ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2014, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (3): 492-501.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2014.00492

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The Impact of Life Events on Emotional Reactions and Behavior Options: Theory Comparison and Research Implications

CHEN Hongmin;ZHAO Lei;WU Xinchun   

  1. (1 Mental Quality Education Center, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China) (2 School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China) (3 Higher Education Research Institute, China Youth University for Political Sciences, Beijing 100089, China)
  • Received:2013-01-30 Online:2014-03-15 Published:2014-03-15
  • Contact: WU Xinchun

Abstract:

Regarding the impact of life events on individual’s emotional reactions and behavior options, all the studies have tried to explain the mechanism of life events impacting on individuals from the perspective of relation between different life events and behavior decision-making, while different theories have different interpretations. Behavior/Economic Model regard people as “absolutely rational”, while Averaging/Summation Model, Peak-End Rule and Mental Accounting Model regard people as “bounded rational”. By detailed comparison of the latter three theories, we find that they are different from the exploring perspectives, the definition of life events and the choice of research methods. Future research should expand on the following aspects, such as discrimination and integration of different models, the interaction between different attributions of life events and individuals’ as well as the diversification of research methods, etc.

Key words: life events, averaging/summation model, peak-end rule, mental accounting