A ring-model of vicious cycles in customer-employee-interaction is proposed: service employees perceive complaints as a threat to their self-esteem resulting in defense responses such as an increased need for cognitive closure, a... more
A ring-model of vicious cycles in customer-employee-interaction is proposed: service employees perceive complaints as a threat to their self-esteem resulting in defense responses such as an increased need for cognitive closure, a devaluation of the customer and their information and degrading service behavior. Confronted with such degrading service behavior, customers react defensively as well, by devaluing the employee for example with regard to his/her competence and by reducing repurchase and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Three studies investigated each link in this ring-model. In study 1, participants were confronted with an aggressive or neutral customer complaint. Results show that motivated closed-mindedness (one aspect of the need for cognitive closure) increases after an aggressive complaint leading to a devaluation of the customer and their information, and in turn to a degrading service reaction. In study 2, participants were confronted with a degrading or favorable service reaction. Results show that they devaluate the employees' competence after receiving a degrading service reaction and thus reduce their intention to repurchase. In study 3, we finally examined our predictions investigating real customer-employee-interactions: we analyzed data from an evaluation study in which mystery callers tested the service hotline of an airline. Results show that the employees' competence is devaluated after degrading behavior and thus reduces positive WOM.
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The perception of visceral signals plays a crucial role in many theories of emotions. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness and emotion-related brain activity. 44 participants (16... more
The perception of visceral signals plays a crucial role in many theories of emotions. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness and emotion-related brain activity. 44 participants (16 male, 28 female) first underwent a heartbeat perception task and then were categorised either as good (n = 22) or poor heartbeat perceivers (n = 22). A total of 60 different pictures (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral) from the International Affective Picture System served as emotional stimuli. EEG (61 electrodes) and EOG were recorded during slide presentation. After each slide, the subjects had to rate emotional valence and arousal on a 9-point self-report scale. Good heartbeat perceivers scored the emotional slides significantly more arousing than poor heartbeat perceivers; no differences were found in the emotional valence ratings. The visually evoked potentials of good and poor heartbeat perceivers showed significant differences in the P300 and in t...
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Previous research indicates that interindividual differences in the ability to perceive one's own bodily signals (interoceptive sensitivity, IS) are associated with... more
Previous research indicates that interindividual differences in the ability to perceive one's own bodily signals (interoceptive sensitivity, IS) are associated with disordered eating behavior and weight problems. But representative and prospective data in children are lacking and therefore, the exact nature of these observed associations remains unclear. Data on IS measured by heartbeat perception ability in 1657 children between 6 and 11 years of age were collected on the basis of two measurement points with a year distance in time. Stability of the construct and its prospective association with different food approach behaviors [assessed via parent questionnaires (Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire)] as well as with weight status were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Main results were that only in overweight children external and emotional eating behavior were predictive for later IS, whereas no such relation was found in normal weight children. There was no direct relation between IS and body mass index. For the first time, we could show that eating behavior and IS in middle childhood are prospectively related to each other. But surprisingly, our data indicate that altered interoceptive processes rather follow than precede non-adaptive eating behavior patterns in overweight children. This suggests a possible crucial role of faulty learning mechanisms in eating behavior early in life, undermining the later confidence in one's body.
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Internal signals like one's heartbeats are centrally processed via specific pathways and both their neural representations as well as their conscious... more
Internal signals like one's heartbeats are centrally processed via specific pathways and both their neural representations as well as their conscious perception (interoception) provide key information for many cognitive processes. Recent empirical findings propose that neural processes in the insular cortex, which are related to bodily signals, might constitute a neurophysiological mechanism for the encoding of duration. Nevertheless, the exact nature of such a proposed relationship remains unclear. We aimed to address this question by searching for the effects of cardiac rhythm on time perception by the use of a duration reproduction paradigm. Time intervals used were of 0.5, 2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 25, and 40 s length. In a framework of synchronization hypothesis, measures of phase locking between the cardiac cycle and start/stop signals of the reproduction task were calculated to quantify this relationship. The main result is that marginally significant synchronization indices (SIs) between the heart cycle and the time reproduction responses for the time intervals of 2, 3, 10, 14, and 25 s length were obtained, while results were not significant for durations of 0.5, 7, and 40 s length. On the single participant level, several subjects exhibited some synchrony between the heart cycle and the time reproduction responses, most pronounced for the time interval of 25 s (8 out of 23 participants for 20% quantile). Better time reproduction accuracy was not related with larger degree of phase locking, but with greater vagal control of the heart. A higher interoceptive sensitivity (IS) was associated with a higher synchronization index (SI) for the 2 s time interval only. We conclude that information obtained from the cardiac cycle is relevant for the encoding and reproduction of time in the time span of 2-25 s. Sympathovagal tone as well as interoceptive processes mediate the accuracy of time estimation.
