freshmen (90 women; mean age = 22.70 years,
SD = 2.04 years). They received course credit for their participa-
tion. The study was conducted according to a longitudinal design;
it consisted of two time points: one during the second month of the
academic year (Time 1) and another six months later (Time 2). At
Time 2, 91 freshmen from the group remained (69 women; mean
age = 20.82 years, SD = 1.76 years).
Procedure. At each time point, the participants received a
booklet containing instructions and materials. At Time 1, the
booklet consisted of a measurement of proneness to experiencing
secondary mixed emotions (measurement of nostalgia proneness)
and four questionnaires measuring dependent variables: the levels
of depressive symptoms, anxiety, positivity ratio, and somatic
health. At Time 2, the measurement included only a re-assessment
of the dependent variables.
Secondary mixed emotion proneness. To assess the
pattern of mixed emotions on a dispositional level, the participants
were asked to empathize with a person separated from his/her
boyfriend/girlfriend and then choose the emotional response they
identified as being more natural for them in such an adverse life
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situations. Therefore, we presented a story intended to elicit
sadness at first. Then, two alternative continuations were provided
that aimed to elicit mixed emotional reactions: the feeling of a
secondary mixed emotion and the feeling of positive and negative
emotions occurring sequentially. It has been claimed that reading
a story might be an optimal method for this study because its
advantages include standardized materials and presentation,
which was an important requirement of our assessment [29].
The participants were instructed to put themselves into the
situation and to empathize with the protagonist as intensely as
possible. They were asked to try to imagine what they would feel if
they were in such circumstances. The alternative emotional
responses represented two patterns of mixed emotions: the pattern
of secondary mixed emotion (nostalgic experience) and the
sequential pattern (sadness and love or love and sadness – the
parts of the text eliciting negative or positive emotions were
presented in a counterbalanced order). The story was the same as
that used in Study 1 and Study 2 to evoke various patterns of
mixed emotions. The only change was the task. In the previous
studies, we asked the participants to feel the loss and reaction in
the same way as the protagonist did; however, in the presented
study, the participants were asked to feel the same loss as the
protagonist and then reveal their own emotional reaction to it.
Depressive symptoms. The Beck Depression Inventory
(BDI-II) [60] was used; it is a self-report inventory that contains
21 questions relating to symptoms of depression, such as
hopelessness, irritability, feelings of guilt or being punished,
fatigue, weight loss, and lack of interest in sex, with each answer
being scored on a scale of 0 to 3. A higher total score indicated
more depressive symptoms (a= .91).
Anxiety. The part of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
measuring a temporary ‘‘state of anxiety’’ (STAI-S) [61] was
administered. This is a 20-item self-report measure of anxiety
symptoms, such as feelings of fear and tension and autonomic
nervous system hyperactivity. Individuals rate how they currently
feel by using a 4-point scale (a= .89).
Positivity ratio. The participants completed the Positive and
Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) [62], which consists of two 10-
item scales composed of adjectives measuring positive affect (PA;
e.g., alert, active, and interested) and negative affect (NA; e.g.,
jittery, hostile, and ashamed). The participants indicated to what
extent they currently experienced these feelings by using a 5-point
scale (a= .80 and.87 for the PA and NA, respectively). The ratio
of the PA to NA scores was a positivity ratio [63].
Somatic symptoms. The somatic subscale of the General
Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28-A) [64] was used. The GHQ-28
is a self-report screening test for detecting the risk of developing
psychopathological problems. The administered subscale was
developed to measure physical health complaints, such as feelings
of exhaustion and fatigue, having hot or cold spells, being ill, or
having a headache with pressure in the head. This subscale
contains seven items rated on a 4-point scale. A higher total score
indicated more somatic symptoms (a= .76).
