Analyzing the Relationship Between Cognitive Dissonance and Mixed Emotion to Support Emotion Regulation in Teachers

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Division D Section 1 Poster Session 3

Abstract

Teachers often encounter difficult conversations surrounding equity that elicit cognitive dissonance (defined as inconsistent thoughts) and have been found to require emotional regulation to achieve successful outcomes. In this preliminary study, we analyzed 190 audio responses from a mobile web application, PROGRAM NAME, which has been found to generate cognitive dissonance through text-based simulation. We use text analysis of audio transcriptions to uncover the relationship between cognitive dissonance (CD) and complex emotional responses, or mixed emotion (ME). Regression analysis of detected expression and self-reported experience showed strong correlations between expression and self-reported experience of CD and ME. The study empowers further research, which will seek to incorporate the methods and findings into automatic detection and intervention strategies towards emotion regulation.

Authors

• Garron Hillaire, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Justin Fire Reich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Meredith M Thompson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Danilo Symonette, Massachusetts Institute of Technology