Research Interests: Visual perception, Electroencephalography, Face recognition (Psychology), Facial expression, Anorexia Nervosa, and 12 morePsychosomatic Medicine, Emotions, Brain, Humans, Female, Mental processes, Depressive Disorder, Psychosomatic, Adult, EXPRESSED EMOTION, Visual Evoked Potentials, and Cognition disorders
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The individual sensitivity for ones internal bodily signals ("interoceptive awareness") has been shown to be of relevance for a broad range... more
The individual sensitivity for ones internal bodily signals ("interoceptive awareness") has been shown to be of relevance for a broad range of cognitive and affective functions. Interoceptive awareness has been primarily assessed via measuring the sensitivity for ones cardiac signals ("cardiac awareness") which can be non-invasively measured by heartbeat perception tasks. It is an open question whether cardiac awareness is related to the sensitivity for other bodily, visceral functions. This study investigated the relationship between cardiac awareness and the sensitivity for gastric functions in healthy female persons by using non-invasive methods. Heartbeat perception as a measure for cardiac awareness was assessed by a heartbeat tracking task and gastric sensitivity was assessed by a water load test. Gastric myoelectrical activity was measured by electrogastrography (EGG) and subjective feelings of fullness, valence, arousal and nausea were assessed. The results show that cardiac awareness was inversely correlated with ingested water volume and with normogastric activity after water load. However, persons with good and poor cardiac awareness did not differ in their subjective ratings of fullness, nausea and affective feelings after drinking. This suggests that good heartbeat perceivers ingested less water because they subjectively felt more intense signals of fullness during this lower amount of water intake compared to poor heartbeat perceivers who ingested more water until feeling the same signs of fullness. These findings demonstrate that cardiac awareness is related to greater sensitivity for gastric functions, suggesting that there is a general sensitivity for interoceptive processes across the gastric and cardiac modality.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Decision Making, Experimental games, Nonparametric Statistics, and 22 moreAttention, Risk Taking, Anxiety, Emotions, Humans, Human Body, Female, Male, Risky Choice, Learning Effectiveness, Questionnaires, Odors, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Cognitive Function, Neuropsychologia, Neuronal Activity, ANXIETY, Risk Behavior, Sweat, Pilot Projects, and Neurosciences
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Alexithymia is characterized by a difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions. Recent research has associated differential effects of the alexithymia facets to... more
Alexithymia is characterized by a difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions. Recent research has associated differential effects of the alexithymia facets to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis markers during stress. This study aimed to analyze how the facets of alexithymia interact with autonomic reactivity as well as self- and observer-rated anxiety during a social stress task. With the use of a public-speaking paradigm, skin conductance levels (SCLs) and heart rate (HR) during the defined periods of baseline, preparation, stress, and recovery were assessed in 60 volunteers (42 females, mean age 22.8) categorized as having either high (HDA) or low (LDA) degrees of alexithymia. We found smaller SCLs during preparation and speech in the HDA group. Regression analyses indicated that only the alexithymia facet "difficulty in describing feelings" (DDF) was associated with smaller electrodermal responses. In the HDA group, self- and observer-rated anxiety was higher in the HDA than in the LDA group, which was attributable to higher scores in the subscales "difficulty in identifying feelings" (DIF) and "externally oriented thinking" (EOT). Our data support and specify the decoupling hypothesis of alexithymia by showing that the facets of alexithymia are differentially related to autonomic reactivity as well as self- and observer-rated anxiety during social stress.