Results and Discussion
Emotion elicitation check. The participants were asked to
report their feelings while reading the story and while reading a
description of alternative responses separately by choosing among
five options: (a) sadness, (b) sentimental longing for the past, (c) love
followed by sadness, (d) sadness followed by love, and (e) none of
these. Sixty two (68.2%) participants reported feeling the expected
emotions: sadness while reading the story and a sentimental
longing for the past or love followed by sadness (or sadness followed
by love) while reading the nostalgic response and the sequentially
mixed love and sadness response, respectively. The remaining 29
(31.8%) participants reported having felt varied combinations of
emotions that were inconsistent with our intentions. Therefore, it
can be concluded that mixed emotions were effectively elicited.
The results demonstrated that most of the participants showed a
disposition toward feeling secondary mixed emotions rather than
co-occurring distinct emotions. Fifty-seven freshmen (62.5%)
declared experiencing secondary mixed emotion to be more
natural to them, whereas 34 freshmen (37.5%) declared that
experiencing positive and negative emotion sequentially was more
natural to them.
In Time 1, 75 participants (63.6%) declared experiencing
secondary mixed emotion to be more natural to them, whereas 43
participants (36.4%) declared experiencing opposing emotions
sequentially to be more natural to them. In other words, similar
percentage of participants dropped out from each mixed emotions
pattern: 24.0% from the pattern of secondary mixed emotion and
20.9% from the sequential pattern.
We conducted separate repeated-measures ANOVAs for each
dependent variable, using time (Time 1 vs. Time 2) as the within-
subject factor and the pattern of mixed emotions (secondary mixed
emotions vs. the sequential pattern) as a between-subject factor.
All conducted simple effects analyses were Bonferroni corrected.
Depressive symptoms. The analyses yielded a main effect
for time (F[1, 89] = 14.64, p,.001, g
2
= .14). The total BDI score
decreased from Time 1 (M=9.73, SD = 4.63) to Time 2
(M=6.71, SD = 5.61). A significant effect was also found for the
pattern of mixed emotions (F[1, 89] = 6.68, p,.005, g
2
= .07). As
predicted, participants who declared that they experienced
secondary mixed emotion reported a lower level of depressive
symptoms (M=7.41, SD = 4.91) than participants who declared
experiencing positive and negative emotions sequentially
(M=9.57, SD = 5.13). These effects were qualified, however, by
the interaction between these two factors (F[1, 89] = 4.02, p,.05,
g
2
= .04). A decrease in depressive symptoms between Time 1 and
Time 2 was observed in the group experiencing secondary mixed
emotions (F[1, 89] = 22.76, p,.01, g
2
= .24) but not in the group
experiencing opposing emotions sequentially (F[1, 89] = 1.32, ns;
see Figure 1).
Anxiety. With regard to anxiety symptoms, there was also a
main effect for time (F[1, 89] = 15.98, p,.001, g
2
= .15). The
anxiety score decreased from Time 1 (M=38.36, SD = 7.30) to
Time 2 (M=33.65, SD = 9.35). The analyses also indicated a
main effect for the pattern of mixed emotions (F[1, 89] = 6.68, p,
.005, g
2
= .07). In participants experiencing secondary mixed
emotion, anxiety was lower (M=33.03, SD = 6.84) than in
participants experiencing positive and negative emotion sequen-
tially (M=40.99, SD = 8.15). However, these effects were
qualified by a two-way interaction (F[1, 89] = 6.36, p,.05,
g
2
= .06). The participants experiencing the pattern of secondary
mixed emotions demonstrated less anxiety from Time 1 to Time 2
(F[1,89] = 28.45, p,.001, g
2
= .24), whereas there was no such
effect in the group with a sequential pattern (F[1, 89] = .86, ns; see
Figure 1).
Positivity ratio. There was a main effect for time (F
[1,89] = 9.86, p,.001, g
2
= .10). The positivity ratio increased
from Time 1 (M=1.30, SD = 0.64) to Time 2 (M=1.57,
SD = 0.78). There was also a main effect for the pattern of mixed
emotions (F[1, 89] = 10.35, p,.01, g
2
= .14). As predicted,
participants experiencing the pattern of secondary mixed emotion
acquired higher positivity ratios (M=1.55, SD = 0.65) than
participants feeling the sequential pattern (M=1.17, SD = 0.64).
