Cognitive appraisals affect both embodiment of thermal sensation and its mapping to thermal evaluation

Keeling, T. P., Roesch, E. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8913-4173 and Clements-Croome, D. (2016) Cognitive appraisals affect both embodiment of thermal sensation and its mapping to thermal evaluation. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. 800. ISSN 1664-1078 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00800

Abstract/Summary

The physical environment leads to a thermal sensation that is perceived and appraised by occupants. The present study focuses on the relationship between sensation and evaluation. We asked 166 people to recall a thermal event from their recent past. They were then asked how they evaluated this experience in terms of 10 different emotions (frustrated, resigned, dislike, indifferent, angry, anxious, liking, joyful, regretful, proud). We tested whether four psychological factors (appraisal dimensions) could be used to predict the ensuing emotions, as well as comfort, acceptability, and sensation. The four dimensions were: the Conduciveness of the event, who/what caused the event (Causality), who had control (Agency), and whether the event was expected (Expectations). These dimensions, except for Expectations, were good predictors of the reported emotions. Expectations, however, predicted the reported thermal sensation, its acceptability, and ensuing comfort. The more expected an event was, the more uncomfortable a person felt, and the less likely they reported a neutral thermal sensation. Together, these results support an embodied view of how subjective appraisals affect thermal experience. Overall, we show that appraisal dimensions mediate occupants' evaluation of their thermal sensation, which suggests an additional method for understanding psychological adaption.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/66225
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) Science > School of the Built Environment > Construction Management and Engineering
Publisher	Frontiers Media
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