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While food deprivation has known effects on sympathovagal balance, little is known about hunger’s influence on the perception of pain. Since autonomic activities influence many cognitive and emotional processes, this suggests that food... more
While food deprivation has known effects on sympathovagal balance, little is known about hunger’s influence on the perception of pain. Since autonomic activities influence many cognitive and emotional processes, this suggests that food deprivation should interact with the perception of pain. This study analyzed the possible effects of short-term food deprivation on pain sensitivity in healthy female participants. This study
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Theories of emotion consider the self-perception of visceral activity to play an important role in emotion. This study examined the relationship between interoceptive sensitivity and both the subjective emotional experience and the... more
Theories of emotion consider the self-perception of visceral activity to play an important role in emotion. This study examined the relationship between interoceptive sensitivity and both the subjective emotional experience and the processing of emotional pictures. According to their results in a heartbeat detection task subjects were classified as good (N = 17) or poor (N = 20) heartbeat perceivers. Event-related potentials were recorded while subjects viewed pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures and SAM ratings were examined. Good heartbeat perceivers showed significantly greater P300 and slow wave amplitudes for emotional pictures at antero-inferior, medial and posterior electrode sites and experienced a greater arousal for emotional pictures compared to poor heartbeat perceivers. The heartbeat perception score correlated significantly positive both with emotional P300 and slow wave amplitudes as well as with the arousal ratings for emotional pictures. The results indicate that there is a significant and strong association between interoceptive sensitivity and the intensity of emotional experience as well as the central processing of emotional stimuli.
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The perception of visceral signals plays a crucial role in many theories of emotions. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness, emotional experience and heart rate responses in an... more
The perception of visceral signals plays a crucial role in many theories of emotions. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between interoceptive awareness, emotional experience and heart rate responses in an emotional stimulation paradigm. Based on their performance in a heartbeat perception task 38 participants (16 males, 22 females) were classified as subjects with either high (n=19; 8 males) or low interoceptive awareness (n=19; 8 males). 120 pictures (40 pleasant, 40 unpleasant, 40 neutral slides) from the International Affective Picture System served as emotional stimuli. Heart rate changes were recorded during baseline and during slide presentation. After each slide, the subjects had to rate emotional valence and arousal on a 9-point self-report scale. Statistical analyses revealed significantly stronger heart rate responses to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli in subjects with high interoceptive awareness. Furthermore, subjects with high interoceptive awareness rated pleasant and unpleasant slides as significantly more arousing; no differences were found in the emotional valence ratings. Heartbeat perception scores correlated significantly positive with both the mean arousal rating and with the mean heart rate changes. Our results demonstrate a strong relationship between the perception of cardiac signals and the peripheral processing of emotional stimuli.
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Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Perception, Electroencephalography, Adolescent, Prefrontal Cortex, and 16 moreEmotions, Visual Cortex, Brain Mapping, Humans, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Male, Heart rate, Feedback, Somatosensory Cortex, Adult, Human Brain Mapping, Neural pathways, Electrodes, Visual Evoked Potentials, and Neurosciences
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Research Interests: Perception, Heterosexuality, Chemical, Emotions, Biological Sciences, and 8 moreHumans, Judgment, Female, Smell, Male, Odors, Adult, and Chemical Senses
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Research Interests: Psychology, Biological Psychology, Cognitive Science, Perception, Electroencephalography, and 15 moreElectrocardiography, Autonomic Nervous System, Emotions, Fourier Analysis, Humans, Female, Biological, Heart rate, Young Adult, Awareness, Adult, Cardiac Output Monitoring, Eating Disorder, Neurosciences, and Food Deprivation
Somatoform disorders are characterized by the presence of multiple somatic symptoms. While the accuracy of perceiving bodily signal (interoceptive awareness) is only sparely investigated in somatoform disorders, recent research has... more
Somatoform disorders are characterized by the presence of multiple somatic symptoms. While the accuracy of perceiving bodily signal (interoceptive awareness) is only sparely investigated in somatoform disorders, recent research has associated autonomic imbalance with cognitive and emotional difficulties in stress-related diseases. This study aimed to investigate how sympathovagal reactivity interacts with performance in recognizing emotions in faces (facial recognition task). Using a facial recognition and appraisal task, skin conductance levels (SCLs), heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed in 26 somatoform patients and compared to healthy controls. Interoceptive awareness was assessed by a heartbeat detection task. We found evidence for a sympathovagal imbalance in somatoform disorders characterized by low parasympathetic reactivity during emotional tasks and increased sympathetic activation during baseline. Somatoform patients exhibited a reduced recognition performance for neutral and sad emotional expressions only. Possible confounding variables such as alexithymia, anxiety or depression were taken into account. Interoceptive awareness was reduced in somatoform patients. Our data demonstrate an imbalance in sympathovagal activation in somatoform disorders associated with decreased parasympathetic activation. This might account for difficulties in processing of sad and neutral facial expressions in somatoform patients which might be a pathogenic mechanism for increased everyday vulnerability.