Date of Award
Spring 1979
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Nordberg, Robert B.
Second Advisor
Nash, Richard
Third Advisor
Kipfmueller, Mark
Abstract
This investigation in the areas of social psychology and emotion attempted to confirm the tenability of the "congruence" hypothesis. It suggests that,when people are expressing positive emotional affect with their nonverbal gestures, they find that congruent positive thoughts or recollections of pleasant memories are more readily achieved than when they are expressing negative emotional affect with these nonverbal gestures. This hypothesis further implies that, once a person has reacted to external situations with expressive gestures of his face and body, these gestures can exert a pervasive influence on his subsequent thoughts and recollections and, by so doing, influence his interpretations of events and emotional feelings.