Macmillan Learning We know that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion. But...

Transcribed Image Text:

Macmillan Learning We know that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion. But does emotional contagion occur outside of in-person interactions? A research article describes the findings of an experiment conducted by Facebook for internal purposes. The experiment manipulated the amount of emotional content in the posts from friends shown in the news feeds of 689,003 Facebook users. Based on random assignment, these Facebook users received news feeds that were either modified to have reduced positive expression, modified to have reduced negative expressions, or left intact. When positive expressions were reduced, Facebook users posted fewer positive words and more negative words; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. How were participants selected for this experiment? This is what the article says: "People who viewed Facebook in English were qualified for selection into the experiment." No notification was provided for those 689,003 qualified participants, and they were not given any opportunity to opt out of the study. Select items that describe some ethical concerns about such an approach to human experimentation. Participants were not given the chance to give informed consent to participate in the experiment. Participants were not notified they were participating in an experiment. Notifying participants about the Facebook study is not necessary because it would influence the results even though it might affect their emotional state. Participants did not need informed consent because they already use Facebook. Informed consent is necessary if there is a chance an experiment could cause potential harm or distress to participants. Macmillan Learning We know that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion. But does emotional contagion occur outside of in-person interactions? A research article describes the findings of an experiment conducted by Facebook for internal purposes. The experiment manipulated the amount of emotional content in the posts from friends shown in the news feeds of 689,003 Facebook users. Based on random assignment, these Facebook users received news feeds that were either modified to have reduced positive expression, modified to have reduced negative expressions, or left intact. When positive expressions were reduced, Facebook users posted fewer positive words and more negative words; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. How were participants selected for this experiment? This is what the article says: "People who viewed Facebook in English were qualified for selection into the experiment." No notification was provided for those 689,003 qualified participants, and they were not given any opportunity to opt out of the study. Select items that describe some ethical concerns about such an approach to human experimentation. Participants were not given the chance to give informed consent to participate in the experiment. Participants were not notified they were participating in an experiment. Notifying participants about the Facebook study is not necessary because it would influence the results even though it might affect their emotional state. Participants did not need informed consent because they already use Facebook. Informed consent is necessary if there is a chance an experiment could cause potential harm or distress to participants.