eprintid: 15458 rev_number: 20 eprint_status: archive userid: 466 dir: disk0/00/01/54/58 datestamp: 2013-08-22 10:58:18 lastmod: 2022-06-30 10:50:36 status_changed: 2013-09-30 10:19:03 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Barth, Carola Maria creators_name: Funke, Joachim title: Negative affective environments improve complex solving performance subjects: 150 divisions: 100200 abstract: Based on recent affect-cognition theories (Bless et al., 1996; Fiedler, 2001; Sinclair, 1988), the present study predicted and showed a differentiated influence of nice and nasty environments on complex problem solving (CPS). Environments were constructed by manipulating the target value ‘‘capital’’ of a complex scenario: Participants in the nice environment (N=42) easily raised the capital and received positive feedback, whereas those in the nasty environment (N=42) hardly enhanced the capital and got negative feedback. The results showed that nasty environments increased negative and decreased positive affect. The reverse was true for nice environments. Furthermore, nasty environments influenced CPS by leading to a higher information retrieval and a better CPS performance. Surprisingly, the influence of environment on CPS was not mediated through affect (cf. Soldat & Sinclair, 2001), as recent affect-cognition theories suggest. The missing influence of affect and the strong impact of environment are discussed. date: 2010 id_scheme: DOI schriftenreihe_cluster_id: sr-1 schriftenreihe_order: 137 ppn_swb: 1652988270 own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-154589 language: eng bibsort: BARTHCAROLNEGATIVEAF2010 full_text_status: public publication: Cognition & emotion volume: 24 number: 7 pagerange: 1259-1268 citation: Barth, Carola Maria ; Funke, Joachim (2010) Negative affective environments improve complex solving performance. Cognition & emotion, 24 (7). pp. 1259-1268. document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/15458/1/Barth%26Funke_2010_C%26E.pdf