HOW SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AFFECTS EMOTIONAL PROCESSING: THE ROLE OF EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS

Using the emotion-priming paradigm, we examined the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between subjective well-being (SWB) and the processing of emotional stimuli by recording event-related potentials relevant to emotion probe words. The positive words were classified faster and more accurately by both low- and high-level SWB (very happy and not very happy) groups. Late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes elicited by emotional words were compared with words elicited in the neutral priming condition, and we found LPPs significantly reduced under the fear-inducing priming condition. This priming effect was more prominent in the group of participants who were not very happy, showing that, compared to the very happy group, these participants were more sensitive and subject to the influence of external stimuli (particularly negative emotional stimuli). The findings provide electrophysiological evidence for the relationship between SWB and emotion processing.