| Summary: | This dissertation extends previous work on the Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT), a test that was developed to measure affective processes at an implicit (supposedly automatic, preconscious) level. In particular, the first manuscript that is included in this dissertation demonstrates that the IPANAT picks up on processes resembling counter-regulation (cf. Rothermund, Voss, & Wentura, 2008) after exposure to negatively valenced emotional stimuli. The IPANAT might therefore be a suitable measure of affect regulation in some contexts. Furthermore, the second manuscript introduces a version of the IPANAT that was designed for the measurement of distinct emotions, the IPANAT for distinct emotions (IPANAT-DE). Finally, the third manuscript and an additional supplemental study not yet submitted for publication provide evidence that the subscales of the IPANAT-DE are sensitive to priming with different emotional expressions, and that facial expressions of the same valence but of different distinct emotions trigger emotion specific changes of IPANAT-DE scores. In the last part of this dissertation, the three manuscripts and the supplemental study are discussed with respect to three overarching issues: 1. The kinds of processes that might drive IPANAT scores and whether these processes are indeed influenced by affective experience or whether they are purely cognitive. 2. How IPANAT scores are related to other aspects of affect. 3. How the IPANAT can be adapted to different research questions as well as to applied contexts.
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