Emotion-based dispositions to rash action: Positive and negative urgency.

Under heightened emotional states, individuals are more inclined to engage in ill-considered or rash actions than at other times. The authors present evidence for the existence of 2 related traits called positive and negative urgency. The traits refer to individual differences in the disposition to engage in rash action when experiencing extreme positive and negative affect, respectively. The authors provide evidence that these traits are distinct from other dispositions toward rash action and that they play distinct roles in predicting problem levels of involvement in behaviors such as alcohol consumption, binge eating, drug use, and risky sexual behavior. The authors identify facilitative conditions for the…

• NI
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

  Awards: 5 F31 AA 016265-03, 1 RO1 AA 016166