There was also a two-way interaction (F[1, 89] = 4.29, p,.05,
g
2
= .05). In the group experiencing secondary mixed emotions,
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positivity increased from Time 1 to Time 2 (F[1, 89]) = 18.18, p,
.001, g
2
= .17), whereas there was no such effect in the group with
a sequential pattern of positive and negative emotions (F[1,
89] = 0.45, ns; see Figure 1).
Somatic symptoms. The GHQ-A score increased from
Time 1 (M=14.64, SD = 4.21) to Time 2 (M=16.37, SD = 6.34;
F[1,89] = 6.69, p,.01, g
2
= .07). There was also a main effect for
the pattern of mixed emotions (F[1, 89] = 6.30, p,.05, g
2
= .06).
The participants experiencing secondary mixed emotions reported
fewer somatic symptoms (M=14.79, SD = 4.62) than participants
feeling positive and negative emotions sequentially (M=16.76,
SD = 5.96). These effects were, however, qualified by a two-way
interaction (F[1, 89] = 4.49, p,.05, g
2
= .04; see Figure 1). An
increase in somatic symptoms between Time 1 and Time 2
occurred in the group feeling opposing emotions sequentially (F[1,
89] = 8.83, p,.01, g
2
= .09). There were no such effects in the
group experiencing secondary mixed emotions (F[1, 89] = .14,
ns). These results corresponded with the empirical evidence
showing that the impact of stress on one’s physical health is often
delayed because of the specificity of immune system functioning
[65–67]. Therefore, at the start of the academic year, the freshmen
did not yet report an increase in physical health problems,
although some of them already showed mental health impairment.
Over time, the freshmen feeling opposite emotions sequentially
reported more physical health complaints, whereas those feeling
secondary mixed emotions did not. It should be noted, however,
that the measure of somatic symptoms was based on self-reports
exclusively because it is well-known that the perception of these
symptoms may result from the existence of objective problems
with physical health as well as from an individual’s tendency to
generate somatic complaints. Thus, there is a possibility that
freshmen who feel sequentially mixed emotions are simply more
sensitive to any change in their somatic status, so they may just be
more prone to list physical health complaints. Although we are not
aware of any research suggesting that people who tend to
experience different patterns of mixed emotions are likely to be
more or less sensitive to signals from the body, we cannot exclude
this possibility. Additional research is needed to investigate this
possibility.
Altogether, the results suggest that although all participants
showed a decrease in psychopathological symptoms and an
increase in positivity ratio and somatic symptoms between the
two time points, the freshmen who declared that experiencing the
pattern of secondary mixed emotion was their natural response to
loss proved to be more resilient to the stress of the transition than
those who experienced positive and negative emotions sequential-
Figure 1. Means of resilience measures for the patterns of mixed emotions at two time points. Display of mean values of depressive
symptoms (BDI) (A), anxiety symptoms (STAI-S) (B), positivity ratio (C), and somatic symptoms (GHQ-A) (D) for the proneness to experiencing the
pattern of secondary mixed emotion (SME pattern) and the proneness to experience the sequential pattern of mixed emotions (sequential pattern) at
two time points - in the second month of the academic year and six months later. Bars are standard deviations.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103940.g001
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ly. After 6 months of living in a new academic environment,
participants with the tendency to experience secondary mixed
emotions demonstrated decreased levels of depressive and anxiety
symptoms, an increased positivity ratio, and stable somatic health,
whereas in participants experiencing opposing emotions sequen-
tially, high levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, along with a
low positivity ratio, remained stable over time, and their somatic
complaints increased. However, the conclusion needs to be
approached cautiously since one of the limitations of this study
involves the size of the compared samples. The lack of significant
results for the sequential group might be partially due to the
unequal size of the compared group as well as to the small size of
the sequential group. Nevertheless, the results seem to provide
preliminary empirical evidence that experiencing positive and
negative emotions combined into one feeling of a distinctive
quality may be a more efficient emotional redemption strategy
than providing a positive context for negative affect by experi-
encing co-occurring opposing emotions.
General Discussion
It is impossible to avoid worry and anxiety under the pressure of
adversity, but a bit of positive affect may help to ameliorate them.
