Psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms of negative emotional reaction in the processing of verbal negation

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze current theoretical and empirical findings on the relationship between verbal negation processing and emotional reactions. According to the theory of reuse [Anderson, 2010; de Vega et al., 2016], negation processing activates already existing inhibitory mechanisms that were formed in ontogenesis during repulsion/avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus [Beltrán et al., 2021]. When processing negative phrases, inhibition ensures their correct understanding – it is necessary to control the rejection of the negated part of the phrase. Control, in turn, is closely related to the negative affect [Saunders et al., 2017]. Early studies confirm the connection between negation and emotionally negative symbols [Dudschig et al., 2023]. Empirical findings [Herbert et al., 2011, 2013; Zuanazzi et al., 2022] show that negation shifts emotional reactions opposite to the valence of words, with positive valence resulting in an inversion to a negative reaction. Combining positive valence words with negation enhances cognitive conflict, leading to stronger negative emotions (Herbert et al., 2013). Additionally, negation in emotionally neutral phrases significantly shifts their evaluation towards negativity [Andreeva, 2023b]. These results highlight the strong dependence of emotional responses to negation on context. The paper discusses potential directions for further research on the connection between negation processing and emotional reactions.