Development and Validation of an Ability Measure of Emotion Understanding: The Core Relational Themes of Emotion (CORE) Test.

Emotion understanding (EU) ability is associated with healthy social functioning and psychological well-being. Across three studies, we develop and present validity evidence for the Core Relational Themes of Emotions (CORE) Test. The test measures people's ability to identify relational themes underlying 19 positive and negative emotions. Relational themes are consistencies in the meaning people assign to emotional experiences. In Study 1, we developed and refined the test items employing a literature review, expert panel, and confusion matrix with a demographically diverse sample. Correctness criteria were determined using theory and prior research, and a progressive (degrees of correctness) paradigm was utilized to score the test. In Study 2, the CORE demonstrated high internal consistency and a confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional factor structure. The CORE showed evidence of convergence with established EU ability measures and divergent relationships with verbal intelligence and demographic characteristics, supporting its construct validity. Also, the CORE was associated with less relational conflict. In Study 3, the CORE was associated with more adaptive and less maladaptive coping and higher well-being on multiple indicators. A set of effects remained, accounting for variance from a widely used EU test, supporting the CORE's incremental validity. Theoretical and methodological contributions are discussed.

The Meso-Expression Test (MET): A Novel Assessment of Emotion Perception.

Emotion perception is a primary facet of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and the underpinning of interpersonal communication. In this study, we examined meso-expressions-the everyday, moderate-intensity emotions communicated through the face, voice, and body. We theoretically distinguished meso-expressions from other well-known emotion research paradigms (i.e., macro-expression and micro-expressions). In Study 1, we demonstrated that people can reliably discriminate between meso-expressions, and we created a corpus of 914 unique video displays of meso-expressions across a race- and gender-diverse set of expressors. In Study 2, we developed a novel video-based assessment of emotion perception ability: The Meso-Expression Test (MET). In this study, we found that the MET is psychometrically valid and demonstrated measurement equivalence across Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White perceiver groups and across men and women. In Study 3, we examined the construct validity of the MET and showed that it converged with other well-known measures of emotion perception and diverged from cognitive ability. Finally, in Study 4, we showed that the MET is positively related to important psychosocial outcomes, including social well-being, social connectedness, and empathic concern and is negatively related to alexithymia, stress, depression, anxiety, and adverse social interactions. We conclude with a discussion focused on the implications of our findings for EI ability research and the practical applications of the MET.

Emotionally intelligent school leadership predicts educator well-being before and during a crisis.

We examined the role of educator perceptions of school leader emotion regulation (ER) and emotional support (ES) in educator well-being during a typical year and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on emotion contagion theory, leaders' (in)ability to regulate their own emotions may trigger ripple effects of positive or negative emotions throughout their organizations, impacting staff well-being. Additionally, based on conservation of resources theory, when experiencing psychologically taxing events, skillful emotional support provided by leaders may help to replenish staff's depleted psychological resources, promoting staff well-being. In two national studies, a cross-sectional (NStudy 1 = 4,847) and a two-wave study (NStudy 2 = 2,749), we tested the association between United States preK-12 educator perceptions of school leaders' ER and ES with educator well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, employing structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling. In Studies 1 and 2, educator reports of their leaders' ER and ES skills predicted greater educator well-being, including higher positive affect and job satisfaction and lower emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. In moderation analyses, perceived leader ER predicted well-being about equally among educators facing severe versus mild health impacts from COVID-19. In contrast, perceived leader ES was more strongly associated with educator well-being for some outcomes in those severely versus mildly impacted by COVID-19 illness and death. Leader ER played a role in the well-being of everyone, whereas leader ES was more predictive of well-being for those severely impacted by a crisis. Regarding implications for policy and practice, efforts to promote well-being among educators may be enhanced when combined with efforts to develop school leaders' ER and ES skills, especially in times of crisis. Accordingly, school districts should consider the value of investing in systematic, evidence-based emotion skills training for their leaders.

Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations.

Meditation is a family of mental practices that encompasses a wide array of techniques employing distinctive mental strategies. We systematically reviewed 78 functional neuroimaging (fMRI and PET) studies of meditation, and used activation likelihood estimation to meta-analyze 257 peak foci from 31 experiments involving 527 participants. We found reliably dissociable patterns of brain activation and deactivation for four common styles of meditation (focused attention, mantra recitation, open monitoring, and compassion/loving-kindness), and suggestive differences for three others (visualization, sense-withdrawal, and non-dual awareness practices). Overall, dissociable activation patterns are congruent with the psychological and behavioral aims of each practice. Some brain areas are recruited consistently across multiple techniques-including insula, pre/supplementary motor cortices, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and frontopolar cortex-but convergence is the exception rather than the rule. A preliminary effect-size meta-analysis found medium effects for both activations (d=0.59) and deactivations (d=-0.74), suggesting potential practical significance. Our meta-analysis supports the neurophysiological dissociability of meditation practices, but also raises many methodological concerns and suggests avenues for future research.

Is meditation associated with altered brain structure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphometric neuroimaging in meditation practitioners.

Numerous studies have begun to address how the brain's gray and white matter may be shaped by meditation. This research is yet to be integrated, however, and two fundamental questions remain: Is meditation associated with altered brain structure? If so, what is the magnitude of these differences? To address these questions, we reviewed and meta-analyzed 123 brain morphology differences from 21 neuroimaging studies examining ∼300 meditation practitioners. Anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis found eight brain regions consistently altered in meditators, including areas key to meta-awareness (frontopolar cortex/BA 10), exteroceptive and interoceptive body awareness (sensory cortices and insula), memory consolidation and reconsolidation (hippocampus), self and emotion regulation (anterior and mid cingulate; orbitofrontal cortex), and intra- and interhemispheric communication (superior longitudinal fasciculus; corpus callosum). Effect size meta-analysis (calculating 132 effect sizes from 16 studies) suggests a global 'medium' effect size (Cohen's d¯=0.46; r¯=.19). Publication bias and methodological limitations are strong concerns, however. Further research using rigorous methods is required to definitively link meditation practice to altered brain morphology.