Such a mixed emotional response is quite natural because many
stressful events consist of not only disadvantages but also
opportunities, associations with better circumstances, or a few
pleasant or funny elements at the least. Thus, the ability to react
with mixed feelings to difficult life episodes might be an efficacious
way of regulating distress and, thus, fostering resilience. We
proposed that opposite affects can co-occur in the form of separate
emotions arising sequentially or simultaneously or can be blended
into a single emotion – a secondary mixed emotion. The present
studies investigated which types of positive affect and emotional
reactions to distress are more adaptive. The three presented
studies provided clear and consequent evidence that mixed
secondary emotions, represented in our studies by nostalgic
experiences, promote coping processes by providing the partici-
pants with a higher capacity to handle adversity, as compared with
sequentially and simultaneously mixed emotions. In terms of
motivational function, which is traditionally seen as predominantly
important regarding emotions, secondary mixed emotions produce
solution-oriented action rather than avoidance, as well as faster
coping resolution. Regarding the informative function, secondary
mixed emotions influence thought in a way that is favorable to
understanding one’s own experiences. It provides better narrative
organization and easier access to self-knowledge. Furthermore, the
longitudinal study provided preliminary evidence that individuals
characterized by proneness to experiencing secondary mixed
emotions are more resilient to the stress of transitions to new life
circumstances than those characterized by proneness to feeling
positive and negative emotions separately.
The results are congruent with the data concerning a large
range of benefits from the example of secondary mixed emotions
that was used in our studies – nostalgia. The previous research
indicates that the beneficial effects of nostalgia (a reduction of
existential anxiety, generation of positive affect, decreased
loneliness, and increased self-regard and sense of identity) can be
assigned to the content of that emotion rather than to its structure.
Namely, the existing data suggest that these effects are caused by
the accessibility of representations of positive social connections in
the past [68] or by activating meaning-providing structures that
serve an existential function [69]. However, the differences
between the effects of this secondary mixed emotion and other
patterns of mixed emotions, as revealed in our studies, cannot be
simply assigned to the content of the emotions, because all of the
evoked emotional responses consisted of a sorrowful longing for a
beloved person, combined with an affectionate reminiscence of
time spent together in the past, and because all of the compared
emotional experiences differed only in the way in which the
positive and negative affects were combined. Thus, in the
presented studies, the advantageous impact on coping and
resilience seems to result from the pattern of a mixed emotional
experience rather than from its content. What is more, because
nostalgia is defined as a positive emotion with tones of loss and is
proven to consist of more positive than negative components [23],
the results could be attributed to the desirable outcomes of positive
affect. However, all of the materials used for eliciting emotional
responses in our studies were counterbalanced with respect to
positive and negative expressions, and the reported intensities of
the feelings induced were similar in various groups. Taken
together, the observed effects seem to rely on the pattern of the
mixed emotions, rather than on their affective balance, intensities,
or contents.
It is possible that the mechanism that underpins the adaptive
superiority of secondary mixed emotions over other patterns of
mixed emotions may be the lessening of the salience of affective
ambivalence. In the case of two inconsistent emotions experienced
at the same time, the affective opposition is completely clear, so the
resulting tension is relatively high, but in the case of one discrete
emotion embracing both conflicting affects, the affective opposi-
tion is somehow covert, and consequently, the tension may be
lower. According to the psychodynamic view of emotional
development, the fusion of opposite affects into a coherent state
of mind is an extensive process involving a subsequent freeing of
the mental representation of both affects from their extreme forms
[70]. Although this idea has not been empirically supported, there
are some data confirming the internal self-regulatory processes
within representations of the experience of opposite affects. For
example, it was shown that mixed emotions were recalled as being
less intense than they were when experienced in the past and that
their intensity was increasingly underestimated at the time of
recall, which did not occur to the same degree with unipolar
negative emotions [71]. Thus, it seems that the functionality of
mixed emotions may depend on the level of ambivalence and
tension resulting from the conflict between co-occurring opposite
affects. However, we did not measure these variables, and the
exact mechanism through which secondary mixed emotions are
associated with more efficient coping is still unknown. Future work
should more directly examine whether ambivalence and subse-
quent tension are a mediating link between various patterns of
mixed emotional experience and the capacity to handle adversities
and clarify the specific mechanisms by which secondary mixed
emotions can benefit resilience.
