APS

2026 APS Annual Convention

Assessing Positivity Aversion In Relation to Pain, Hope for the Future, Psychopathology, and Automaticity

Saturday, May 30, 2026 · Barcelona, Spain

Oral · Emotion & Motivation: What Drives the Self

This symposium explores positivity aversion related to experiences with pain and discrimination, automatic expressions of psychopathology, and capacity for hope among those who tend to be hope averse. Taken together, these findings outline mechanisms explaining how people process, become aversive to, and subsequently experience a restored sense of positivity.

Chairs & Discussants

  • Sarah SimonChair
    The New School for Social Research
  • Samuel WinerDiscussant
    The New School for Social Research

Presentations

  1. The Exploration-Exploitation Dilemma In Pain: An Experimental InvestigationAngelos Krypotos
  2. Greater Exposure to and Expectation of Discrimination Is Related to Increased Fear of HappinessJulia Machina
  3. Affective Processing Differences Uniquely Predict PsychopathologyDaniel Craft
  4. Reward Devaluation of the 2024 U.S. Presidential ElectionSarah Simon