Clarifying the Role of Negative Emotions in the Origin and Control of Impulsive Actions

Abstract

This critical review elaborates on the origin of impulsive actions and how these can be controlled. We focus in particular on the role of negative events. First, we outline how impulsive actions often originate from negative events that are (emotionally) appraised. A discrepancy between this current state and a desired goal state leads to action tendencies. The urgency of the resulting action depends on the importance of the goal and the size of the discrepancy. Second, we discuss how such impulsive actions can be regulated or controlled e.g. by biasing competition between different options, or by completely suppressing all motor output. Importantly, such control mechanisms might also depend on emotional factors. To reconcile these findings, we present a coherent theoretical framework, taking into account various cognitive, affective, and motivational mechanisms as well as contextual factors that play a crucial role in the origin and control of impulsive actions.

Keywords: action control; emotion; impulsive action; impulsivity.

Figure 1

Summary of the main theoretical accounts of impulsive action. All theories assume that the comparison between the current state and the desired state (e.g. cognitive comfort) leads to actions. However, the theories assume different reasons for an action being invigorated or not.