Accordingly, an important future direction is to examine the
exact role of the ambivalence that is produced when positive and
negative affects are experienced at the same time. As noted above,
we considered ambivalence and tension to be crucial elements of
the mechanism underlying the differences in functionality between
the patterns of mixed emotions. The uncomfortable character of
the co-occurrence of opposite affects is well-known. However,
there are reasons to expect some benefits from ambivalence. The
experienced conflict, which is produced by the experience of
emotions of opposite valence, may facilitate creativity in the face of
adversity because emotional disharmony suggests that a situation is
extraordinary and remarkable, which stimulates curiosity and
initiative [55].
There are some limitations to the presented studies that should
be noted. First, there is a lack of previous evidence for the validity
Mixed Emotions and Coping
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of the measure of the tendency to experience secondary mixed
emotions used in Study 3. Nevertheless, the assessment of this
proneness was clearly useful, as evidenced by the presented results.
Still, the assessment should be considered to be at a preliminary
stage of development, and further demonstration of its validity and
reliability are desirable. Second, our conclusions in the present
studies are limited by the inclusion of only one secondary mixed
emotion. Thus, the extent to which the reported results can be
generalized to all secondary mixed emotions is currently unknown.
We acknowledge that secondary emotions need to be examined
separately because they are discrete emotional responses with
highly specific contents. For this reason, our results concern only
one example of the entire category of secondary mixed emotions.
Although we put in much effort to compare the emotional
responses specifically with respect to their patterns, the question of
whether every secondary mixed emotion has the same motiva-
tional and informational effects as nostalgia does remains. Hence,
further research should include other types of secondary mixed
emotions (e.g., poignancy, empathy, awe, or tenderness) and
determine whether or not the observed beneficial consequences for
coping result from nostalgia per se or from the fact that nostalgia is
a type of secondary mixed emotion.
Third, there are some potentially important variables that we
did not include in our research. For instance, in Study 1 and Study
2, the role of the trait measures of dependent variables was not
examined, which presents the possibility that failures in random-
ization affected the results. The possibility could not be excluded,
for instance, that the obtained accessibility to solution-oriented
actions is partly affected by the coping style, which was not
controlled in our studies. In addition, in Study 3, the trait
component of the STAI was not analyzed, but it may be an
important co-variant or an additional outcome for ANOVAs.
Nevertheless, we were only interested in state functioning, and the
trait measure would not be expected to show significant differences
over a six-month period. Furthermore, the trait anxiety measure is
so closely related to the state anxiety measure that it would be
redundant and cause difficulties if used as a co-variant. Finally, in
Study 1 and Study 2 despite the fact that the feelings reported by
participants while reading the story and their intensities were
measured, we also should have assessed other overall valuations of
experienced emotional states (i.e., reported by participants
affective balance or content of felt emotions). Although including
a large number of measurements in one experiment is method-
ologically difficult, it would help to ensure that evoked in our study
three patterns of mixed emotions were similar experiences and
differed only in the way in which the opposing affects were
blended. Our research is an initial exploration of different patterns
of mixed emotions regarding their adaptive consequences, and
further studies are required to examine their effects on coping
more thoroughly.
The results obtained from our studies provided preliminary
empirical evidence that secondary mixed emotions may promote
more efficient coping than sequentially and simultaneously mixed
emotions. The future direction of research should explore the
exact character of this beneficial impact further. We initially
proposed that the adaptive consequences of experiencing second-
ary mixed emotions are related to emotion regulation processes;
however, due to the preliminary nature of the presented studies,
we did not assess emotion regulation strategies. Thus, in order to
draw such conclusions, future research regarding the control of
emotion regulation is needed. Moreover, it should be noted that
people tend to respond to difficult life situations with a wide variety
of emotional experiences. The subject of our investigation was the
functionality of the different ways of combining positive and
negative effects, and we decided not to examine other possible
emotional responses to stress. It would be valuable to investigate
the consequences of feeling a single unmixed negative emotion in
an adverse situation and to compare it with experiencing different
patterns of mixed emotions, which would help to determine
whether or not the benefits observed from experiencing secondary
mixed emotions can be attributed entirely to the structure of
emotional experience and help to understand the role of mixed
emotions in the broader context of responding to adversity.
