Improve the positive and negative emotional attractor for those who teach and coach

A well-integrated brain responds to the world adaptively (Heifetz, Linsky & Grashow, 2009), using just the right strategy for each situation to maximize goal achievement (Goldberg, 2009). In any environment, the goals can be your own, your team’s, or your organization’s (Brefczynski-Lewis et al, 2003). Humans are complex creatures, having a variety of factors combined to create a single being, such as mental, social, psychological, and physical states with each aspect having a nearly infinite number of possible actions or responses to stimuli (Becker and Solomon, 2009). Establishing a positive environment is seen as a vital component in achieving not only learning and motivational outcomes but allows for changes to occur within negative emotions (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998). According to (Heifetz, Linsky & Grashow, 2009) how one facilitates their environment is the catalyst for emotional changes to occur. This said before changes can truly occur, Boyatzis and Jack (2018) suggest that an understanding of an individual utilises their emotions is of the utmost importance. Two areas of emotional regulation are the primitive emotional concepts of positive emotional attractor and negative emotional attractor (Russell, 2003) which according to Lambie and Marcel (2002) are central to modern psychological analyses of emotional experiences. Research has found differences in how the brain responded to the positive emotional attractor and negative emotional attractor (Boyatzis, Rochford, & Taylor, 2015). It has been proposed by Boyatzis and Jack (2018) that positive emotional attractor and negative emotional attractor are two distinct psychophysiological states comprised of distinct emotional, psychological, physiological, and neurological characteristics, one that creates a force around one’s thinking, feeling, and behaviors'. Stimulating the positive emotional attractor has been stated as producing greater engagement of brain areas associated with motivation, this being within the ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens as well as within the brain regions involved in parasympathetic modulation of stress responses, the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (Brookshire & Casasanto, 2012; Davidson, 1992; Spielberg et al., 2008). The influence of parasympathetic modulation, through the arousal of the parasympathetic nervous system, is a prime pathway that supports social engagement (Kemp and Guastella, 2011). The parasympathetic arousal that arouses the vague nerve is reported to improve learning and memory in humans (Clark et al., 1999). In addition, research from cognitive neuroscience is suggesting that the positive emotional attractor is directly associated with the default mode network, through the medial parietal cortex, a key node of a larger network known as the default mode network that is involved in creating a sense of social and emotional connection (Schilbach et al., 2008; Jack et al., 2012; Mars et al., 2012) greater creativity and openness to new ideas (Raichle et al., 2001; Andrews-Hanna et al., 2010; Mars et al., 2012); emotional self-awareness (Ochsner et al., 2005; Schilbach et al., 2008), social cognition (Schilbach et al., 2008; Jack et al., 2012) emotional indolence (Caruso & Salovey, 2004) and emotional regulation (Gross, 1998). Activation of the default mode network has also been directly linked to arousal of the PNS through the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (Eisenberger and Cole, 2012). In direct contrast to the positive emotional attractor, the negative emotional attractor is associated with negative emotions of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, disgust, and despair (Levenson, 1992; Fredrickson, 2001). According to Baumeister et al., (2001) it is accepted within research that negative emotions are stronger than positive emotions – that is they are more consistent, more multifaceted, and have longer and lasting effects than positive emotions. Baumeister et al (2001) propose that having are a greater increase of negative emotions is a necessary function of human evolution as negative emotions allow humans to be highly adaptable and thus, facilitate human survival. According to Boyatzis (2013) without surviving, there can be no thriving.” In conjunction with the negative emotional attractor is the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system which is associated with the human stress response (Porges, 2003) and supports defensive strategies required in response to experience or perception of negative emotions (Segerstrom and Miller, 2004). The arousal of the sympathetic nervous system according to Porges (2003 suppresses the individual’s ability, to engage in effective communication due to limiting facial expression, eye gaze, hand gesture, and listening abilities. In addition, the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which plays a critical role in mounting a slower, more sustained response to stressors (Matthews, 2002). This response according to Gluckman & Hanson (2004) starts in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus which secretes corticotropin-releasing hormone into the anterior pituitary, this then stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone by the anterior pituitary to circulate through the bloodstream. The cortex of the adrenal glands then causes the release of glucocorticoids (cortisol) (Weinstock, 2001). The entire cascade takes approximately 15 to 25 minutes to peak (Nilsson et al. 2001) and remains at elevated activity levels for around 30 minutes before returning to baseline (Wust et al. 2005). The research suggests that when the cortisol levels are increased there is a reduction in attention, concentration, memory formation, enjoyment, the ability to listen, and a reduction in cognitive function and flexibility (Vogel and Schwabe, 2016).

So how can we impact individuals through the positive emotional attractor? According to Howard (2015), the following are some examples of ways in which positive emotion structure can be aroused. Encourage ones’ core values, follow personal passions, provide hope, optimism, be and teach openness to change, be persistent, relevant, and flexible in ones’ thinking, facilitate creative problem solving, proved positive feedback, allow ownership to occur, build trust and support, build environments that are perceived as respectful, supportive, and encouraging, be compassionate, encourage personal reflection, allow for open dialog, ask and get asked questions and encourage positive and proactive body language as well as positive and proactive narratives when in conversation. Implementing the above skills, according to Hatfield, Cacioppo, Rapson, (1993) has a strong correlation in bringing about positive emotional and social contagion, as providing the space for a positive emotional attractor within individuals, groups, or teams there is a spontaneous spread of positive emotions and related behavior’s both implicitly and explicitly.