One additional avenue for future research may be the
examination of individual differences in the functionality of
various patterns of mixed emotions. For instance, recent studies
show that low identity continuity [72] and high attachment-related
avoidance [68] reduce the benefits of nostalgic experience. It is
possible that having low personal resources in terms of connecting
the present day with positive memories makes experiencing our
example of secondary mixed emotions too ambivalent or not
positive enough to foster motivational and cognitive processes. In
that case, a less advanced mixed emotional response in the form of
separate sadness and love/joy may be more advantageous because
it allows an individual to separate good thoughts from bad.
Different secondary emotions, such as tenderness or gratitude,
may have similar or specific limitations depending on their
contents and origins.
In addition, the elicited patterns of mixed emotions were
assessed in the manipulation checks via short self-reports only.
Although self-reports provide important information about emo-
tional experience, future studies might use a multidimensional
approach and additionally use, for example, standardized analyses
of facial responses. Further research is required in order to include
this indicator of various patterns of mixed emotions. It would be
also valuable to examine whether there are specific correlates in
the brain for experiencing various patterns of mixed emotional
experiences – this could be realized using electroencephalography
(EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Finally, it should be noted that the proneness to feeling
secondary mixed emotions might served as a mediator of the
relationship between the adjustment to life adversities and other
dispositional variables that have important consequences for
coping, such as personality traits, attachment patterns, or general
self-esteem. Although the results of both presented experiments
provided considerable evidence that secondary mixed emotions
provide a higher capacity to handle adversity, other important
individual dispositions should be measured in order to ascertain
the salubrious effects of the ability to feel secondary mixed
emotions without any doubt. It would also help to rule out the
possibility that the beneficial impact of the proneness in
experiencing secondary mixed emotions when adjusting to life’s
adversities is merely a consequence or a form of having specific
positive personal traits and dispositions. However, because it is not
possible to measure all the potentially relevant variables in one
study and our main intent was to investigate the dispositional level
of feeling mixed emotions diversified in terms of their affective
contents, which requires extensive assessment procedures, in the
present study, we decided not to examine other potentially
relevant variables. Moreover, it should be noted that our work is a
preliminary investigation of various mixed emotions patterns
regarding coping, and its target was not to thoroughly investigate
all of the important relationships involved in this novel and nearly
unexplored research field. In order to state more certainly that the
proneness of experiencing secondary emotions promotes coping
with stress caused by transitions, it would be valuable to conduct a
longitudinal study in which one group of freshmen would be
trained to respond to negative events by experiencing sequentially
Mixed Emotions and Coping
PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 11 August 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 8 | e103940
mixed emotions and another group to respond with secondary
mixed emotions, for example. In addition, future studies are
needed to determine the role of secondary mixed emotions and
other patterns of mixed emotions as mediating variables in the
process of coping.
In conclusion, the results obtained from three presented studies
offer preliminary support for the idea that the pattern of secondary
mixed emotions may provide individuals with a higher capacity to
handle adversity than the other two patterns of mixed emotional
experience. In particular, the results indicated that experiencing
secondary mixed emotions predominates over sequentially and
simultaneously mixed emotions in promoting coping processes
through fostering the motivational and informative functions of
emotions and that individuals prone to feeling secondary mixed
emotions were more resilient to stress caused by transitions than
those prone to feeling opposing emotions separately.
Supporting Information
Supplementary Material S1 Pattern of mixed emotion
manipulation.
(PPTX)
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: AB ET AD AW. Performed the
experiments: AB. Analyzed the data: AB ET. Contributed reagents/
materials/analysis tools: AB ET AD AW. Wrote the paper: AB ET.
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